Development of Drought Tolerant Alfalfa for Western Canada
Project Title
Generating Climate Smart Alfalfa Through an Integrated Approach Targeting Beneficial Root and Carbon Assimilation Traits
Researchers
Allan Feurtado [email protected]
Bill Biligetu, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Saskatchewan Maryse Bourgault, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Saskatchewan
| Status | Project Code |
|---|---|
| In progress. Results expected in December, 2028 | FRG.13.21 |
Background
Currently available alfalfa varieties are one of the available forages that can withstand drought. But while alfalfa is able to withstand drought conditions yield drastically decreases and longevity of stands can be compromised with prolonged drought.
Previous research has discovered some genetic factor related to factors that make alfalfa more drought tolerant but more information is needed to truly understand the genes and mechanism that contribute to dought tolerance and allow breeders to select for vaireites that perform better under drought conditions.
It is logical that roots play a large roll inhow productive alfalfa plants can be under drought but again relivly little work has been done to understand root dynamics in alafla.
This team wants to explore root dynamics as well as the genetics and mechanism behind drought tolerance in alfalfa to help breed better, more productive alafafa varieties that can withstand drought conditions.
Objectives
Our ultimate goal will be to develop new drought-tolerant alfalfa germplasm and provide information on drought-tolerant shoot and root trait mechanisms.
- Evaluate alfalfa root system diversity and drought tolerance
- Establish an alfalfa nursery for drought tolerance breeding and root architecture evaluation
- Perform integrated omics analyses to identify key genes associated with alfalfa performance under drought
- Develop new drought-tolerant alfalfa populations with improved forage yield
What they will do
These researchers plan to develop alfalfa populations which display greater drought-resilience and will use alfalfa adapted to salt tolerance, grazing tolerance, and yellow-flowered varieties that are shown to be persistent as a starting point. And will use Halo, Rangelander and Beaver alfalfa varieties as check varieties. They will simulate drought / heat stress in a greenhouse and will assess differences in root system structure with precision phenotyping systems. The researchers will also perform analyses to determine which genes and regions in the alfalfa genome are associated with drought tolerance, from which a marker could be developed for more efficient drought-tolerance screening. A field nursery will be established to assess drought tolerance, carbon assimilation, root traits, and agronomic traits such as biomass yield. They will develop at least 3 new alfalfa populations based on the knowledge gained from the project.
- Develop drought-tolerant breeding populations.
- Create a root system knowledge base for western Canadian alfalfa.
- Identify candidate genes associated with alfalfa productivity under drought.
- Train a Ph.D. student with expertise in drought-tolerant alfalfa breeding and research.
Implications
This project helps us learn more about root dynamics in alfalfa which should lead to breeding alfalfa that have robust root systems better adapted to our prairie environments and is therefore more resilient to drought and other stressors. The cross-disciplinary approach includes the development of genomic tools to help breeders and focuses on developing alfalfa in the field which are able to carry-out photosynthesis and successfully produce biomass under drought (water-limited) conditions.