Defining barley varietal traits for climate change mitigation and adaptation with emphasis on reduced inputs and variable water

气候变化和社会对气候变化的反应将直接或间接地推动农业生产在日益边际的条件下发挥作用。我们需要利用现有的作物多样性，培育出适应这些边际条件的改良作物品种，同时通过减少N投入来缓解气候变化。了解减少投入(氮和水)下的产量结构，将是今后培育这类品种、管理氮素利用效率(NUE)和减少农业温室气体排放的关键。对氮素吸收和利用的遗传控制将支持已实现的氮素利用效率和对非生物胁迫(如可用水的变化)的适应能力，这将是适应的关键。该项目将在相关大麦种群中量化与气候变化缓解和适应相关的一系列地上和地下特征。因此，这项研究将包括对产量结构和氮素分配的详细剖析，以及对根系结构的概述。该项目提供了许多大麦种群，但重点将从KWS使用12个捐赠亲本(包括来自一系列固有压力环境的大麦地方品种)产生的嵌套关联图谱(NAM)种群开始。对这个群体进行了广泛的基因分型，从352个品系中选出了一个系的工作群体。重要的是，以前的田间试验已经表明，这个子集包括来自长白/较老品种亲本的导入，在一系列环境中对产量和产量稳定性有有利影响。最初的研究将集中在这组核心线条和衍生材料上。在初步实验中，候选人将使不结盟运动人口接受一系列减少N和可变水可利用性的处理(田间或CE？)。数据将被用来获得对N输入减少、水分胁迫以及这两种胁迫的组合及其与一系列发育和形态性状的关联的耐性QTL。这些初步研究将指导后续的实验，包括温室和田间表型以及分子生理学研究。博士生将有机会在遗传学/基因组学、植物生理学和氮素利用方面进一步发展该项目，并将有机会与商业合作伙伴KWS的科学家和育种者密切合作。

Climate change and society's reaction to it will, both directly and indirectly, push agricultural production to have to function in increasingly marginal conditions. We need to utilise the crop diversity available to generate the improved crop varieties that will be adapted to these marginal conditions while at the same time mitigating climate change by reducing N inputs. Understanding the yield architecture under reduced inputs (nitrogen and water) will be key to the future breeding of such varieties and to managing both nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. The genetic control of nitrogen uptake and utilisation will underpin the realised NUE and resilience to abiotic stress, such as variation in water availability, will be key to adaptation. This project will quantify a range of above and below ground traits associated with climate change mitigation and adaptation, in relevant populations of barley. This study will therefore include detailed dissection of yield architecture and partition of nitrogen as well as an overview of root system architecture. There are a number of barley populations that are available to the project, but the focus will begin on a Nested Association Mapping (NAM) population produced by KWS using 12 donor parents including barley landraces from a range of environments with a range of inherent stress. This population has been extensively genotyped and a working population of 89 lines has been selected from 352 lines. Importantly previous field trialling has already indicated that this subset includes introgressions from the landrace/older varietal parents that have a beneficial effect on yield and yield stability over a range of environments. Initial research will focus on this core set of lines and derived material. In the preliminary experiments the candidate will subject the NAM population to a range of reduced N and variable water availability treatments (field or CE?). Data will be used to derive QTLs for tolerance to reduced N inputs, water stress and a combination of both stresses and their association with a range of developmental and morphological traits. These initial studies will guide subsequent experimentation that will include glasshouse and field phenotyping and molecular physiological studies. The PhD candidate will have the opportunity to develop the project further in the direction of genetics/genomics, plant physiology and nitrogen use and will have the opportunity to work closely with scientists and breeders in KWS, the commercial partner.