SBIR Phase I: Increasing Wheat Yield Through Enhanced Plant Architecture

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目旨在通过使用TILLING（一种反向遗传学工具）来提高小麦产量，以确定四倍体和六倍体小麦中候选小麦产量基因的新等位基因。在小麦等基因组结构更复杂、基因组工具不太先进的作物中，植物结构许多方面的主要基因尚未确定。然而，由于功能保守，水稻（和其他作物）中调节性状的基因可能在小麦中发挥类似的作用。一旦鉴定出这些基因的新等位基因，随后将评估它们改变小麦结构和提高温室和田间产量的能力。作为一种非转基因技术，TILLING的产品可以迅速走向商业化，并且不会面临市场或监管限制。如果成功，该项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力将是小麦产量提高的经济影响。美国是全球最大的小麦出口国，但美国小麦在全球和国内的竞争力正在显著下降。自20世纪80年代以来，种植面积下降了30%，这在很大程度上是由于来自其他回报更高的作物的竞争。 农民从小麦获得的净收益一直是玉米和大豆的一半或更少。保守估计，该项目使产量增加5%，美国农民每年创造的价值估计超过30美元/公顷。此外，仅在美国，这项研究为种子公司带来的高产小麦品种的价值每年就超过4000万美元。通过将植物结构基因的有利等位基因纳入商业小麦育种计划，相信该项目将为提高美国小麦的竞争力做出重大贡献。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims to increase yield in wheat by using TILLING, a reverse genetics tool, to identify novel alleles of candidate wheat yield genes in tetraploid and hexaploid wheat. In crops such as wheat with more complex genome structures and less advanced genomic tools, the major genes underlying many aspects of plant architecture are yet to be identified. However, due to functional conservation, genes regulating traits in rice (and other crops) are likely to play similar roles in wheat. Once new alleles of these genes have been identified they will be subsequently evaluated for the ability to alter wheat architecture and improve yield in the greenhouse and in the field. As a non-GM technology, products from TILLING can rapidly advance to commercialization and do not face market or regulatory restrictions. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project, if successful, will be the economic impact of improved wheat yields. The U.S. is the largest wheat exporter globally, yet the competitiveness of U.S. wheat, both globally and domestically, is declining significantly. Planted acreage is down thirty percent since the 1980s, in large part due to competition from other crops with higher returns. Net returns to farmers from wheat are consistently half or less than that from corn and soy. With a conservative 5% increase in yield resulting from this project, the yearly value creation to the U.S. farmer is estimated at over $30/hectare. In addition, the value of higher yielding wheat varieties to a seed company arising from this research in the U.S. alone is more than $40 million annually. By incorporating favorable alleles of plant architecture genes into a commercial wheat breeding program, it is believed that this project will make a significant contribution to improving the competitiveness of U.S. wheat.