A 'breeder's tool kit' to improve Hagberg Falling Number for the economic and environmental sustainability of UK wheat

收获的小麦作物通常会被评估几个质量属性，这些属性会影响其面粉制作面包的能力，也会影响磨坊主支付给农民的钱。其中一个这样的参数被称为哈格伯格下降指数(HFN)，它是对一条面包所具有的特性的间接测量。例如，低HFN的小麦会生产出很难切片的面包，因为面包屑很粘。因此，磨坊和其他终端用户避免购买HFN值低于固定数值的小麦谷物。低HFN小麦会造成浪费和资源利用效率低下，从而对环境产生负面影响。与小麦的其他问题不同，小麦的问题可以通过农艺措施或通过疾病管理来纠正，HFN受到环境的严重影响，不容易通过这些手段加以改善。这在英国的环境中尤其相关，因为夏季的寒冷和潮湿被认为可以减少HFN。因此，对农民来说，种植高HFN小麦最有效、最可靠的方法是选择合适的品种。不幸的是，由于缺乏对可能影响HFN的基因或整个基因组区域的了解，育种者很难培育出高HFN品种。通过之前资助的Defra-BBSRC项目，我们在了解英国小麦品种中HFN的变异方面取得了重要进展，并在发现影响这一特性的基因组区域方面迈出了第一步。尽管有这些令人鼓舞的结果，但我们在开发育种者将这些知识转化为改良的商业小麦品种所需的工具方面仍然不足。该项目试图通过开发一种有助于实现这一目标的“繁育者工具包”来解决这一限制。我们在先前项目中进行的实验的基础上，选择了我们知道影响HFN的六个小麦基因组区域。我们现在将磨练和开发关于这些地区的更准确的信息。这将产生定义更好的遗传图谱，育种者可以使用这些图谱来导航小麦基因组，并将他们的育种努力更有效地集中在那些包含影响HFN的基因的位置。我们将调查这些地区如何影响育种者和农民感兴趣的农艺性状，如产量和其他品质性状。我们还将以不同的组合组合这六个地区，以更好地了解它们是如何协同工作的，以及如果我们能够培育出更具弹性的品种，这些品种将具有高HFN值，而不受天气条件的影响。我们还将调查这些区域如何影响HFN的基础生物学。总而言之，这些信息将使英国植物育种者能够开发出新的、更具竞争力的小麦品种，减少环境足迹，提高谷物质量。

A harvested wheat crop is normally assessed for several quality attributes that influence the ability of its flour to make bread and also affect the money paid to farmers by millers. One such parameter is called Hagberg Falling Number (HFN) which is an indirect measure of the properties that a loaf of bread will have. For example, wheat with low HFN will produce bread that is very difficult to slice because of sticky crumb. Therefore, millers and other end-users avoid buying wheat grain that has a HFN value below a fixed number. Low HFN wheat impacts negatively on the environment as it produces wastage and inefficient use of resources. Unlike other problems in wheat which can be corrected by agronomic practices or through disease management, HFN is heavily influenced by the environment and cannot be easily improved by these means. This is especially relevant in the UK environment as cold and wet periods during the summer are thought to reduce HFN. Therefore, the most effective and reliable way for a farmer to grow high HFN wheat is proper varietal selection. Unfortunately, it is very difficult for breeders to develop high HFN varieties due to lack of knowledge of the genes, or regions throughout the genome, which might influence HFN. Through a previously funded Defra-BBSRC project we have made important progress in understanding the variation for HFN in UK wheat varieties and have taken a first step to discovering the regions of the genome that affect this trait. Despite these encouraging results, we are still short in developing the tools that breeders require to transfer this knowledge into improved commercial wheat varieties. This projects seeks to address this limitation by developing a 'breeder's tool kit' that will assist towards this end. We have selected six regions of the wheat genome which we know are affecting HFN based on experiments conducted in the previous project. We will now hone in and develop more precise information of these regions. This will result in better defined genetic maps which breeders can use to navigate the wheat genome and focus their breeding efforts more effectively in those locations that contain genes affecting HFN. We will investigate how these regions affect agronomic traits which are of interests to breeders and farmers; such as yield and other quality characteristics. We will also combine the six regions in different combinations to better understand how they work together and if we can produce more resilient varieties that will have high HFN values independent of the weather conditions. We will also investigate the basic biology of how these regions affect HFN. Together, this information will enable UK plant breeders to develop new, more competitive varieties of wheat with reduced environmental footprint and more consistent grain quality.