Rahman, H. 2013. Review: Breeding spring canola (Brassica napusL.) by the use of exotic germplasm. Can. J. Plant Sci. 93: 363-373. The need of broadening genetic diversity in spring canola (Brassica napus) breeding programs seems to be the general consensus among canola breeders and researchers. Diversity analysis by the use of molecular markers has identified several B. napus gene pools as well as allied Brassica species that are genetically distinct from spring canola B. napus; and these gene pools can be used for the improvement of this crop. Use of genetically diverse and un-adapted B. napus germplasm in the breeding of spring canola can be challenging, as introduction of several unwanted traits/alleles from exotic germplasm into spring canola occurs, and this would require repeated cycles of breeding for improvement. Similarly, use of allied species can be even more challenging due to the difficulties associated with interspecific hybrid production, sterility of hybrids, linkage drag, and the introduction of unwanted alleles. However, this can be compensated in the long-term perspective for the improvement of this crop. Some research efforts have been made in recent years to broaden allelic diversity in spring canola for the improvement of seed yield and other traits in open-pollinated and hybrid cultivars with promising results. Seed yield is a complex trait which is controlled by several gene loci with multiple alleles at these loci as well as interactions between loci and different alleles. This makes the identification of right allelic combinations an extremely challenging task. However, canola breeders have been able to make steady improvements in this crop in past decades based on the amount of allelic diversity present in existing breeding material. Introduction of favourable new alleles in breeding programs would allow breeders to create superior allelic combinations, enhancing the diversity in current breeding materials to further improve the crop. With the availability of the Brassica genome sequence, knowledge of sequence variation in specific genes and cost-effective high-throughput genotyping, it is expected that molecular plant breeding will play an important role in the breeding of canola cultivars. Discovery of favourable allele combinations in a short span of time is likely to be facilitated through the application of modern breeding tools.

Bueckert, R. A. and Clarke, J. M. 2013. Review: Annual crop adaptation to abiotic stress on the Canadian prairies: Six case studies. Can. J. Plant Sci. 93: 375-385. More than half of Canada's grain crop production comes from the Canadian prairies, a region that experiences short growing seasons characterized by temperature and moisture stress. Historically, the region was dominated by temperate cereal production, but in recent decades crops have included canola (Brassica species) and pulses (chickpea, Cicer arietinum L.; dry bean, Phaseolus vulgaris L.; pea, Pisum sativum L.; lentil, Lens culinaris L.). Here we describe climatic conditions and the resulting abiotic stresses that are common in prairie crop production. We also showcase how specific cultivars have been successfully adapted to fit a short growing season of 95 to 120 d, and examine current strategies to improve crop performance on the Canadian prairies. Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. var. durum) production has been increased by incorporating stress escape through early flowering, and stress avoidance through increased seasonal water extraction, water use efficiency and reduced loss from leaves. Dry bean, a warm-season crop, has been improved by selecting for rapid emergence in cool soils. The indeterminate crops chickpea, lentil, and canola (Brassica juncea L.) have been improved through breeding for early flowering, double podding (chickpea), high harvest index, and a longer reproductive duration (lentil and canola). Enhanced drought tolerance in chickpea is in progress using early flowering for drought escape, and rooting traits that improve water extraction and canopy transpiration to avoid water and heat stress. Crops grown on the Canadian prairies have superior quality profiles and two crops, durum and lentil, have become dominant in global exports.

Sharma, S., Upadhyaya, H. D., Gowda, C. L. L., Kumar, S. and Singh, S. 2013. Genetic analysis for seed size in three crosses of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). Can. J. Plant Sci. 93: 387-395. Seed size (determined by 100-seed weight) is an important component of trade and yield in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). The present investigation was undertaken to study the possibility of maternal inheritance for seed size and to estimate relative importance of additive and non-additive gene effects on seed size in three chickpea crosses involving two desi (ICC 5002 and ICC 7672) and two kabuli (ICC 11255 and ICC 17109) genotypes. The study included parents, F₁, F₂, backcross generations, and their reciprocals. Differences in the reciprocal mean 100-seed weight of F₁, F₂, and backcross generations were not detected in any cross. No definite major gene segregation pattern was observed in the F₂ generation, and the continuous variation observed indicated quantitative inheritance. Generation mean analysis indicated the presence of additive gene effects controlling seed size in three crosses. Additive×additive type of non-allelic interactions were found significant in desi×kabuli crosses, ICC 5002×ICC 17109 and ICC 7672×ICC 11255. The selection and breeding procedure may be modified for maximum exploitation of the fixable additive×additive epistasis by delaying selection in later generations and by maintaining large populations prior to selection for maximum recombination of genes to occur.

Zhang, Y., Li, R. and Wang, Y. 2013. Night-time warming affects N and P dynamics and productivity of winter wheat plants. Can. J. Plant Sci. 93: 397-406. The daily night-time temperature has currently increased faster than the daily daytime temperature over much of the Earth's surface. To understand how night-time warming affects the dynamics of winter wheat performance, open-field experiments, in which temperatures were elevated by covering the plots at night with reflective curtains, were conducted in the 2010/2011 and 2011/2012 growing seasons. The results show that, on average, night-time temperatures increased by 0.9°C under night-time covered (NC) treatment compared with the uncovered (CK). Plant total N accumulation was 17-43% higher in NC treatment than CK during the jointing, anthesis and ripening stages, whereas plant total P was affected by NC treatment depending on growing stage. Night-time covered treatment substantially decreased N translocation efficiency, leading to more N retained in plant stems during grain filling. Although P translocated to grain was 29-41% higher in NC plots than CK plots, NC treatment decreased post-anthesis P uptake by 27-41%, depending on the growing season, resulting in evident reduction of P harvest index and P utilization efficiency. When night-time temperature increased, grain yield was reduced by 6-25% due to a combination of decreased productive spikes, a lower number of kernels per spike and reduced weight of grain per kernel.

Xie, M., Tremblay, N., Tremblay, G., Bourgeois, G., Bouroubi, M. Y. and Wei, Z. 2013. Weather effects on corn response to in-season nitrogen rates. Can. J. Plant Sci. 93: 407-417. The response of corn yield to in-season nitrogen rate (ISNR) fertilizer applications in a temperate humid climate is conditioned to a great extent by prevailing weather conditions, which affect nitrogen use efficiency and raise the level of uncertainty for making management decisions. A better understanding of the effects of temperature, expressed as accumulated corn heat units (CHU), and precipitation would help to ensure that a “closer-to-optimal” nitrogen rate is supplied at side-dressing. A meta-analysis was performed using a database of nitrogen response trials conducted from 1997 to 2008 in 60 locations in the corn grain production area of Québec, in conjunction with a weather database. Meta-analysis is a statistical procedure for combining results from a series of studies that is used in many fields of research. It is used to assess treatment effect (also called effect size) in a group of studies or experiments. Corn yield response to ISNR was negatively correlated with overall CHU accumulation, but positively correlated with CHU accumulation before side-dressing. Responses also showed a stronger relationship with cumulative precipitation (PPT) before side-dressing than after side-dressing. High and evenly distributed precipitation before side-dressing tended to increase responses to ISNR. It can be concluded that low CHU, low precipitation and low precipitation evenness before side-dressing reduce the impact of ISNR on corn yield.

Ackerman, J. N., Zvomuya, F., Cicek, N. and Flaten, D. 2013. Evaluation of manure-derived struvite as a phosphorus source for canola. Can. J. Plant Sci. 93: 419-424. There is growing interest in the treatment of swine manure to mitigate water quality issues related to phosphorus (P) from livestock operations. Precipitation of P as struvite (MgNH₄PO₄·6H₂O) is a potential strategy to achieve this. The overall objective of this growth room study was to evaluate the effect of manure-derived struvite (MDS) on canola growth and P recovery efficiency. Pure struvite (PS), monoammonium phosphate (MAP), and polymer-coated monoammonium phosphate (PCMAP) were applied to canola plants in plastic pots containing 2 kg of a sandy loam soil. Biomass yields for MDS and PS were similar at all P rates (mean = 7.6 g pot^-1) and significantly smaller than those for MAP and PCMAP (mean = 9.3 g pot^-1). Differences in P uptake among P sources were detected at the highest P rate where P uptake was significantly greater for MAP and PCMAP (mean = 22.7 mg P pot^-1) than for the struvite forms (mean = 16.4 mg P pot^-1). Our results show that although P uptake was similar for the struvites and commercial fertilizers at P₂O₅ rates of 38 mg pot^-1 or lower, biomass yield per unit of P taken up was smaller for the struvites. This may be due to lower initial solubility of the struvites in the alkaline (pH 7.7) soil used in this experiment, which gave an early stage growth advantage to canola fertilized with MAP and PCMAP. These results suggest that it may be necessary to supplement struvite with soluble P fertilizers, such as MAP, if applied on soils such as that tested in this study.

Morgounov, A. I., Belan, I., Zelenskiy, Y., Roseeva, L., Tömösközi, S., Békés, F., Abugalieva, A., Cakmak, I., Vargas, M. and Crossa, J. 2013. Historical changes in grain yield and quality of spring wheat varieties cultivated in Siberia from 1900 to 2010. Can. J. Plant Sci. 93: 425-433. This study focusses on changes in yield, protein content, micronutrient composition and bread-making quality of 32 historical bread wheat varieties. The germplasm was divided into four groups: viz. 1: bred before 1935; 2: bred 1955-1975; 3: bred 1976-1985; 4: bred after 1985. Yield genetic gain was 0.59% per year. The last three periods scored significantly higher for protein, gluten content and alveograph W values, compared with the first group, but did not differ significantly from each other. The physical dough properties of varieties developed between 1976 and 1985 were superior, as reflected by the W value, farinograph mixing time and degree of softening. Loaf volume was highest for the 1950-1975 group, representing a 15.6% superiority. There were significant and gradual reductions between the earliest and latest groups for protein (7.6%) and wet gluten (7.7%) contents. No changes in zinc and iron contents, important in determining grain nutritional value, were detected. Generally, modern germplasm had superior physical dough quality and stability. This improvement was not clearly associated with changes in the frequencies of high- and low-molecular weight glutenin alleles. Sustaining the genetic gains for yield and quality will require investigation of the effects and interactions of genes controlling adaptation and end-use quality of spring wheat in Siberia.

Mimura, M. 2013. Genetic and phenotypic variation inLotus japonicus(Regel) K. Larsen, a model legume species. Can. J. Plant Sci. 93: 435-444. Lotus japonicus is a model legume species with more than 90% of its gene space determined; however, its ecological and evolutionary background is little known. The genetic and phenotypic variation of this model species was investigated within the Japanese Archipelago, where it exists in various climates and has experienced repeated vegetative shifts in conjunction with historical climate changes, using nuclear microsatellite loci and common garden experiments. The partial Mantel test was performed to detect the influence of phylogeographic effects on phenotypic variation among accessions along environmental gradients. Western Japan showed more complex genetic population structures than northern Japan, which may reflect past population dynamics. The total biomass demonstrated clinal variation with a climatic variable (ClimatePC). The trend was significant in a partial Mantel test when controlling for genetic distance, which is independent of the environmental distance. This suggests adaptive divergence within the Japanese Archipelago. With highly accessible genome information, L. japonicus appears to be a promising species for future ecological and evolutionary studies.

Mischkolz, J. M., Schellenberg, M. P. and Lamb, E. G. 2013. Early productivity and crude protein content of establishing forage swards composed of combinations of native grass and legume species in mixed-grassland ecoregions. Can. J. Plant Sci. 93: 445-454. We evaluated the early establishment productivity of forage swards of native, perennial, cool and warm season grasses, and legumes as they have the potential to provide non-invasive, productive, and drought resistant rangelands. Seven species with agronomic potential and a broad native geographic distribution were selected for testing including: nodding brome [Bromus anomalus (Coult.)], blue bunch wheatgrass [Pseudoregneria spicata (Pursh)], western wheatgrass [Pascopyrum smithii (Rydb.)], side oats grama [Bouteloua curtipendula (Michx.)], little blue stem [Schizachyrium scoparium (Michx.)], purple prairie clover [Dalea purpurea (Vent.)], and white prairie clover [Dalea candida (Willd.)]. Forage swards, including all seven monocultures, 21 two-species mixtures and a mixture with all species, were planted in two sites, Saskatoon and Swift Current, Saskatchewan. Western wheatgrass (WWG) had the highest overall plant density and the strongest effect on the forage yield of the forage swards; however, productivity and crude protein content were not reduced when other species were also included in the forage sward. Dalea spp. did not establish as well as the other species, but had the highest crude protein concentrations. This work provides insight into forage sward development at the establishment stage; additional work is required to determine long-term species impacts for well established forage swards.

Zhang, J., Yang, W. R., Cheng, T. R., Pan, H. T. and Zhang, Q. X. 2013. Functional and evolutionary analysis of two CBF genes inPrunus mume. Can. J. Plant Sci. 93: 455-464. Primers based on the C-repeat (CRT)/dehydration responsive element (DRE) binding factor of peach (Prunus persica), sweet cherry (Prunus avim) and other related family member sequences found in GenBank were designed. Fragments of C-repeat binding factor (CBF) genes were isolated from Prunus mume by PCR and RT-PCR. The two CBF genes, designated PmCBFa and PmCBFb, were 821 bp and 741 bp long, encoding putative proteins of 238 and 225 amino acids, respectively, which contain all the conserved CBF protein domains. Similar to other CBF homologs, PmCBFa and PmCBFb may be constitutive and can be induced at a low temperature. Phylogenetic analysis using known CBF homologs indicated that all monocot CBF genes belong to the same group, separated from the eudicot CBF genes. The PmCBF genes are the homologs of the sweet cherry PaDREB gene. Sequencing of 16 cultivars and a wild species, ‘Zang’ Mei, characterized the intraspecific molecular evolution of the Prunus mume CBF genes, and the preliminary analysis indicates that the nucleotide diversity is low in coding area of PmCBFa.

Shi, H., Zhang, Y. and Chen, L. 2013. Cloning, characterization and expression analysis of a 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate synthase gene from pear. Can. J. Plant Sci. 93: 465-471. In this study, a cDNA clone encoding putative 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) synthase (ACS) that catalyzes the conversion of S-adenosyl-L-methionine to ACC in ethylene biosynthetic pathway was isolated from a cDNA library produced using mRNA from pear (Pyrus pyrifolia). The cDNA clone, designated PpACS2, comprised an open reading frame of 1, 341 bp encoding a protein of 446 amino acids that shares high similarity with the known plant ACSs. Using PCR amplification technique, a genomic clone (GenBank accession number: KC146402) corresponding to PpACS2 was isolated and shown to contain two introns. The PpACS2 gene product shared 97% identity with an ACC synthase from pear (Pyrus communis). Phylogenetic analyses clearly placed the gene product in the ACC synthase cluster of plant ACS superfamily tree. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis indicated that the PpACS2 gene was preferentially expressed in young pear leaves and shoots. The transcript of PpACS2 gene was accumulated at relatively high levels in anthers, but no signal was detected in the petals and mesocarp of pear. These results suggest that the PpACS2 may participate in the regulation of ethylene production in pear leaves, shoots, and anthers.

Conner, R. L., Chang, K. F., Hwang, S. F., Warkentin, T. D. and McRae, K. B. 2013. Assessment of tolerance for reducing yield losses in field pea caused by Aphanomyces root rot. Can. J. Plant Sci. 93: 473-482. Aphanomyces root rot, caused by Aphanomyces euteiches Drechs., is a serious disease of peas (Pisum sativum) that can severely reduce seed yield, and few effective control measures are available. The development of pea cultivars with tolerance or partial resistance to Aphanomyces root rot is generally considered to be one of the best options to reduce yield loss. A 4-yr field study was conducted at disease-free sites and at an Aphanomyces root rot site to compare the responses of cultivars and lines in the presence and absence of Aphanomyces root rot, identify breeding lines with tolerance and to evaluate the effects of tolerance on plant growth, disease severity and yield. At the Aphanomyces root rot site, a second test was established in which the phosphite fungicide Phostrol™ was applied as a soil drench treatment to the pea cultivars and lines. Aphanomyces root rot reduced seedling emergence, biomass production and yield in the susceptible pea genotypes. However, line 00-2067 consistently produced relatively high yields at all the field sites. At the Aphanomyces root rot site, yield was closely associated with plant vigour and shoot weight. Small, but significant, differences (P<0.05) in disease severity were observed between susceptible cultivars and tolerant lines indicating that the lines producing high yields at the Aphanomyces root rot site are tolerant rather than partially resistant. The root/shoot weight ratio was very low in the tolerant lines, indicating that even though their root systems were reduced and severely damaged by root rot, they were still able to produce high yields under favourable conditions for the disease. Drench application of the fungicide Phostrol™ did not significantly reduce root rot severity or improve the performance of any of the pea cultivars or lines.

Gaudet, D. A., Puchalski, B. J., Despins, T., McCartney, C., Menzies, J. G. and Graf, R. J. 2013. Seeding date and location affect winter wheat infection by common bunt (Tilletia tritici and T. laevis) in western Canada. Can. J. Plant Sci. 93: 483-489. The majority of western Canadian winter wheat varieties are susceptible to common bunt (Tilletia tritici and T. laevis) and the risk to production, particularly in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, where the majority of production occurs, is unknown. Inoculated trials were employed to determine the effects of fall seeding date on bunt infection levels on one resistant and two susceptible winter wheat varieties at three locations in western Canada during three growing seasons from 2007/2008 to 2009/2010. Among the three locations, average infection levels were highest in Lethbridge, AB, followed by Glenlea, MB, and Saskatoon, SK. Later seeding resulted in high infection levels at all three locations in the susceptible varieties, particularly in Lethbridge, but high infection levels were observed in the earliest seeded treatments at both the Saskatchewan and Manitoba locations. The resistant variety Blizzard consistently exhibited infection levels of less than 3% infection across all environments. In a second test at conducted at Lethbridge, 10 of the 11 currently grown winter wheat varieties were susceptible to common bunt. These results indicate that there is a general risk of common bunt infection to winter wheat production across western Canada and that control measures must be taken until resistant varieties are developed.

Robinson, M. A., Cowbrough, M. J., Sikkema, P. H. and Tardif, F. J. 2013. Winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) tolerance to mixtures of herbicides and fungicides applied at different timings. Can. J. Plant Sci. 93: 491-501. Farmers commonly tank-mix herbicides and fungicides to reduce application costs. In the spring of 2008, there were reports of winter wheat injury with the application of herbicide-fungicide tank-mixes early in the growing season. This study was established to determine the tolerance of winter wheat to herbicide-fungicide mixtures as influenced by time of application. Field studies were conducted at four Ontario locations in 2009 and 2010 with three herbicides and four fungicides. Herbicide-fungicide tank-mixes were applied early, under cold conditions, and late at growth stage Zadoks 37-39. Dichlorprop/2,4-D mixed with tebuconazole caused up to 15% injury when applied early and up to 29% injury when applied late. Bromoxynil/MPCA mixed with tebuconazole injured wheat up to 15% when applied early but only 10% when applied late. Other herbicide and fungicide mixes caused a lower level of injury. Visible injury was transient and did not reduce winter wheat yields. The likelihood of tank-mixes causing injury was greater when they were applied late. The fungicide tebuconazole caused the highest level of injury when mixed with herbicides and injury was particularly high with dichlorprop/2,4-D.

Turner, F. A. and Van Acker, R. C. 2013. In situ emergence timing of large and small crabgrass in residential turfgrass of southern Ontario. Can. J. Plant Sci. 93: 503-509. Large, Digitaria sanguinalis (L.) Scop., and small, Digitaria ischaemum (Schreb.) ex Muhl., crabgrass are problem weeds in turfgrass. Due to an increasing number of cosmetic pesticide bans in Canada there is a need to better understand the biology and ecology of crabgrass in order to develop and hone management approaches. The assessment of crabgrass recruitment timing is particularly relevant to its management, including the timing of alternative herbicide applications. This study focused on determining the emergence timing of established populations of large and small crabgrass in typical residential turfgrass stands in southern Ontario. Small crabgrass emerged earlier than large crabgrass at 346 and 515 growing degree days (GDD), respectively. In typical southern Ontario lawns both small and large crabgrass emerge after cool-season turfgrass has established and emergence continues late into the summer. For example, even within the last 2 wk of July we observed over 700 seedlings m^-2 of large crabgrass emerging in some observation plots. This study also confirmed that small crabgrass emerges earlier than large crabgrass. There was a greater difference in emergence timing between species rather than among sites, suggesting that it is important to differentiate between species when timing management approaches. The late and prolonged emergence of crabgrass makes residential lawns that are not well maintained susceptible to infestation for a long portion of the growing season. This study also demonstrated that cumulative GDD may be a reliable measure for tracking crabgrass emergence suggesting, that it could be used as a tool for management, including the application of alternative herbicides. This study reinforces the importance of maintaining healthy and dense turf stands throughout the season as a deterrent to crabgrass infestations.

Garrison, W., Dale, A. and Saxena, P. K. 2013. Improved shoot multiplication and development in hybrid hazelnut nodal cultures by ethylenediamine di-2-hydroxy-phenylacetic acid (Fe-EDDHA). Can. J. Plant Sci. 93: 511-521. Micropropagation of hybrid hazelnut cultivars is difficult because of their recalcitrant nature. The current study assessed the effect of different iron sources on in vitro shoot multiplication and subsequent plantlet development from nodal explants of the cultivar Geneva. Two chelated forms of iron, ethylenediamine di-2-hydroxy-phenylacetic acid (Fe-EDDHA) and ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (Fe-EDTA) were tested to determine the effect on shoot development. Shoots were longer and had a higher number of nodes when cultured on a modified NCGR-COR medium supplemented with 230 µM Fe-EDDHA, whereas shoots failed to grow on a medium with 460 or 690 µM Fe-EDTA. All plantlets grown in the presence of Fe-EDDHA had more chlorophyll, larger leaves, and higher dry weights compared with Fe-EDTA. Electron microscopy of in vitro grown tissues revealed that the form of Fe influenced the number of granal and stromal lamellae per chloroplast, the number of thylakoids per granum, and the overall chloroplast structure. Nodal explants originating from the proximal end of stems developed longer shoots with more nodes than those derived from the distal region. The use of double-phase culture medium produced plants with longer shoots and more nodes, although these exhibited hyperhydricity, showed greater morphological variation, and contained less chlorophyll. These results demonstrate the efficacy of the use of Fe-EDDHA in growth medium for improving micropropagation efficiency of hazelnut.

Khakbazan, M., Grant, C. A., Finlay, G., Wu, R., Malhi, S. S., Selles, F., Clayton, G. W., Lupwayi, N. Z., Soon, Y. K. and Harker, K. N. 2013. An economic study of controlled release urea and split applications of nitrogen as compared with non-coated urea under conventional and reduced tillage management. Can. J. Plant Sci. 93: 523-534. To evaluate the use of controlled-release urea (CRU) as a beneficial management practice for nitrogen management of wheat, barley, and canola, a multi-location study was conducted from 2004 to 2006 in a range of agro-environments across western Canada. The objective was to evaluate the relative economic performance of CRU and non-coated urea (NCU) for their effects on seed yield and quality, costs and net revenue (NR) using conventional tillage (CT) and reduced tillage (RT) management under varying environmental conditions. The NR was estimated as the income remaining after paying for all cash costs, ownership costs on machinery and buildings, and labour. The main factor affecting crop yield and NR was N application rate. In general, application of NCU produced similar or higher net revenues than that of CRU, split fertilizer applications or a blend of NCU and CRU. There were some limited situations where the use of split applications, CRU or CRU in a blend with the NCU increased crop yield as compared with NCU; however, the increased yield was not sufficient to cover the extra costs of CRU or the split application. The impact of tillage system on crop yield and NR was not consistent. Net revenue was higher under CT than RT for certain crops in some regions, but not in all regions or for all crops. Overall, NR analysis indicated that use of CRU did not provide an economic benefit over the use of NCU.

Larsen, R. J. and Falk, D. E. 2013. Effects of a seed treatment with a neonicotinoid insecticide on germination and freezing tolerance of spring wheat seedlings. Can. J. Plant Sci. 93: 535-540. Spring wheat is a major crop in Canada, and in the western and northern regions of the production area early planting is required to ensure high yield, and high grain quality. This puts the crop at risk for exposure to early season cold or freezing temperatures. This study examined whether germination and freezing tolerance of seedlings of 11 spring wheat cultivars is affected by a seed treatment containing a neonicotinoid insecticide. As a result of the seed treatment, the number of germinating seeds was significantly higher for treated than untreated seed lots. There was also a slight (5.7%), but significant increase in freezing tolerance of treated plants based on the vigour of regrowth of seedlings exposed to -4°C in controlled freezing tests performed indoors. Differences in the response to the neonicotinoid insecticide treatment were observed between varieties. These preliminary results indicate that the seed treatment may be effective in improving germination and freezing tolerance of spring wheat as assessed in indoor screening tests. Further testing will be required to establish whether a positive effect can be confirmed in more variable outdoor environments and in other cereal crop types.

Graf, R. J., Beres, B. L., Randhawa, H. S., Gaudet, D. A., Badea, A., Laroche, A., Eudes, F. and Pandeya, R. S. 2013. AAC Gateway hard red winter wheat. Can. J. Plant Sci. 93: 541-548. AACGateway is a hard red winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivar eligible for grades of Canada Western Red Winter (CWRW) wheat. Evaluated relative toCDCOsprey,ACBellatrix, Radiant, and CDC Buteo in the Western Winter Wheat Cooperative Registration trials from 2009 to 2011, AAC Gateway exhibited high grain yield, good winter survival, short straw of excellent strength, high grain protein concentration, and resistant to intermediate responses to stem rust, leaf rust, stripe rust and fusarium head blight. This combination of desirable traits makes AAC Gateway well-suited for production across western Canada. End-use suitability analysis indicated improvements in protein concentration, amylograph viscosity, dough rheology, loaf volume, and lower protein loss on milling.

DePauw, R. M., Knox, R. E., Singh, A. K., McCaig, T. N., Clarke, J. M. and Cuthbert, R. D. 2013. NRG010 General Purpose spring wheat. Can. J. Plant Sci. 93: 549-555. Based on 26 trials over 2 yr, the cultivar NRG010 yielded similar to the General Purpose checks Hoffman and AC Andrew. NRG010 had significantly shorter stature than Hoffman. NRG010 had a large white kernel intermediate in size to AC Andrew and Hoffman. NRG010 expressed resistance to prevalent races of leaf rust, stem rust and common bunt, and moderate susceptibility to prevalent races of loose smut and fusarium head blight. NRG010 is eligible for the Canada General Purpose wheat class.

Legge, W. G., Tucker, J. R., Bizimungu, B., Fetch Jr., T. G., Haber, S., Menzies, J. G., Noll, J. S., Tekauz, A., Turkington, T. K., Savard, M. E. and Choo, T. M. 2013. Cerveza barley. Can. J. Plant Sci. 93: 557-564. Ceveza is a doubled-haploid hulled two-row spring malting barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) cultivar widely adapted to western Canada, Quebec, and the Maritimes. Developed from the cross TR251/Newdale//TR253/Newdale made in 1998, Cerveza was evaluated in the Western Cooperative Two-row Barley Registration Test (2006-2007) and the Collaborative Malting Barley Trials (2007-2008) conducted by the malting and brewing industry before being registered in 2010. Cerveza was also evaluated in Quebec and the Maritimes in 2007-2009. Cerveza's desirable combination of agronomic traits, disease resistance and malting quality, particularly high grain yield and malt extract, should make it a useful cultivar for producers and the malting and brewing industry.