Wheat production and genetic
improvement in China: progress
and perspectives
Zhong-hu He
Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, CAAS
Global Wheat Program, CIMMYT
Outlines

Wheat production

Progress in breeding

Marker development and application

Perspectives
Wheat production
Major crop production in China, average in 2013 and 2014
Crop
Area (mha)
Production (mt)
Yield (t/ha)
Rice
30.3
205
6.8
Wheat
24.0
124
5.1
Maize
36.7
217
5.9
Unique Chinese wheat

The largest producer and consumer in the world, with
the smallest farmer size (0.5ha)

Early maturity suits for double cropping system

Traditional products such as noodles and steamed
bread share 85% market

Chinese wheat production has a great influence on
prices at both domestic and international market
Wheat/maize rotation 75%
Single wheat 5%
Wheat/rice rotation 20%
Chinese wheat production zones
China’s wheat production and averaged
yield, 2000-2014
Factors for improving production

Very favorable policy for grain production, price
doubled, subside policy for seed and machinery

Two varietal replacements

Promotion of mechanization

Significant investment in research and extension
Constrains: high cost

Domestic wheat is 35% more expensive than
international market, associated with increased inputs
and devalue of Chinese Yuan

High inputs caused water shortage and pollution

Strong competition between wheat and maize/cash
crops, farmers shift interest to non-farming activities
Constrains: diseases

Head scab is shifting to the Yellow and Huai Valleys,
due to climate change and continuous wheat-maize
rotation,10 mha extremely serve scab in 2012

New yellow rust race V 26 made all varieties carrying
Yr26/Yr24 lose resistance

Sharp eye spot, powdery mildew, and leaf rust are
more serious than before
Constrains: climate change

Wheat type changed, facultative type replaced winter
type, spring type replaced facultative type

Heading dates advanced about 7 days, maturity
maintained unchanged, grainfilling period extended

Temperature and rainfall fluctuation, extremely low
temperature before heading in 2013 made 2 million ha
wheat yield reduction by 20%
Progress in breeding
1-Yield improvement

Yield potential has always been the top priority

Combination of elite variety and crop management

Delayed sowing and early maturity of wheat allows
long season and high yield for maize,13-15t/ha under
wheat/maize rotation system in one year
Yield potential improvement in Henan,1980-2008
54
10
51
y = -93.76 + 0.05 x
R 2 = 0.69, P <0.01
48
TGW
(g)
Grain yield
(t ha-1)
9.5
y = -725.58 + 0.38 x
R 2 = 0.45,P <0.01
45
9
42
8.5
39
36
8
33
7.5
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
Year of release
2005
2010
30
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
Year of release
Zheng et al, 2011, Field Crop Research,12: 225-233
2005
2010
Yield potential improvement in Shandong, 1970-2008
24000
9.00
A)
21000
-2
8.00
Kernels m
-1
y = 156.07 x - 292538
R 2 = 0.61, P < 0.01
R 2 = 0.67, P < 0.01
8.50
Grain yield (Mg ha )
B)
y = 0.062 x - 116.11
7.50
18000
7.00
15000
6.50
12000
6.00
1965
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
1965
Xiao et al, 2012, Crop Science, 52:44-56
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
Synthetic derived wheat increase yield by 11.5%
Type
Yield (kg/ha)
Grain number/m2
TKW (g)
SD
9231a
18907a
48.1a
NSD
8280b
17886b
45.4b
Increase
11.5%
5.7%
5.9%
SD= synthetic derived, NSD = Not synthetic derived.
Different letters indicate significant at 5%.
Tang et al, 2014, Crop Science, 55: 98-112
Yield gains after 2000

Continuous yield increase achieved, new varieties with
compact plant type and higher HI, better tolerance to heat
and drought during grainfilling period

KN/m2 and/or KW contribute to yield increase

Germplasm is the key factor for yield improvement, use of
elite parents such as Zhou 8425B and synthetic wheat
2- Coping with climate change

Screening for broad adaptation

Breeding for heat tolerance and water use efficiency

Planting winter wheat in spring wheat area
Screening under different planting dates
Normal planting, Oct 3, 2008
XY81
XN1376
Late planting, Nov 6, 2008
XY81
XN1376
Screening for heat tolerance at plastic house
Winter wheat in spring wheat area, yield
increase by 30%, early maturity 10 days
Zhongmai 175 outyielded check
variety at various irrigations
Zhongmai 175 outyielded check variety
at six different fertilizer levels
Summary-breeding

Continuous yield increase has been achieved in China

Development of climate-resilient variety is possible,
genotypes with high yield potential, resource use
efficiency, and broad adaptation can be identified by
multi-location testing

Fast grainfilling rate is a key selection criteria
Molecular marker development
and application
Approach

Focus on gene specific markers, easy use and low cost

Molecular marker development and validation

Optimize available markers from other institutes

Establish high throughput platform
Example

Yellow pigment controlled by Psy genes is an important
factor influencing product color, cloning Psy 1 gene by
comparative genomic approach

Develop gene specific markers based on allelic variations

Validate markers in Chinese wheat varieties
Cloned Psy genes on wheat chr 7A and 7B
Allele
Coding seq
(bp)
Intron
PSY-A1
4177 bp
PSY-B1
3313 bp
cDNA (bp)
Deduced amino acids
5’UTR
ORF
3’UTR
Residues
Mass (kD)
5
221
1284
303
428
47.8
5
222
1263
156
421
47.0
1 2
3
4 5 6
ZMU32
636
ZMU
32636
1
599 5
1
PSY-A1
2
3
4
5
1
4177
1
PSY-B1
6
2
3
4
1
He et al, 2008, TAG, 116: 213-221
5
6
3313
Allelic variants for the Psy-A1 gene on chr 7A
1
Psy-A1a
2
3
4
5
6
1
4177
1
2
3
4
5
6
Untitled
Psy-A1b
1
414 5
1
2
3
Untitled
1
Psy-A1c
He et al, 2008, TAG, 116: 213-221
4
5
6
323 5
PCR amplification with YP7A
Cultivars with high YP
content
194 bp
Cultivars with low YP
content
231 bp
231 bp
194 bp
Validation of YP7A with Chinese varieties
Allele
Accession no
Mean (mg/kg)
Range
Psy-A1a
130
1.80 a
0.62-3.42
Psy-A1b
87
1.35 b
0.35-2.88
Different letters indicate significant difference at P<0.05
He et al, 2008, TAG, 116: 213-221
Markers for quality traits

HMW-GS: Ax2*, Bx7, Bx 7OE, Bx17+By18, Bx14+By15…

LMW-GS: 20 markers for Glu-A3 and Glu-B3

PPO: PPO16, PPO18, PPO29, PPO33

Yellow pigment: Psy-A and Psy-B

Grain hardness: Pina-D1b, Pinb-D1b, Pinb-D1p

Sprouting tolerance: Vp1B3

Starch: Wx-A1, Wx-B1, Wx-D1
Summary of gene specific markers in wheat
Trait
Locus number
Marker number
Allele number
Quality trait
18
58
72
Agronomic trait
11
25
21
Disease resistance
2
14
9
Total
31
97
102
CAAS-CIMMYT
18
40
48
Liu et al, 2012, TAG, 125: 1-10
Marker application

100 markers are routinely used for parent
characterization and advanced lines confirmation

Work together with leading programs on variety
development, focused on processing quality and
disease resistance

Three varieties have been released
New varieties from MAS program
CA998
LX987
Donor
CA1062
CA998
YM34/3*LX987
CA1062
YM34/3*LX987
（Dx5、1BL/1RS）
Disadvantages of gel based markers

All gene specific markers in wheat are PCR-gel based
markers, limitation in breeding application
Higher cost in labor and chemistries
Longer time
Less flexibility and accuracy, needs good
chemistries

skills and quality
Kompetitive Allele Specific PCR (KASP) is the most
desirable technology for SNP genotyping
Desirable flexibility
High-throughput
Low cost
Framework to develop KASP assays

Development




Validation by SNPLINE from LGC



32 KASP markers public available database
40 KASP markers developed by CAAS-CIMMYT
Include all available gene specific markers
384 Chinese varieties
Four mapping populations
Application


Development of central facility for genotyping
Development of breeding chip by adding more SNPs associated
with phenotypes
KASP 12-48 times efficient than PCR markers
Manual PAGE genotyping: 2 or 3 persons
KASP genotyping: 1 person
16 PCR plates (96 samples)/day
48 PCR plates (384/1584)/day
1536 genotypes/day
18,432-86,032 genotypes/day
Tested data on KASP from China

Time: 1500 varieties can be genotyped with 100
available markers in two days

Cost: 3 cents/data point excluding DNA extraction

High consistency with PCR markers
Summary-markers

Comparative genomic approach has been successfully
used in marker development and validation

KASP has great application in breeding program

Shortage of centralized service lab, poor linkage
between breeding program and molecular lab limit
marker application
Perspectives
Challenges

China imports around 20% agri-products, some wheat
import is expected in the future

Wheat consumption is increasing, feed wheat reaches
15-20% depending upon price of wheat and maize

Consumers pay for quality, organic and health food

Can we produce more and better wheat with less
inputs under climate change condition?
Hybrid wheat

China has worked on hybrid wheat over 40 years
without significant impact on farmer field, we
need an new strategy

The implementation of Variety Protection Act
attracted more investment from private sector,
but too many varieties confused poor farmers
New technology

All leading varieties developed by conventional breeding,
marker can play a significant role in improving scab
resistance and pramiding adult plant resistance genes

Sequencing, SNP markers, GWAS, offer great potential, can
we transfer these technologies into practical breeding

GMO with significant investment in China shows a lot of
advantages, but consumer’s acceptance is a question
Conclusion and perspectives

Chinese wheat production faces great challenge in
producing better and more with less inputs

Conventional breeding continues to play a leading role in
improving yield, climate-resilient variety can be developed

Significantly increased use of molecular markers in
breeding, KASP has great potential, and biotechnology
must be integrated into conventional breeding
Acknowledgements
X. C. Xia, X. M. Chen, Y. Yan, Y. Zhang, CAAS
Y. Zhang, A. Rasheed, Y. G. Xiao, CAAS
R. Singh, M. Reynolds, CIMMYT
W. J. Ma, R. Appels, Murdoch University
C. Morris, USDA-ARS, Pullman
Funding organizations

Ministry of Agriculture

Ministry of Science and Technology

National Natural Science Foundation of China

Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences