Synthetic bread wheats have been created to increase genetic diversity for wheat breeding. We have used DNA markers to identify regions of chromosome in synthetic bread wheats that are associated with increased grain yield and heavier grain. These chromosome regions are potentially novel and could be used for breeding better wheat varieties with higher yields and heavier grain.

Environmental stressing conditions generated by global climate change are affecting the productivity of pasture legumes in many regions. The study showed that an experimental hydroponic growth system allowed the discrimination of plant responses to salt or water-deficit stress and contributed to the identification of the genomic regions associated. The approach used in this study could strengthen forage legume breeding and contribute to the development of cultivars more tolerant to stress conditions.

Virulence in septoria nodorum blotch (SNB) depends largely on three known proteinaceous, necrotrophic effectors to facilitate disease development on wheat cultivars that possess appropriate dominant sensitivity loci and can be used to enhance breeding for SNB resistance. ToxA and SnTox1 effector sensitivity is common in current commercial Western Australian wheat cultivars but disease susceptibility was most closely associated with SnTox3 sensitivity. The data indicate that further chlorosis-inducing protein(s) contribute to disease expression.

Knowledge of the effects of genes can improve the efficiency of wheat breeding. We used grain yields from 208 low rainfall experiments in southern Australia to estimate the effects of genes known to influence development patterns, response to soil pH and plant height. Surprisingly, the version of the gene known to provide tolerance to acid soils increased yields on alkaline soils, and one semi-dwarf type was superior in hot, dry spring conditions, suggesting target combinations for low rainfall, stress environments.

Drought is one of the major abiotic stresses limiting rice production worldwide. Identification of reliable drought tolerance (DT) quantitative trait loci (QTLs) is a prerequisite of breeding variety with DT. Total of 28 DT-related QTLs were identified using two sets of introgression line populations in rice, of which only five were consistently detected in the two backgrounds. It was indicated that expression of DT QTL greatly depends on genetic background. The three validated QTLs will be valuable for marker-assisted rice breeding of DT.

Late foliar diseases, as leaf rust, reduce grain yield as a consequence of grain weight reductions. Although the assimilate reduction is the most accepted hypothesis to explain grain weight decreases, it has not been clearly established whether those reductions could be completely ascribed to source limitations. The results showed in this work support that leaf rust could cause source limitation for grain filling beyond differences in grain weight potential.

Agriculture is a vital component of Tasmania’s state economy and the productivity of agriculture is strongly influenced by climatic conditions and thus potentially vulnerable to future climate change. Biophysical models were used to simulate the growth of two crops; pasture and wheat, for five different regions. The responses of both pasture and wheat for each region to a warming climate indicate that yields will increase, suggesting that currently, these crops are relatively resilient to future climate change.

Sulla is a forage species from the Mediterranean Basin, that has gained interest for cultivation also in New Zealand and Australia. Materials originating from Italy repeatedly proved useful for selection purposes, and this study assessed the diversity among populations from three main Italian regions of species cultivation. Tested in two Italian climatically-contrasting sites, the materials generally showed specific adaptation to either condition, but a few populations from central Italy performed outstandingly across environments suggesting their worth for selecting widely-adapted varieties.