The Application of Carbon Isotope Discrimination in Cereal Improvement for Water-Limited Environments

Abstract

Recently, two new commercial wheat varieties were released for broadacre dryland production in Australia, which were very different from any previous varieties. The varieties Drysdale (released in 2002) and Rees (released in 2003) carry a broad spectrum of disease-resistance genes and produce high-quality flour, as might be expected for new wheat varieties competing in a demanding market. But Drysdale and Rees are unique because they are the first varieties, of any crop species, specifically bred for performance in dry environments using carbon isotope discrimination as an indirect selection criterion.