The implications of natural genetic variation in flax for crop development.

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This project is allied to the agriculture and food security sector via genetic improvement of crops. The project will investigate cultivated flax L. usitatissimum, a globally important crop with many end-uses including an annual global production 2305 Ktonnes of linseed oil and 303 Ktonnes of linen fibre (data from 2013, http://faostat.fao.org/) and Linum bienne, the wild progenitor of cultivated flax. The UK is Europe's leading linseed producer generating 51 ktonnes in 2013. Therefore, this project will contribute to industrial strategy aims to improve UK living standards and economic growth by generating new knowledge and increasing productivity. The approach taken will be through science, research and innovation and developing specialist quantitative and computing skills.The specific challenge addressed will be improving flax yields through better understanding of the relationship between performance and genetic variation in this crop and its wild relatives. Previous research shows that flax experiences inbreeding depression that limits productivity because controlled crosses lead to a boost in yield in new hybrids. Wild flax harbours considerable natural genetic variation that flax lost during domestication. Therefore, the study of a new European wild flax collection will allow us to test a greater range of inbreeding and genomic responses to inbreeding than would be possible in the crop alone. We will apply controlled crossing studied to directly test the transferability of beneficial natural genetic variation in wild samples into cultivars for agricultural impact. Aims: This project will measure and compare samples of cultivated and wild flax that vary in their history of genetic inbreeding to test the impact of inbreeding on components of fitness. This fundamental aspect of evolution is thought to drive the maintenance of outcrossing breeding systems and the huge biodiversity of life. This project will contribute to BBSRC's research priority of sustainably enhancing agricultural production via genetic improvement of crops. The CASE partner, RBGE, is an internationally important organization responsible for the conservation and study of plant and fungal biodiversity. This project will feed into the core scientific activities of RBGE to generate baseline botanical data, to document and conserve plant biodiversity, and better understand evolutionary processes in plants.Methodology: Cultivated and wild flax samples have been collected from a wide transect from north to south Europe. Progenies of these samples will be grown in the glasshouse. Controlled pollination experiments will be performed to generate new seed representing self and outcross progeny. DNA will be sampled and Restriction Amplified DNA (RADseq) genotyping performed for 1000s of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Analysis of the sequence data will provide genetically-based measures of outcrossing rate and inbreeding depression across the genome. Inbred and outcrossed controlled-cross individuals will then be grown together and performance and fitness traits (biomass, number of seeds) measured. Sample collection information will be combined with genetic and phenotypic data to be archived in the herbarium collection at RBGE according to internationally agreed standards for plant collections. Associated digital records at RBGE will also be developed to facilitate access and use of these data.Individual-level patterns of heterozygosity across the genome will be combined with performance data and tested for associations with fitness. Genetic association mapping will be performed to identify genomic regions that contain genetic variation contributing to expression of inbreeding depression and particular performance traits.