18 BTT EAGER - Engineering complex traits using targeted, multiplexed genetic and epigenetic mutagenesis

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Complex plant traits that respond to changes in the environment are regulated by large suites of genes. For example, the depletion of Nitrogen in the soil alters the levels and patterns of expression of large numbers of genes, affecting features such as root development, growth rate and flowering time. This has a considerable impact on the way that plants grow and develop and can lead to reductions in crop yields. Genetic variations are for crop improvement by selecting plants with specific variants associated with desirable traits for inclusion in breeding programs. To date, most focus has been on creating and exploiting genetic variations in the coding regions of genes. In this project we will focus on developing tools to create genetic and epigenetic variation in the non-coding regulatory sequences. Our aims are to introduce mutations that reprogram responses to environmental nitrogen availability. These will contribute new tools and approaches for the application of genome engineering to crop improvement and will also provide new knowledge about how variation in non-coding regulatory regions can be exploited to breed or engineer complex traits in crops.