Australian Winter Cereals Pre-Breeding Alliance
Summary
Drivers for change
Scope
Key principles
IP issues
Trait prioritisation and collaboration meetings
Useful links
Frequently Asked Questions
Reports/Publications
Further information
Last Updated 1 September
A new industry forum – the Australian Winter Cereals Pre-Breeding Alliance (AWCPA) – has been established to promote collaboration and cooperation among cereal pre-breeders.
The Alliance’s objective is to maximise the national pre-breeding effort and shorten the time frame between genetic enhancement and the development of new, improved crop varieties.
The Alliance was established by a steering committee representing major pre-breeding organisations. The current composition of the Steering Committee includes CSIRO, MPBCRC, University of Adelaide, SARDI, ACPFG, NSWDPI, QDPI, DPIVic and DAFWA
The committee, chaired by Jeremy Burdon (Chief of CSIRO Plant Industry) is seeking support from all Australian researchers working in this area.
At a meeting on 19 March 2007 in Adelaide the Committee affirmed the scope of the Alliance and adopted a set of key principles to guide the relationship of Alliance members with each other and with commercial breeding companies.
The Alliance operates on three levels. At the executive level, the Committee meetings provide opportunity for informal discussion of issues concerning the grains industry. At a technical level, national workshops define research targets within priority traits and monitor progress of research. At the organisational level, research organisations implement the key principles of the Alliance.
Initially, the Alliance has been focussing on research in wheat. Over time the Alliance will expand its scope to also cover other winter cereals, especially barley
In an environment where there is a continuous cost-price squeeze on agricultural production, there is a need for research funds to be used as effectively as possible in developing new commercial varieties.
Pre-breeding is an area of significant public investment, with annual expenditure estimated at $70–80 million*. In the past there has been fragmentation and duplication of research efforts, as well as an overvaluation of Intellectual Property (IP).
Complex IP arrangements have inhibited collaboration and access to new technologies, while in the case of GM cereals there is a lack of a clear pathway to market.
* Ross W. Fellowes, Report on Pre-Breeding R&D for Winter Cereals, March 2006
The scope of pre-breeding R&D covered by the Alliance includes:
• gene discovery and functional genomics, including the tools of transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics
• establishment of marker-trait associations
• linked/diagnostic marker identification
• marker validation
• any other breeding tools for selecting relevant gene(s) to develop improved parental stocks; and
• for GM traits, production of transformed parents, ready for use in breeding programs
Key principles
Pre-breeding activities within the Alliance are framed by principles which:
1. Are market-driven by the grains supply and value chains including end-users, growers and breeders.
2. Are focussed on [the] traits that will generate maximum benefit for the Australian grains industry.
3. Allow breeding programs non-exclusive, equitable access to public-funded pre-breeding research to ensure the maximum benefit to the Australian grains industry.
4. Provide simple IP protection and management arrangements that encourage rapid uptake of R&D outputs by breeding programs.
5. Foster communication, collaboration and coordination between institutions, to minimise unnecessary duplication and fragmentation, and maximise overall progress.
6. Encourage relationships that provide ready access to R&D outputs developed overseas including R&D outputs from the private sector.
7. Include mechanisms for recognising and rewarding performance consistent with Alliance principles.
IP issues
A working group has reviewed IP arrangements in the pre-breeding domain. The IP Working Group focussed on developing an IP ‘access and benefit sharing model’ to support the Alliance’s overall objectives, consistent with Principles 3, 4 and 7. Their work has led to the development of a draft term sheet detailing the key terms for a collaboration and licence agreement between researchers/pre-breeders and breeding entities in winter cereals in Australia. This term sheet is expected to be finalised during 2008.
Trait prioritisation and collaboration meetings
During the Alliance’s establishment, a review of wheat traits in relation to pre-breeding and breeding objectives was undertaken by Ross Fellowes and Don Marshall. The initial findings were tabled at a meeting in Adelaide in July 2006 and the report was finalised in September 2006 (for a copy, see Publications below).Feedback from the pre-breeding community has been considered together with feedback on trait and marker priorities from Barley Breeding Australia, and from the Wheat Breeders' Alliance.
At the Steering Committee meeting on 19 March 2007 in Adelaide, the following traits areas were identified as the initial candidates for a series of discussion groups:
* Drought/water-use efficiency (Workshop held 5 - 6 September 2007)
* Quality issues in wheat (Workshop held 19 - 20 November 2007)
* Frost (Workshop to be held in late 2008, dates to be confirmed)
The aim has been to have inclusive discussions covering the wider industry in order to define a clear strategy for future research in each area, with short, medium, and long term objectives. (For reports on these workshops, see Publications below).
Reports/Publications
Review of wheat traits in relation to pre-breeding and breeding objectives
This review was undertaken by Ross Fellowes and Prof Don Marshall in 2006, with the aim of validating the estimates of 'trait values' provided in an earlier study by Ross Fellowes. The review takes into account the feasibility of producing genetic solutions to the given biotic & abiotic stresses, as well as quality deficiencies, without compromising overall crop performance.
Wheat Traits, Summary, and Discussion Document
This document follows on from the Fellowes/Marshall report. It incorporates feedback on the report and summarizes the priority traits for research in wheat.
Bioinformatics Review
The importance of data management and bioinformatics in the area of pre-breeding of wheat and barley has been recognised. A working group, chaired by Prof Rudi Appels, was set up in 2006 to undertake a review of this area. The report includes recommendations for national coordination and management.
Pre Breeding for Better Performance Under Drought - Workshop Proceedings
This two-day workshop (5-6 September 2007) was coordinated by Dr John Passioura on behalf of the Alliance, with the aim of developing a national strategy for improving the effectiveness of the national pre-breeding effort on the performance of water-limited crops. It provided an opportunity to bring together experts in various fields to:
• help identify traits that are likely to be useful over a large area
• outline ways for getting such traits well-phenotyped in realistic
environments
• identify limitations to effective selection and ways of overcoming
these
• facilitate the fruitful exchange of germplasm between breeders and pre-breeders
Andreas Betzner
Grains Research & Development Corporation
PO Box 5367
Kingston, ACT 2604
Tel: (02) 6166 4500 E-mail
List of acronyms: CSIRO, Commonwealth Science and Industry Research Organisation; MPBCRC, Collaborative Research Centre for Molecular Plant Breeding; SARDI, South Australian Research & Development Institute; ACPFG Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics; NSWDPI, New South Wales Department of Primary Industries; QDPI, Queensland DPI; DPIVic, DPI of Victoria; DAFWA, Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia.
