Evaluation of Canola Cultivars and Lines for Resistance to Diverse Strains of the Blackleg Fungus and Characterization of Resistance
Carl Bradley, North Dakota State University - $25,200
Daniel Phillips, University of Georgia - $9,000

Blackleg disease of canola, caused by the fungus Leptosphaeria maculans has been in the United States since at least the early 1990s. Blackleg can be a very damaging disease causing up to 70% yield reduction in severe cases. The reason for the recent upward trend in blackleg incidence in North Dakota may be due in part to a less-restrictive crop insurance policy allowing canola more often in a rotation and to the presence of highly aggressive isolate of the blackleg fungus in the state. In North Dakota, resistant cultivars have been able to provide adequate protection against blackleg; however, new strains of the blackleg fungus (pathogenicity groups (PG) 3 and 4) have recently been detected. These new strains to North Dakota (especially PG 4) are able to cause yield reductions to our current resistant cultivars.

In the early 1990s, commercial canola production in Georgia suffered major losses from blackleg. In response, researchers began focusing on the development of blackleg-resistant canola cultivars. By screening and selecting for resistance in both Georgia and Australia for several years, they have developed cultivars and breeding lines that possess high-levels of resistance to diverse and highly-aggressive strains of the blackleg fungus.

Objectives:
1. Evaluate canola cultivars for resistance to blackleg in nurseries established in North Dakota and Georgia.
2. Adapt University of Georgia canola lines with excellent resistance to blackleg for maturity to the Northern Plains region.
3. Develop segregating populations from the adapted material that can be used to characterize the genetics of resistance.