Overcoming the limitations to yield in strawberry

在雷丁大学之前进行的研究中，建立了一种生产六月结果草莓托盘植株的技术；与标准商业条件下生产的植株相比，这些植株产生的产量要高得多。继续调查表明，由于果实发育过程中来源的限制，进一步的产量效益是有限的。本博士项目旨在研究提高这些超级优势植物产量的若干机制，包括通过增加二氧化碳浓度来提高光合作用效率、调整饲喂制度以及在结果期间对植物进行操纵(即改变叶面积指数、果叶比)，并研究这些机制对资源分配、浆果重量、产量和果实品质的影响。该项目的第二个目标将是研究最近从英国和海外育种项目开发的高产草莓品系的产量决定因素。这项研究将打破草莓目前的产量上限，从而提高单位面积的生产率，从而使该行业受益。这名学生将在雷丁大学工作，并与其他人一起在雷丁大学园艺中心的软果技术小组和NIAB EMR的作物科学和生产系统部门工作。培训将使学生发展强大的园艺技能，统计技术，并显著发展他们的植物生理学和生长分析的知识。

In previous studies carried out at the University of Reading, a technique to produce high-yielding June-bearer strawberry tray plants was established; these plants produced a significantly higher yield compared to those produced under standard commercial conditions. Continued investigation showed that further yield benefits was limited because of source limitation during fruit development. This PhD projects aims to investigate a number of mechanisms to increase yield performance in these super-elite plants including increasing photosynthetic efficiency through CO2 enrichment, adjusted feed regimes and manipulation of the plants during fruiting (i.e. changing leaf area index, fruit:leaf ratio) and study the effect of these on resource partitioning, berry weight, yield and fruit quality. A secondary aim of this project will be to examine the yield determinants of recently developed, high yielding strawberry lines from UK and overseas breeding programmes. This research will benefit the industry by breaking the current yield ceiling in strawberry leading to increased productivity per unit area. The student will be based at the University of Reading and work alongside others within the Soft Fruit Technology Group at the Centre for Horticulture, University of Reading and the Crop Science and Production Systems Department at NIAB EMR. Training will enable the student to develop strong horticultural skills, statistical techniques and significantly develop their knowledge of plant physiology and growth analysis.