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Australian grain production has long been a source of agricultural wealth, feeding the nation and contributing to global food supplies. Yet for many years, Australian grain production was constrained by a silent threat – a microscopic enemy that can damage crops and livelihoods. This enemy is the cereal cyst nematode (CCN) – a parasitic roundworm that silently feeds on plant roots, stunting growth and dramatically reducing yields.
For decades, CCN remained a mysterious culprit, causing significant yield losses for Australian grain growers, particularly in southern regions. In the early 20th century, average losses were about 25 per cent, posing a significant threat to agricultural output. With the cause unknown, grain growers had no means of overcoming the unseen menace.
But, groundbreaking research conducted at the University of Adelaide’s Waite Campus (“the Waite”) provided beacons of hope and ultimately sustainable solutions. Celebrating 100 years since its establishment in 1924, the Waite has been a powerhouse of agricultural innovation for a century.
The battle against CCN wasn’t a quick fix, but a testament to sustained scientific effort spanning decades.
James Davidson, a leading entomologist at the Waite, was the first to report the presence of CCN in Australian soil. He described the damage that CCN causes to plant roots and recognised that CCN had been limiting cereal yields for decades. He proposed that resistant cereal varieties would be the most effective option to control the problem.
Other reports soon followed, confirming the prevalence of CCN in South Australia and Victoria, and showing that crop rotation could limit damage.
Despite these early discoveries, CCN received relatively little scientific attention in the 1940s and 1950s, partly due to a shortage of specialists able to undertake the work.
Interest in CCN was reignited in 1965, when Harry Wallace (then at CSIRO, but later at the Waite Agricultural Research Institute) defined priorities for research that could help control CCN
in Australia.
In addressing these priorities, Waite nematologist John Fisher began to make important discoveries about how CCN damages cereal crops and how to screen for CCN resistance.
Sources of CCN resistance were discovered in barley, wheat and oats. For barley, the key sources of resistance were from northern Africa.
For wheat, ‘Festiguay’, a variety from NSW, was particularly important. Trevor Dillon (South Australian Department of Agriculture) and Albert Rovira (CSIRO) noticed that wheat did better when grown on land where Festiguay had previously been grown. Growers said that Festiguay “sweetened the soil”.
For oats, resistance came from multiple sources. Breeders began to use these sources for crossing, aiming to develop varieties that could resist CCN while also satisfying other needs of growers and industry.
A very significant breakthrough came in 1981 when the University of Adelaide released a CCN-resistant feed barley variety, ‘Galleon’.
Galleon was developed by David Sparrow, who has been described as Australia’s greatest barley breeder. When Galleon was grown, CCN populations dropped in agricultural soils, reducing
the threat to subsequent crops,
especially wheat.
The first resistant/tolerant oats were released in 1988 by Andrew Barr (South Australian Research and Development Institute). Full scale commercial production occurred in the 1990s.
Breeding work continued throughout the 1990s, aiming to combine CCN resistance with other important traits. Waite plant breeders developed CCN-resistant wheat (Tony Rathjen, University of Adelaide) and triticale (Kath Cooper, University of Adelaide).
Meanwhile, advances in molecular genetics allowed Waite researchers, led by Peter Langridge (University of Adelaide), to genetically map CCN resistance genes and develop DNA markers for use in molecular plant breeding.
In 2001, the University of Adelaide released Sloop SA, a CCN-resistant variety of malting barley that Andrew Barr (by then leading the University of Adelaide barley breeding program) had developed using molecular breeding.
Research on CCN continued, harnessing new technology. The South Australian Research and Development Institute (Kathy Ophel-Keller and Alan McKay) developed a DNA-based soil testing service, making it possible to assess CCN risk in individual paddocks.
The University of Adelaide (Diane Mather) developed improved DNA markers for use by plant breeders, while also applying laser imaging and 3D modeling to investigate how CCN infects and damages plant roots.
The development and adoption of CCN-resistant varieties was a game-changer for the Australian grain industry. Resistant crops brought CCN under control, slashing average yield losses from 25 per cent to a mere 3 per cent. This translates to at least $700 million saved annually for Australian grain growers – a testament to the enduring impact of research conducted at the Waite.
The story of the fight against CCN exemplifies the spirit of the Waite Campus – a spirit of collaboration, innovation and a relentless pursuit of new scientific knowledge to deliver solutions to critical agricultural challenges. For a century, the Waite Campus has served as a cornerstone of Australian agricultural innovation, and its ongoing research continues to ensure a thriving and resilient grains industry for generations to come.
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