Supporting Future Wheat Improvement Underpinned By Novel Genetic Diversity For Root Traits

小麦(Triticum Aestivum)是英国最重要的农作物，确保其高效生产是世界粮食安全的基础。虽然小麦的根系是整个植物结构和作物表现的关键组成部分，但由于研究地下结构的内在复杂性，人们对调控它的遗传和基因调控途径知之甚少。这一博士学位的目的是发展与根系结构有关的知识，这些结构可以直接选择用于作物的高效生长、养分吸收和与农业环境的相互作用，特别是致力于可持续农业模式。最近的小麦种质、遗传和基因组资源开发(Adamski等人)。2020年，eLIFE，9：e55646)，结合根部表型鉴定协议的进展(Ober、Alahmad、Cockram等人)。2021年，Theor Appl Genet，134：1645-62)，提供了强大的工具来解决这一知识鸿沟的基本和应用部分。本专业将利用这些资源，在遗传、基因网络和生理水平上研究根系构型特征的控制及其对植物表现的影响。研究将围绕以下假设展开：1)极端的小麦根表型将为理解控制根构型的基因和基因调控网络提供切入点。2)根构型遗传变异的新来源将可用于利用整合了小麦近缘基因组区域的小麦种质进行遗传分析。

Wheat (Triticum aestivum) is the UK's most important crop, and ensuring its efficient production underpins food security around the world. While the wheat root system is a key component of overall plant architecture and crop performance, due to the inherent complications in studying below ground structures, relatively little is known about the genetic and gene regulatory pathways that modulate it. The aim of this PhD is to develop knowledge related to root system architectures that could be directly selected for and their effect on efficient crop performance, nutrient uptake and interaction with agricultural environment, in particular working towards a sustainable agricultural model. Recent wheat germplasm, genetic and genomic resource development (Adamski et al. 2020, eLIFE, 9:e55646), combined with advances in root phenotyping protocols (Ober, Alahmad, Cockram, et al. 2021, Theor Appl Genet, 134:1645-62), provide powerful tools with which to address fundamental and applied components of this knowledge gap. This studentship will exploit such resources to investigate, at the genetic, gene network and physiological level, the control of root system architecture traits and their impact on plant performance. Research will focus around the following hypotheses:1) Extreme wheat root phenotypes will provide entry points to understanding the genes and gene regulatory networks that control root architecture.2) Novel sources of genetic variation for root architecture will be tractable for genetic analysis using wheat germplasm that incorporates genomic regions from wheat relatives.