Understanding the genomics and ecology of floral nectar to enhance crop-pollinator interactions

花蜜在作物与传粉者的相互作用中起着至关重要的作用，但我们对花蜜性状的遗传基础、可塑性和生态代价的了解仍然有限。在考虑如何开发对传粉者更有吸引力的作物品种时，花蜜生物学的这些方面是至关重要的。这反过来又很紧迫，因为有强有力的证据表明，传粉媒介在英国和世界各地都在减少。传粉媒介提高了许多重要作物的产量，并降低了产量在空间和时间上的变异性，因此它们的减少对可持续农业生产力和粮食安全具有潜在影响。动物授粉的重要性激发了优化昆虫对作物访问的建议。这包括通过增加花蜜的数量和质量来开发对传粉者更有回报的品种。该项目将探索遗传和生态方面的相互作用，以了解花蜜变异在授粉成功和选择增花蜜品种的可行性中的作用。为此，学生将：1)利用普通园林和控制杂交结合全基因组关联（GWA）研究花蜜性状的遗传基础和可塑性。这将包括了解与其他植物性状的遗传相关性，这可能会增强或限制对花蜜性状的选择。2)研究生产花蜜的成本，这对许多植物来说仍然知之甚少，但这是培育花蜜增强品种的核心思想；3)测量花蜜的质量和数量及其对产量的影响，以确定花蜜变异性对授粉质量和均匀性的重要性。重点物种将在具有基因组工具的重要商业作物中选择，并代表不同的植物科（向日葵、草莓、蚕豆、油菜）。结果将帮助我们了解改善花蜜奖励如何提高生产力，同时减轻农业和自然景观中传粉者群落的减少。

First rotation- Understanding the genomics and ecology of floral nectar to enhance crop-pollinator interactionsFloral nectar plays a fundamental role in crop-pollinator interactions, but our understanding of the genetic basis, plasticity, and ecological costs of nectar traits is still limited.These aspects of nectar biology are crucial when considering how to develop crop varieties that are more attractive to pollinators. This in turn is urgent, because there is strong evidence of pollinator declines in the UK and around the world. Pollinators increase yield and reduce the variability of yield in space and time for many important crops, so their decline has potential impacts on sustainable agricultural productivity and food security.The importance of animal pollination has inspired recommendations to optimize insect visitation to crops. This includes the development of varieties that are more rewarding to pollinators via increased nectar quantity and quality. This project will explore the interaction between genetic and ecological aspects to inform the role of nectar variation in pollination success and the viability of selection of nectar-enhanced varieties. For this, the student will:1) study the genetic basis and plasticity of nectar traits using common gardens and controlled crosses combined with genome-wide association (GWA). This will include understanding genetic correlations with other plant traits that might enhance or constraint selection on nectar traits.2) study the cost of nectar production, which is still poorly understood for many plants, but central to the idea that nectar-enhanced varieties are possible to breed,3) measure nectar quality and quantity and their effect on yields, to determine the importance of nectar variability on pollination quality and homogeneity.Focal species will be selected among commercially important crops with genomic tools available and representing different plant families (sunflower, strawberry, faba beans, oilseed rape).Results will help us understand how improved nectar rewards boost productivity while mitigating the declines of pollinator communities in agricultural and natural landscapes.