Method for improving cereal grains ready for licensing from MSU

Controlling the hardness of cereal grains leads to better grain quality, storage and production, scientists at Montana State University have found. Now the university is ready to license the finding for additional development in wheat, barley and corn.

The technology involves the ability to control the genetic expression of two proteins that together regulate the relative hardness or softness of wheat. In decreasing the grain’s hardness, the scientists also noted decreases in wheat spoilage and decreased starch digestion in the rumen of cows. Similar outcomes are expected in barley and corn, according to Nick Zelver of the MSU Technology Transfer Office.

The benefits of controlling grain hardness include more efficient grain milling and better weight gain in animals. It’s also expected to lead to the development of new and improved human food products through such attributes as increased starch recovery in corn milling, finer textured flours and better barley malting, Zelver said.

Grain hardness or softness refers to kernel strength, and plant scientists discovered the two genes that control that trait by comparing the genetic differences between soft and hard wheats. Manipulating those genes, either with traditional breeding methods or with molecular biological techniques, can lead to harder or softer grains for a variety of end uses, said co-inventor Mike Giroux, associate professor of plant sciences.

Other inventors include MSU plant scientist John Sherwood, graduate student Catlynn Swan, former post-doctoral student Konduru Krishnamurthy and Craig Morris of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Patents for the ability to control grain hardness are pending. Companies interested in licensing the breeding technology should contact Zelver at (406) 994-7868 or email [email protected] by Jan. 31, 2005.

MSU has licensed 62 technologies developed at the university. Fifty-nine of those licenses are with Montana companies, including a herbicide-resistant winter wheat recently licensed to WestBred, a plant breeding company based in Bozeman.

Contact: Nick Zelver, (406) 994-7706 or [email protected]

http://www.montana.edu/commserv/csnews/nwview.php?article=2114