The Chairs of our Expert Working Group on Wheat Phenotyping are pleased to invite you to the Pheno Connect- Seminar!
🗓 November 26th, 13:00 CET
💻 Online seminar
🎙 Speaker: Rick van de Zedde (Wageningen University & Research)
Topic: Automated data collection of plant phenotypes - the role of IT-systems, metadata, protocols, etc. for FAIR requirements and practical benefits

To join us, please register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScRHlc3zXWZT0ErEjbRCVJJVssFqWZswqBls5yP6Kiare1ArQ/viewform?usp=header

Close to the date you will receive the link to the seminar.

Our Expert Working Group on Control of Wheat Pathogens has invitedMegan McDonald from the University of Brimingham, UK to this online talk.

The title  of the presentation is Jumping Genes and Pathogenic Schemes: the diverse roles that transposons play in pathogen evolution.

Summary of the talk: Transposons have carried many names since their discovery by Barbara McClintock in 1950. Common names such as “junk-DNA” underplayed their importance in the driving adaptation in the genomes of organisms where they are found. As described by Prof. McClintock transposons have a powerful impact on the phenotype of the host, which we now understand to be driven by several different mechanisms, including gene disruption, exon capture and regulatory changes, among others. Our work over the last several years has sought to understand how transposons drive adaptive evolution in plant pathogenic fungi. Fungal genomes are highly variable in their transposon content and contain many novel transposons that have yet to be functionally characterised. We now have very detailed examples of how transposons drive the duplication, pseduogenisation and horizontal movement of effector genes all of which can have real world impacts on the incidence and severity of disease in the field. This talk will explore two of these examples; firstly the duplication and inactivation of ToxB by helitron transposons and secondly the horizontal movement of the necrotrophic effector ToxA within giant Starship transposons. This work provides a foundation for the study of transposon-mediated effector evolution at the field scale as well as mechanistic studies that leverage the diversity of fungal transposons for novel applications in biotechnology.

The Chairs of the Pathogens EWG look forward to your attendance, and please feel free to share with anyone who may be interested.

This will take place on Thursday, November 20th 2025

(9am Calgary/5pm Berlin/2:30am Adelaide) via the link below.

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The Chairs of our Expert Working Group on Nutrient Use Efficiency apologize for the inconvenience with the last webinar and are pleased to announce a web conference affiliated with the group will be organised in Friday November 14th 2025, 10h00 am – 11h00 am CET.

Registration is mandatory please click here:

https://forms.gle/hC6UXBesFHBoqWYt5

See below the details:

•            Date/ Timeslot : Friday November 14th 2025, 10h00 am – 11h00 am (CET, French Time)

•            Speaker : Clint Della Bosca, farmer (Australia) and chairman of WANTFA (WA No-Till Farming Association)

•            Title of the presentation : “Drive to Increase NUE to balance Production versus Risk in a Low Rainfall Environment”

The Expert Working Group on Wheat Phenotyping will hold their Virtual Annual Meeting. Attandance only by invitation.

Our Expert Working Group on Control of Wheat Pathogens has invited Dr. Paula Silva from the Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agropecuaria (INIA), Uruguay to this online talk.

The title  of the presentation is Genomic and Pathogenic Insights into the Range Expansion of Wheat Blast into Uruguay.

The Chairs of the Pathogens EWG look forward to your attendance, and please feel free to share with anyone who may be interested.

This will take place on Thursday, October the 23, 9 am Calgary time via the link below.

 ________________________________________________________________________________

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The Wheat initiATive Crop Health Alliance – WATCH-A

We are excited to announce the upcoming Wheat Disease and Pest Diagnosis and Monitoring Workshop !

Overview of workshop plan and objectives

Wheat production suffers from major losses due to pests and diseases.  The scale of the problem has been estimated as over 20% of wheat production. This translates to about 180 million tonnes, enough to provide the wheat needs of about 1.8 billion people. 

Although genetic resistance is available to many pests and diseases, these have not been deployed globally and, in many cases, the underlying biology, and hence the potential to maximise the durability of resistance, is unknown.

Given the importance of managing outbreaks of pests and diseases, most countries invest in programs to diagnose and monitor outbreaks and advise growers on the best control strategies.  The WATCH-A program of the Wheat Initiative is seeking to unite scientists from diverse backgrounds and disciplines to collaboratively develop and unified methodologies, build capacity and share resources to minimise the impact of wheat pests and pathogens.  The plan for this workshop is to explore the current approaches used to diagnose and monitor diseases in wheat and assess the potential of new imaging technologies and systems, both at the individual plant and the field level, to rapidly identify the severity and spread of disease.

The outcome of this initial workshop will be the framework for a larger face-to-face meeting in 2026 that would help develop multinational collaborations aimed at sharing information and capabilities to accelerate the development of new imaging systems for pest and disease monitoring.

Date: 18th of September 2025
Berlin (Germany – Berlin) 14:00-17:00

Location: Online

The program is:

For more information, please visit our website https://www.wheatinitiative.org/watcha

We look forward to your participation!

Organised by:
WATCH-A Steering Committee with support from the Wheat Initiative

The Expert Working Group on Wheat Breeding Methods and Strategies invites you to join their webinar!

Dr. Jessie Alt will discuss theoretical and practical implications on wheat breeding at Corteva. She will also discuss Ideas to consider when implementing breeding theory at scale.

11th of July 2025

10:00 AM CDT (Chicago time, USA)

8:00 AM PDT (Los Angeles, USA)

6:00 PM CET (Berlin, Germany)

1:30 AM ACST (Adelaide, Australia)

Please follow the link below to join:

Friday, July 11, 2025

8:30 AM  |  (UTC-06:00) Mountain Time (US & Canada)  |  2 hrs 30 mins  

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The Expert Working Group on Nutrient Use Efficiency are pleased to announce a web conference affiliated with the group will be organised in July 9th 2025 from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm (CET).

Speaker : Dr Juan Pablo Monzon (National Scientific and Technical Research Council, Argentina - Farmer)

Title : Nutrient management in double cropped wheat/soybean in the western of Argentinian pampa

Main topics addressed :

• Description of the agroclimatic context

• Description of the farm

• Means  (ways, management practices, strategies) to improve wheat NUE in this context for yield and/or grain protein.

Remark : it’s the first conference of a series of presentations describing wheat NUE management in contrasting farms/agroclimatic contexts around the world

Click here to register: https://forms.office.com/e/q3yWQTWKUb

The Expert Working Group on Wheat Agronomy supports the Applied Wheat Researchers Community (American Society of Agronomy-ASA) with funding for two Awards.

Poster Competition Award

The ASA Applied Wheat Research Community (formerly the International Wheat Initiative Agronomist Community) invited graduate students working on wheat to participate in a graduate student poster competition at the ASA–CSSA–SSSA Annual Meeting (Salt Lake City, Nov 9–12, 2025). Participants will give a 5 minute ‘rapid’ talk, and then present their poster at a session later in the day. The competition is open to all MS and Ph.D students working on applied wheat topics. We particularly value any research that takes a G by E by M approach to wheat-related issues.

• Entries are evaluated by a panel of wheat researchers on scientific quality, clarity, and practical relevance; judges recuse for conflicts. Written feedback is provided to all participants.

• Cash prizes for 1st (400€), 2nd (300€), and 3rd (200€) place are available. This competition is supported by the Wheat Initiative (WI) Expert Working Group on Wheat Agronomy. Abstract submission deadline was July 8.

Dr. Kelly Turkington, a cereal pathologist with AAFC in Lacombe will give a a presentation titled “ The answer is blowin in the wind: an overview of the Prairie Crop Disease Monitoring Network’s cereal rust risk forecasts”

JUNE 24th 2025 (10am Calgary/5pm Berlin/2:30am Adelaide)

Follow the link to join virtually:

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The co-chairs of the GLOBAL WHEAT GERMPLASM CONSERVATION AND USE COMMUNITY, the EWG-Germplasm , have organised a virtual meeting:

2nd of June 2025

Berlin-Germany 13:00 - 15:00 (CEST)

Delhi-India 16:30-19:30 (IST)

Adelaide-Australia 20:30-23:30 (ASCT)

Please find here the tentative agenda.

The meeting link for the zoom online event is:

Online (Zoom Meeting Link: https://croptrust.zoom.us/j/61303129545

Meeting-ID: 613 0312 9545 Password: 529736

Wheat Field Phenotyping Demo Day , Foggia, ITALY 

Registration is mandatory before April 22, 2025 at this form  https://forms.gle/QByVcyNiRVzTPfFaA

The Expert Working Group on Wheat Phenotyping is organising a Wheat Field Phenotyping Demo Day.

May 13, 2025

9:30- Welcome by Wheat Initiative, Institutional and Local Authorities

10:00-12:30 Field visit and hands-on phenotyping demonstrations:

            Hiphen – (Patrizia Zamberletti) Overview of the Literal system, data acquisition in a wheat trial

            CREA – (Fabio Fania) UAV phenotyping in practice

            CNR/PlantBit – (Michela Janni) In vivo Sensing in practice

            IRTA (Adrian Gracia-Romero) Low-cost phenotyping cereal traits using RGB images

            YieldSystems (Jussi Gillberg) Video intelligence for scalable, accurate phenotyping

13:00-14:00 Light lunch

14:00-16:00 Data Analysis and management session (Hiphen, CREA, IRTA, YieldSystems)

16:00-17:00 Overlook on international Phenotyping initiatives:

            IPPN (IPPN, Philip von Gillhausen)

            EMPHASIS (EMPHASIS, Susie Robinson)

            PHENET (INRAE, Bertrand Muller)

            GlobalWheat (ETH, Andreas Hund)

            PhenItaly (CNR, Silvana Moscatelli)

17:00 Wrap-up conclusions and transfer to city center (hotels, train/bus station)

Registration is mandatory before April 22, 2025 at link:  https://forms.gle/QByVcyNiRVzTPfFaA

For any other further information: michela.janni(a)cnr.it , nicola.pecchioni(a)crea.gov.it

Organizing Committee:

Michela Janni, CNR

Nicola Pecchioni, CREA

Pasquale De Vita, CREA

Rossano Clementi, CREA

Daniela Pacifico, CREA

Fabio Fania, CREA

Ivano Pecorella, CREA

Patrizio Spadanuda, UNIFG, CREA

 Wheat Initiative

Please register here before April 22, 2025 at this  https://forms.gle/QByVcyNiRVzTPfFaA

The Expert Working Group on Wheat pathogens invites you to join in to their next webinar! The invited speaker is Dr. Liu Zhaohui from North Dakota State University. His talk titled “Further Dissecting Genetics of Virulence in Wheat Tan Spot Pathogen Pyrenophora tritici-repentis”. Please feel free to foreward and share to those who are interested.

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Our Expert Working Group on Wheat Pathogens invites you to participate in the webinar on Thursday, March 20 at 9h Calgary time/ 16h Berlin / 1.30h 21st Adelaide time.

The invited Speaker is Dr. Daniel Croll, Professor of Evolutionary Genetics and Director of the Institute of Biology at the University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland. His presentation titled: “Understanding mechanisms of crop pathogen emergence using large genome panels”.

Please feel free to FW this to those who are interested.

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“Stripe rust resistance in hard winter wheat”

Dr. Meriem Aoun is an assistant professor at Oklahoma State University, USA.

Her talk is titled: Stripe rust resistance in hard winter wheat.

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The Expert Working Group on Nutrient Use Efficiency are pleased to announce the first web conference affiliated with the group will be organised in February 28th 2025 from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm (CET).

PLEASE REGISTER HERE.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSclJPz_55JjfLIBZM1RKb8r-48_Wef5Q7bscPNVxj-jkLH5Og/viewform?usp=dialog

You will find below more details about this event:

01:00 pm - brief introduction (EWG chairs)

01:05- scientific talk :

Title: Understanding Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Wheat

Main speaker: Dr. Amanda De Oliveira Silva (USA - Oklahoma State University)

Brief description of the talk:

The goal of this talk is to provide an overview of the different definitions of NUE across disciplines and their implications for agronomy, particularly in wheat management:

• Introduction on the importance of NUE in wheat production and use of N fertilizers globally

• Discussion on the different metrics and definitions, including its components (NUpE and NUtE).

• Relevance to agronomy, plant physiology, and environment, as well as the strengths and limitations of each in the context of wheat production.

01:35 - Q/A

01:50 - conclusion, further events (EWG chairs)

02:00 pm - end of the web conference

“Suppression of resistance genes transferred between ploidy levels”

Abstract

Leaf rust, stem rust, and stripe rust are important diseases of wheat that can be controlled using host genetic resistance. There are different strategies to achieve resistance including discovering new, effective rust resistance genes that can be utilized by breeders to develop resistant cultivars. There are an array of sources that can serve as potential reservoirs of new genes including hexaploid wheat, progenitor species, and distant relatives. In some instances, genes are transferred to hexaploid wheat from a related species but the resistant phenotype is not expressed. Suppression can be a barrier to transferring resistance between species and ploidy levels. We will look at some examples of suppressors, and resistance that is suppressed when crossing ploidy levels. While there are examples of genes that prevent suppression (nonsuppressors), currently there is no “one stop shop” solution to circumvent all instances of suppression when transferring resistance genes to wheat.

Biography 

Colin is a wheat geneticist with AAFC at the Morden Research and Development Centre in Morden, MB. He completed his Ph.D at the University of Manitoba in 2008 and joined AAFC in his current position in 2010. Colin’s program focuses on disease resistance genes including discovering new R genes, gene interactions, marker development, gene cloning, cytogenetics, and suppression of resistance. Away from work, Colin enjoys many activities such as coaching hockey, playing guitar, backpacking, and maintaining his backyard hockey rink (winter only, Manitoba does actually have summer).

The link to the webinar:

________________________________________________________________________________

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The WheatIS EWG is holding their annual meeting at PAG in hybrid.

You are invited to join the meeting:

On site: room California 1 (cf. map in attachment)
Remotely: https://inrae-fr.zoom.us/my/malaux
Audience: the meeting is primarily intended for members of the EWG, but feel free to invite any colleagues interested in the field (on site or remotely).

 Schedule: Friday, January 10, 10 AM to 12 PM California time (Pacific Standard Time PST).

San Diego , USA – California, Friday, 10th Jan 2025, 10:00h

Berlin, Germany Friday 10th Jan 2025, 19:00h

Adelaide, Australia Sat 11. Januar 2025, 04:30h

Agenda:
•    Round table and WheatIS EWG news (10:00 - 10:15, Michael Alaux)
•    Follow-up of AI at INRAE-URGI (10:15 – 10:30, Cyril Pommier / Raphaël Flores): 10 min presentation + 5 min question
•    Machine learning to predict end-use quality in wheat (10:30 – 11:55, Muhammad Afzal, ECR travel awardee): 15 min presentation+ 10 min question
•    AI in GrainGenes (11:55 - 11:20, Taner Sen): 15 min presentation+ 10 min question
•    AI at University Western Australia (11:20 – 11:45, Dave Edwards): 15 min presentation+ 10 min question
•    Plan for 2025 (budget, activities, ECRs) (11:45 - 12:00, Michael Alaux)

Updates from the International Wheat Congress: a durum wheat perspective

https://wheatinitiative.webex.com/wheatinitiative/j.php?MTID=md61a89fe68cbb18a72f9700f458cb8ce

Meeting number 2780 626 2989   Meeting password ccXTV3MDK23

In September 2024 wheat scientists have met in Perth (Australia) for the 3rd International Wheat Congress (IWC), the event was well attended, nevertheless the durum wheat community was underrepresented. To keep the durum community updated on the most recent advancements on wheat science with potential impact on durum wheat breeding, the chairs of the EWG on durum wheat have selected 4 of the most relevant presentations and asked the speakers to report in this Virtual Durum Meeting.

The final presentation will be dedicated to a new initiative of the EWG for the establishment of a panel of durum wheat carrying value sources on Fusarium Head Blight resistance.

The 6th Virtual Durum Meeting starts at 3.00 pm Central European Time

Chairs: Karim Ammar & Agata Gadaleta

Programme

Join the Expert Working Group on Wheat Pathogens in their webinar:

Dr. Guus Bakkeren and his talk “Tackling wheat leaf rust through pathogen and host genomics”.

Dr. Guus Bakkeren is a research scientists in Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Summerland BC. He has been working on plant pathogen interactions for the past 30 years and with a focus on effectors and fungal pathogens such as smut and cereal rust. The abstract of his talk: The basidiomycete fungus Puccinia triticina (Pt), causing Wheat Leaf Rust disease, is an obligate pathogen of wheat and is a worldwide scourge resulting in significant crop losses annually. The genomics era has in a major way advanced insight into the biology and the evolution of the populations of this fungus, as well as the interaction with its host including defense responses in wheat. I will present an assessment of genetic diversity and mating types among a large collection of Canadian, US and Mexican fungal isolates using whole genome and RNA-derived sequences and put this NA population diversity in a global context. I will also outline approaches to identify and assess functions of Pt avirulence effectors.

________________________________________________________________________________

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Join the Expert Working Group on Wheat Pathogens in their webinar:

Dr. Beat Keller and his talk “Genetic and functional analysis of complex host – pathogen interactions in the wheat - powdery mildew pathosystem”.

Professor Beat Keller serves as the Head of the Molecular Plant Biology and Phytopathology Group within the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology at the University of Zurich, Switzerland. His contributions to wheat genomics and the investigation of wheat resistance to fungal pathogens have been substantial. Notably, his collaboration with the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium led to the completion of the first high-quality wheat genome.

Recently, Dr. Keller's research has concentrated on the molecular interactions between wheat and the powdery mildew pathogen. While his primary focus is on understanding the molecular basis of resistance in wheat, barley, and rye, his findings also have significant implications for plant breeding. Furthermore, his work has prompted important discussions regarding the role of innovative technologies in ensuring food security and reducing pesticide use.

The talk will be held via MS team on Thursday, Oct 31, at 9 am Calgary time.

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Thank you for your interest in our in-person meeting of our Pathogens EWG Meeting Registration for this satellite meeting is free. If participants plan to attend the International Wheat Congress 2024 (IWC2024), they will have to register and pay separately.

Find the Presentation Schedule here: Presentation Schedule

The meeting will start on September 21st at 9:00hrs (Perth/AU Time) am and will close on 18:00Hrs (Perth/AU Time).

To attend pre-registration is mandatory.

--- Deadline for registration is August 30, 2024 ----

Pre-registration has closed.

!NOTE TO EARLY CAREER RESEARCHERS! The EWG will hold oral presentation prizes for early career researchers (ECRs) at the symposium. To be eligible, non-member ECRs will need to sign up for Wheat Initiative EWG ECR membership before the Symposium. It's free! You can sign up for membership by following the instructions found in this link (download application form). The winner will receive 300€ (Euro) and runner-up will receive 200€ (Euro). The winner and runner-up will be required to contribute to the Wheat Initiative newsletter thereafter by providing a snapshot of their research and a researcher profile. Great exposure of your research and looks good on the CV!

We look forward for your active participation!

Symposium location

Curtin University of Technology, Bentley Campus

Building 300 Room 217 (300.217:CT)

We will put signs up around the place on the day of the symposium

How to get here?

If you have already booked your accommodation in the city centre near the Perth Convention Centre where the IWC will be held, you can easily catch public transport (https://www.transperth.wa.gov.au/). The Elizabeth Quay Busport and Train station is next to the Perth Convention Centre. You can take;

1.    Take buses 34 and 72 from the Elizabeth Quay Bus Port directly to the Curtin University Hayman Road Busport adjacent to the symposium venue.

2.    Take a train on the Mandurah Line from the Elizabeth Quay Train station. Alight at the Canning Bridge Station. Catch bus 101 to the Curtin University Hayman Road Busport adjacent to the symposium venue.

The other alternative is to take a taxi or ride shares (Ola, DiDi or Uber). There won’t be any traffic jams on a Saturday morning.

Accommodation

If you seek accommodation closer to the symposium venue at Curtin University, try the ‘Nesuto Curtin Perth Hotel’ (https://www.nesuto.com/curtin). It is a new hotel located at Curtin University.

Local restaurants

You can find a few local restaurants and fast-food joints at the Waterford Plaza. But I recommend taking a short trip (via bus) to Victoria Park for more choices.

June Webinar: “Wheat disease monitoring and diagnostics in Alberta, Canada.” by MICHAEL HARDING

9 am Calgary /5 pm Berlin/ 4 pm London

Dr. Michael Harding is the Crop Health Assurance Lead for Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation. He received his BSc in Biology from the University of Lethbridge in 1996, and his PhD in Plant Pathology from the University of Arizona in 2004.  Dr. Harding leads crop disease monitoring and surveillance in Alberta and assists with crop health diagnostics. He is also active in research on sanitization and disinfection of agriculture and food surfaces and biofilm microbiology.

Link will be included shortly

“Integration of Enviromics into genetics and breeding”

In natural conditions, environmental conditions play a significant role in shaping phenotypic variation. However, effectively integrating the environmental contributions into genetic analyses and breeding programs remains a challenge. One key bottleneck is identifying key environmental variables from comprehensive whole-season external weather profiles that are associated with phenotypic variation. This webinar will first introduce the CERIS-JGRA framework designed to identify and integrate major environmental variables. This simple and straightforward framework provides an approach for comprehending and predicting phenotype values, thus enhancing our ability to develop resilient crop varieties. Then I will delve into the enviromic prediction approach, which leverages machine learning and deep learning to forecast crop performance over temporal and spatial scales.

Link:

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