Manipulation of bolting time for improved quality and greater sustainability in lettuce production

这个项目将在华威大学(前国际园艺研究中心)的华威HRI进行，旨在了解控制生菜抽苔的分子机制。2005年，英国种植了超过6,000公顷生菜，市场价值超过8000万GB(资料来源：DEFRA统计，2005年)。生菜种植者面临的一个主要问题是，在收获之前，生菜有时会在田里开始抽苔(即开花)。虽然处于抽蕾早期阶段的植物与未抽蕾的植物明显难以区分，但叶片中次生代谢物的产生发生了变化。这些化合物可能有助于保护幼嫩的花蕾免受虫害，但会给生菜带来苦涩和难闻的味道，并使作物无法销售。在商业生菜品种中，延迟抽苔或更强的田间保持能力是一个可取的特征，因为它保持了出售供消费的生菜的质量，并通过减少作物损失和浪费增加了可持续性。这个项目将利用从模式植物研究中获得的关于控制开花时间的分子机制的广泛知识，例如拟南芥。与这些模式物种中已知的控制开花的基因同源的生菜基因将被识别出来。这将是一个很好的目标，可以在其中诱导变异，以影响抽苔/开花时间的控制。例如，导致早熟的基因失活可能会导致晚熟，这意味着该生菜品种在收获前不太可能在田间抽蕾。更多地了解控制作物开花的分子机制，以及在作物中进化出的对开花产生强大影响的自然变异，也将拓宽我们对开花过程的理解。该项目是将知识从模型转移到农作物的最好例子。

This project will take place at Warwick HRI in the University of Warwick (formerly the Horticultural Research International) and is aimed at understanding the molecular mechanisms controlling bolting in lettuce. Over 6,000 ha of lettuce, with a market value of over £80 million, was grown in the UK in 2005 (source DEFRA statistics, 2005). A major problem for lettuce growers is that the crop will sometimes initiate bolting (i.e. flowering) in the field before it is harvested. Whilst plants that are in the early stages of bolting are visibly indistinguishable from non-bolting plants, there are changes in the production of secondary metabolites in the leaves. These compounds may serve to protect the young floral buds from insect attack but give the lettuce plant a bitter and unpleasant taste and render the crop unsaleable. Delayed bolting, or greater holding ability in the field, is a desirable trait in commercial lettuce varieties as it preserves the quality of lettuces sold for consumption, and increases sustainability by reducing crop losses and wastage. This project will exploit the extensive knowledge on molecular mechanisms controlling flowering time gained from the study of model plants such as Arabidopsis. Lettuce genes that are homologous to genes known to control flowering in these model species will be identified. These will be good targets in which to induce variation in order to affect the control of bolting/flowering time. Inactivation of a gene that causes early bolting, for example, may cause later bolting which would mean that that lettuce variety will be less likely to bolt in the field before it is harvested. A greater understanding of the molecular mechanisms controlling flowering in crop species, and the natural variation that has evolved in crops to exert a robust effect on flowering, will also broaden our understanding of the flowering process. This project is a prime example of knowledge transfer from model to crop plants.