Baking&Snack - July 2011 - 32

WHEAT IMPROVEMENT

Here and Abroad
About 30% of the world wheat market will want non-GM wheat, according to William Wilson, PhD, university distinguished professor, Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, referring to spring-planted hard wheat. “That 30% includes Japan, Europe and a few other countries around the world, plus organic food manufacturers, which represent about 3% of the market,” he explained. Because half of the US wheat crop is exported, the wheat improvement community needs direction on export markets, said Roger Salameh, vice-president of business development, Arcadia traits related to climate change such as water use efficiency, nitrogen use efficiency, disease resistance, stability and low-temperature tolerance. Public efforts also include overseas organizations, notably Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) and CIMMYT, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, a nonprofit headquartered in Mexico. But by far, it’s the private sector that’s making most of the new research investments. “The past 18 months have seen a tremendous amount of new private dollars flowing into wheat development,” Dr. Peterson observed. CONVERGING AGENDAS. With revitalized interest in the economics of wheat, life sciences companies stepped up their involvement. Many jump-started their work by acquiring existing breeders and seed companies. In 2009, Monsanto leapt back in with its acquisition of WestBred, Bozeman, MT. Limagrain, based in France and the largest seed company in Europe, started actively acquiring breeders in North America. Other such companies with positions in wheat breeding include Arcadia Biosciences, BASF, Bayer CropScience, Dow AgroSciences, DuPont Pioneer and Syngenta. “Before, it was one company pushing one trait,” Dr. Wilson said, “but today, it is six or eight companies with a lot of traits.” The life sciences companies recognize that wheat is fundamentally difBiosciences, Davis, CA. Segregation of crops will be necessary. “This will present a big hurdle for international trade should biotech wheat be introduced in the US,” said Lee Sanders, senior vice-president, government relations and public affairs, American Bakers Association. “You have to iron out such trade issues in advance, or else your hands will be tied.” That segregation will extend to US supply chains, too. “If [bakers] want the new varieties, it will involve identity preservation and separate distribution chains,” Ms. Sanders added. Nitrogen and water usage efficiency are both GM traits of interest, Dr. Peterson noted. “But Limagrain also does a lot with non-GM technologies, including breeding with doubled haploids and markers,” he added. “GM trait development requires significant financial investment and time to satisfy regulatory requirements. Commercialization is still a number of years away in the US,” Dr. Peterson said. “We want to be ready when the time is right and consumer and industry attitudes are accepting.” End users agree. “We have been talking to the life sciences companies,” said Hayden Wands, director of procurement for The Earthgrains Co., Downers Grove, IL. “And we say, ‘Give us a product with end benefits to the consumer such as higher folic acid, vitamin or mineral content.’ We’re asking this of the traditional breeders, too. “The US should offer [wheat] quality you can’t buy elsewhere around the world,” Mr. Wands said. UNDER THE HOOD. Also making a big difference is all the new technology available. “The good news is that there is a huge potential for improving wheat by [non-GM] breeding techniques long before biotech comes along,” Mr. Gardner said. For one thing, the cost of DNA analysis dropped significantly since 2008. Dr. Morris observed that 10 years ago, it cost 5¢ per DNA base; today it’s 5¢ per 215,000 bases. Marker-assisted selection (MAS) provides another important tool. A

ferent than soy or corn and not just in its hexaploid genetics. “When working with a bulk commodity crop such as soy, the focus will be on yield, although Monsanto also works on nutritionally enhanced soy, which involves quality aspects,” said Sean Gardner, business lead, sugarcane and wheat, Monsanto. “It is not the same for wheat, which already has many classes with specific functional and quality attributes.” Mr. Gardner said that millers and bakers have questioned the basis for wheat improvement efforts. “I want to emphasize that function and quality are features of our plans,” he noted, “and we have been very explicit on this aspect during the past year. We collaborate and test on wheat with panels of millers and bakers.” Initial projects at Monsanto will build on the legacy of WestBred’s programs. “Further along, we will look at other new technologies such as markerassisted selection to screen for traits and quality at earlier points in the process,” Mr. Gardner said. Arcadia Biosciences, Davis, CA, targets the agronomic and nutritional profiles of wheat, according to Roger Salameh, vice-president of business development. He identified qualities of interest to include resistant starch, high amylose content and high fiber. Sustainability also figures into Arcadia’s plans in the form of a nitrogenuse-efficiency trait. “This is related to greenhouse gas generation,” Mr. Salameh explained, “because it addresses reducing emissions while increasing yields per unit of nitrogen applied.”

BAKING & SNACK / July 2011

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Baking&Snack - July 2011

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