Investigating the magnitudes and molecular bases of genetic improvement in cereals

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To meet human demands, grain production must increase, yet for the important crops barley, oat, and wheat in eastern Canada, we do not know the rate of past grain production increases, nor the proportion of these increases that were due to genetics or environmental factors such as climate change. We also do not know the alleles that were selected to improve plant performance nor the biological processes the selected alleles affect. This work based on analyses of historical and current variety trial data will reveal long term trends of environmental and genetic effects on plant yields; how selection for plant performance has altered allelic variation; how selected alleles contribute to trait variation; and how selection has targeted gene regulation. The work offers key strategies for improving the barley and wheat varieties grown on over 1.3 million acres in Ontario and Quebec alone. Centralized pedigree information and historical crop data also offers critical data resources for future studies. Positive selection is a major force driving biological variation in natural and man-made environments. The work will address theories as to how positive selection for favored traits acts upon genetic variation.