Graf, J. Robert, Ph.D.

Research Scientist, Winter Wheat Breeding

Contact Information:

5403 - 1 Avenue South
PO Box 3000
Lethbridge, Alberta T1J 4B1
Telephone: 403-317-2258
Fax: 403-382-3156
Email: robert.graf@agr.gc.ca

Areas of Expertise:

• genetic resources
• wheat
• varieties
• breeding systems
• selection
• cultivar development
• plant breeding / reproduction
• crop selection & adaptation
• testing & recommendations
• genetic variation

Current Projects:

• Develop agronomically superior hard red winter wheat cultivars with enhanced disease resistance for eastern Canada and the black soil agri-climatic zones of the Prairies, which require resistance to stem rust, wheat curl mite, leaf rust, Fusarium h
• Develop agronomically superior hard red winter wheat cultivars with enhanced disease and pest resistance for the brown soil agri-climatic zones of the western prairies, which requires resistance to the wheat curl mite, common bunt and the Russian wh
• Develop germplasm that incorporates important characteristics (e.g.: improved or diversified resistance/tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses such as Fusarium head blight, dwarf and common bunt, stem and leaf rust, snow mold, wheat curl mite ...
• Develop distinguishable, super high yielding winter wheat cultivars with excellent agronomic and disease resistance characteristics for use in the bio-based fuel and livestock industries.
• Develop hard red winter wheat cultivars (combining superior yield, agronomic characteristics and disease/pest resistance) with end-use quality characteristics comparable to Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) wheat for the various agri-ecological produ
• Develop hard white winter wheat cultivars for the various agri-ecological production zones of Canada, with superior agronomic traits, appropriate disease/pest resistance and processing/utilization quality for domestic and export markets.
• Wheat Variety Development Funded by the WGRF Wheat Check-off
• Improved food safety and sustainability through the development of winter wheat with improved disease resistance and diversified end use quality attributes
• Incorporation of Fusarium Head Blight resistance into hard red winter wheat cultivars adapted to western Canada.

Affiliations:

• Member, Prairie Recommending Committee for Wheat Rye & Triticale
• Member, Canadian Seed Growers Association
• Ex-Officio Board Member, Alberta Winter Wheat Producers' Commission
• Winter Cereals Coordinator, Alberta Cereal & Oilseed Committee
• Adjunct Professor, University of Alberta, Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Sciences

Recent Publications:

2010:

• Beres, B.L., Clayton, G.W., Harker, K.N., Stevenson, F.C., Blackshaw, R.E., and Graf, R.J. (2010). "A Sustainable Management Package to Improve Winter Wheat Production and Competition with Weeds.", Agronomy Journal, 102(2), pp. 649-657. DOI: 10.2134/agronj2009.0336

2009:

• Badea, A., Eudes, F., Graf, R.J., Laroche, A., Berg, A.E., and Misra, S. (2009). "In vitro evaluation of antimicrobial peptides against Fusarium species.", Canadian Journal of Plant Science, 89(4), pp. 739-743. DOI: 10.4141/CJPS08089
• DePauw, R.M., Fetch Jr., T.G., Hiebert, C.W., Humphreys, D.G., Knox, R.E., Pozniak, C. J., Thomas, J.B., Singh, A.K., Graf, R.J., Randhawa, H.S., Fox, S.L., Brown, P.D., Clarke, F.R., and Clarke, J.M. (2009). "Sources of resistance to stem rust race Ug99 and its variants in Canadian wheat germplasm.", Borlaug Global Rust Initiative (BGRI) 2009 Technical Workshop, Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mexico, March 17-20, 2009, pp. 171-178.
• Sadasivaiah, R.S., Graf, R.J., Randhawa, H.S., Beres, B.L., Perkovic, S.M., and Virginillo, M.A. (2009). "Sadash soft white spring wheat.", Canadian Journal of Plant Science, 89(6), pp. 1099-1106.

2008:

• Badea, A., Eudes, F., Graf, R.J., Laroche, A., Berg, A.E., and Misra, S. (2008). "Phenotypic and marker-assisted evaluation of spring and winter wheat germplasm for resistance to fusarium head blight.", Euphytica, 164(3), pp. 803-819. DOI: 10.1007/s10681-008-9735-0
• Beres, B.L., Bremer, E., Sadasivaiah, R.S., Clarke, J.M., Graf, R.J., McKenzie, R.H., and Dyck, R.J. (2008). "Post-emergence application of N fertilizer to improve grain yield and quality of irrigated durum and bread wheat.", Canadian Journal of Plant Science, 88(3), pp. 509-512.
• Beres, B.L., Eudes, F., Graf, R.J., Spaner, D.M., Salmon, D.F., McLeod, G.J., Dion, Y., Lu, Z.-X., Randhawa, H.S., Laroche, A., Gaudet, D.A., Irvine, R.B., Voldeng, H.D., Martin, R.A., Pageau, D., Comeau, A., Pozniak, C.J., and DePauw, R.M. (2008). "A Pan-Canadian ethanol feedstock study to benchmark the relative performance of triticale.", Plants and Soils: Montreal '08: Joint meeting of the CSHS, CSA and Northeastern Branch ASA-CSSA-SSSA, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada, July 13-16, 2008. (Poster)
• Beres, B.L., Sadasivaiah, R.S., McKenzie, R.H., Graf, R.J., and Dyck, R.J. (2008). "The influence of moisture regime, N management, and cultivar on the agronomic performance and yield stability of soft white spring wheat", Canadian Journal of Plant Science, 88(5), pp. 859-872.
• Hills, M.J., Hall, L.M., Messenger, D.F., Graf, R.J., Beres, B.L., and Eudes, F. (2008). "Evaluation of crossability between triticale (X Triticosecale Wittmack) and common wheat, durum wheat and rye.", Environmental Biosafety Research, 6(4), pp. 249-257. DOI: 10.1051/ebr:2007046

2007:

• Xue, A.G., Tenuta, A.U., Tian, X.L., Sparry, E., Etienne, M., Gaudet, D.A., Menzies, J.G., Graf, R.J., Falk, D.E., Smid, A., and Pandeya, R.S. (2007). "Evaluation of winter wheat genotypes and seed treatments for control of dwarf bunt in Ontario.", Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology/Revue canadienne de phytopathologie, 29(3), pp. 243-250.
• Xue, A.G., Tenuta, A.U., Tian, X.L., Sparry, E., Etienne, M., Gaudet, D.A., Menzies, J.G., Graf, R.J., Falk, D.E., Smid, A., and Pandeya, R.S. (2007). "Evaluation of winter wheat genotypes for reaction to Tilletia controversa in Ontario.", 2007 Annual Meeting of CPS-SCP (with Plant Canada 2007), Saskatoon, SK, Canada, June 10-14, 2007, pp. 140, P1-46. (Poster)

2006:

• Laroche, A., Frick, M., Nilsson, D., Penniket, C., Ramezanpour, S., Genswein, B.M.A., Puchalski, B., Eudes, F., Graf, R.J., Robert, L.S., Ouellet, T., Singh, J., and Gaudet, D.A. (2006). "Alteration of the transcriptome of winter wheat by low temperature.", 4th Canadian Plant Genomics Workshop, Ottawa, ON, Canada, June 19-22, 2006, pp. 59. (Workshop)
• Pandeya, R.S. and Graf, R.J. (2006). "Advancement in FHB resistant cultivar development utilizing Frontana as the resistant donor parent.", CIMMYT Head Blight Workshop on Global Fusarium in 4th World Congress on Computers in Agriculture and Natural Resources Initiative for International Collaboration, El Batán, Mexico, March 14-17, 2006. (Workshop)
• Pandeya, R.S. and Graf, R.J. (2006). "Successful utilization of Fusarium resistance genes from Frontana in the development of FHB resistant winter wheat cultivars.", 9th European Fusarium Seminar, Wageningen, Netherlands, September 19-22, 2006, 4.3.22, pp. 109.

2005:

• Beres, B.L., Clayton, G.W., Harker, K.N., Blackshaw, R.E., and Graf, R.J. (2005). "The integration of crop management tools to enhance the sustainable production of winter cereals.", Canadian Journal of Plant Science, 85(1), pp. 168. (Abstract)
• Dryanova, A., Lu, Z.-X., Puchalski, B., Eudes, F., Graf, R.J., Robert, L.S., Ouellet, T., Singh, J., and Gaudet, D.A. (2005). "Regulation of gene expression in winter wheat.", Functional Genomics of Abiotic Stress Scientific Meeting, Edmonton, AB, Canada, June 14, 2005, pp. 16.
• Frick, M., Nilsson, D., Penner, G.A., Ramezanpour, S., Gaudet, D.A., Eudes, F., Graf, R.J., Robert, L.S., Ouellet, T., Singh, J., and Laroche, A. (2005). "Microarray and real-time PCR analyses of low temperature regulated genes in wheat (Triticum aestivum).", 3rd Canadian Plant Genomics Workshop, Saskatoon, SK, Canada, August 28-31, 2005, pp. 74.
• Nilsson, D., Ramezanpour, S., Frick, M., Penniket, C., Gaudet, D.A., Graf, R.J., Robert, L.S., Ouellet, T., Singh, J., and Laroche, A. (2005). "Characterization of low temperature regulated genes using microarray analysis and real-time PCR in winter wheat (Triticum aestivum).", 2005 Annual Meeting of CPS-SCP (with Plant Canada 2005), University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada, June 15-18, 2005, H2.4, pp. 166.
• Nilsson, D., Ramezanpour, S., Frick, M., Penniket, C., Gaudet, D.A., Graf, R.J., Robert, L.S., Ouellet, T., Singh, J., and Laroche, A. (2005). "Microarray and real-time PCR analyses of low temperature regulated genes in wheat (Triticum aestivum).", Functional Genomics of Abiotic Stress Scientific Meeting, Edmonton, AB, Canada, June 14, 2005, pp. 31.