Registration of ‘Chesapeake’ Wheat

J.M. Costa, A. Cooper, A. Grybauskas, R.J. Kratochvil, Dep. of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742-4452; C.A. Griffey, Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences Dep., Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ., Blacksburg, VA 24061; H.E. Bockelman, USDA-ARS National Small Grains Germplasm Research Facility, Aberdeen, ID 83210; S.E. Cambron, USDA-ARS, Dep. of Entomology, Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN 47907; C. Gaines, USDA-ARS Soft Wheat Quality Lab., Wooster, OH 44691; R.A. Graybosch, USDA-ARS Wheat, Sorghum & Forage Research, Lincoln, NE 68583-0915; Y. Jin, USDA-ARS Cereal Disease Lab., St. Paul, MN 55108; D. Marshall, USDA-ARS, Plant Science Research Unit, Raleigh, NC 27695. Registration by CSSA. Received 2 Oct. 2006. *Corresponding author (costaj@umd.edu). ‘Chesapeake’ (Reg. No. CV-1011, PI 643935) is a soft red winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) that was jointly developed and released by the Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station, Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, and the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station in 2005. Chesapeake is named after the scenic bay that separates Maryland’s and Virginia’s shores. Chesapeake has performed well in Maryland and Virginia. It is a high-yielding cultivar with medium stature, excellent powdery mildew [caused by Blumeria graminis (DC) E.O. Speer f. sp. tritici Ém. Marchal] resistance and early heading date. Chesapeake was derived from the cross VA91-54-222 (‘Roane’“S”) /‘FFR555W’//VA93-52-55 that was made in 1992 at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (VPI&SU). Roane is a cultivar developed by VPI&SU (Griffey et al., 2001). FFR555W is a cultivar developed by FFR Cooperative. VA93-52-55 is an experimental line developed by VPI&SU with the pedigree ‘Massey’ (CItr 17953) (Starling et al., 1984)/‘Balkan’//‘Saluda’ (PI 480474) (Starling et al., 1986). The population was advanced from the F2 to F5 generation using a modifi ed bulk breeding method. Wheat spikes from the population were selected in Virginia in each generation (F2–F5) based on the absence of obvious disease, early maturity, short straw, and desirable head shape and size. Selected spikes were threshed in bulk, and the seed was planted the following fall of each selection year. Spikes selected from the F5:6 bulk were threshed individually and planted in separate headrows in the fall of 1999 at Beltsville, MD. Chesapeake was selected in 2000 as a bulk of one of these F6:7 headrows and assigned the breeding line designation MV5-46. In addition to high grain yield, Chesapeake was selected on the basis of early head emergence and resistance to powdery mildew. Chesapeake was evaluated in the Maryland State Wheat Variety Tests and Virginia State Wheat Variety Tests for 3 yr (2003–2005), and in the USDA-ARS Uniform Eastern (UESRWWN) and Uniform Southern (USSRWWN) Soft Red Winter Wheat Nurseries in 2004 and 2005. Coleoptiles of Chesapeake are white. Juvenile plants exhibit a semi-erect growth habit. Plant color at boot stage (Feekes growth stage 9–10) is blue-green, and a waxy bloom is present on the stem and fl ag leaf sheath. Anther color is yellow. Spikes are tapering, middense, and awnless. Glumes have oblique shoulders and acute beaks. Kernels of Chesapeake are red, soft, and ovate with a crease of medium width and mid-deep depth, rounded cheeks, and a large noncollared brush. Chesapeake carries the 1BL.1RS wheat-rye chromosomal translocation. In state variety trials conducted in Maryland under a conventional tillage regime for 3 yr (2003–2005) at fi ve locations per year, average grain yield of Chesapeake (4640 kg ha−1) was similar to that of the high-yielding cultivar USG 3209 and 300 kg ha−1 higher (P < 0.05) than that of Roane. In these tests, the average grain volume weight of Chesapeake was 735 kg m−3, which was similar to that of Roane and higher (P < 0.05) than that of USG 3209 (722 kg m−3). Head emergence of Chesapeake in Maryland was 1 d earlier (ns) than that of UniSouth Genetics (USG) ‘3209’ and 3 d earlier than Roane (P < 0.05). In Maryland, average plant height of Chesapeake (82.5 cm) was 2.5 cm taller (ns) than that of USG 3209 and similar to that of Roane. Average straw strength (lodging score 0–9) of Chesapeake (0.8) in Maryland was similar to that of USG 3209. On the basis of disease assessments (0 = no visible symptoms to 9 = severe infection) made under fi eld conditions in Maryland in 2005 (fi ve environments), Chesapeake was resistant (P < 0.01) to powdery mildew (score = 0.1) compared with a score of 7.2 for the susceptible check ‘Florida 304’. In Virginia State Wheat Tests conducted under standard treatment (no fungicides) for 3 yr (2003–2005) at fi ve to seven locations per year (n = 19), average grain yield of Chesapeake (4700 kg ha−1) was similar to that of ‘Sisson’ and 270 ha−1 lower (P < 0.05) than that of USG 3209. In these tests, Chesapeake had a test weight of 770 kg m−3, 25 kg m−3 higher (P < 0.05) than that of USG Published in the Journal of Plant Registrations 1:26–27 (2007). doi: 10.3198/jpr2006.10.0630crc © Crop Science Society of America 677 S. Segoe Rd., Madison, WI 53711 USA