A 'breeder's tool kit' to improve Hagberg Falling Number for the economic and environmental sustainability of UK wheat

收获的小麦作物通常要评估几个质量属性，这些属性影响面粉制作面包的能力，也影响米莱尔付给农民的钱。一个这样的参数被称为哈格伯格下降数（HFN），这是一条面包将具有的属性的间接测量。例如，HFN低的小麦将生产出由于粘性碎屑而非常难以切片的面包。因此，米莱尔和其他最终用户避免购买HFN值低于固定值的小麦。低HFN小麦对环境产生负面影响，因为它产生浪费和资源利用效率低下。与其他可以通过农艺措施或疾病管理来纠正的小麦问题不同，HFN受环境影响很大，并且不容易通过这些手段来改善。这在英国环境中尤其重要，因为夏季的寒冷和潮湿时期被认为可以减少HFN。因此，农民种植高HFN小麦最有效和可靠的方法是选择合适的品种。不幸的是，由于缺乏对可能影响HFN的基因或整个基因组区域的了解，育种者很难开发出高HFN品种。通过先前资助的Defra-BBSRC项目，我们在了解英国小麦品种中HFN的变异方面取得了重要进展，并迈出了发现影响该性状的基因组区域的第一步。尽管取得了这些令人鼓舞的成果，但我们仍然缺乏开发育种者将这些知识转化为改良的商业小麦品种所需的工具。该项目旨在通过开发一个有助于实现这一目标的“育种者工具包”来解决这一限制。我们已经选择了六个区域的小麦基因组，我们知道是影响HFN的基础上进行的实验在以前的项目。我们现在将磨练和开发这些地区的更精确的信息。这将导致更好地定义遗传图谱，育种者可以使用这些遗传图谱来导航小麦基因组，并将其育种工作更有效地集中在那些包含影响HFN的基因的位置。我们将研究这些区域如何影响育种者和农民感兴趣的农艺性状，如产量和其他质量特性。我们还将联合收割机以不同的组合方式将六个地区结合起来，以更好地了解它们是如何协同工作的，以及我们是否能够生产出更有弹性的品种，这些品种将具有高的HFN值，而不受天气条件的影响。我们还将研究这些区域如何影响HFN的基础生物学。这些信息将使英国植物育种者能够开发新的，更具竞争力的小麦品种，减少环境足迹和更一致的谷物质量。

A harvested wheat crop is normally assessed for several quality attributes that influence the ability of its flour to make bread and also affect the money paid to farmers by millers. One such parameter is called Hagberg Falling Number (HFN) which is an indirect measure of the properties that a loaf of bread will have. For example, wheat with low HFN will produce bread that is very difficult to slice because of sticky crumb. Therefore, millers and other end-users avoid buying wheat grain that has a HFN value below a fixed number. Low HFN wheat impacts negatively on the environment as it produces wastage and inefficient use of resources. Unlike other problems in wheat which can be corrected by agronomic practices or through disease management, HFN is heavily influenced by the environment and cannot be easily improved by these means. This is especially relevant in the UK environment as cold and wet periods during the summer are thought to reduce HFN. Therefore, the most effective and reliable way for a farmer to grow high HFN wheat is proper varietal selection. Unfortunately, it is very difficult for breeders to develop high HFN varieties due to lack of knowledge of the genes, or regions throughout the genome, which might influence HFN. Through a previously funded Defra-BBSRC project we have made important progress in understanding the variation for HFN in UK wheat varieties and have taken a first step to discovering the regions of the genome that affect this trait. Despite these encouraging results, we are still short in developing the tools that breeders require to transfer this knowledge into improved commercial wheat varieties. This projects seeks to address this limitation by developing a 'breeder's tool kit' that will assist towards this end. We have selected six regions of the wheat genome which we know are affecting HFN based on experiments conducted in the previous project. We will now hone in and develop more precise information of these regions. This will result in better defined genetic maps which breeders can use to navigate the wheat genome and focus their breeding efforts more effectively in those locations that contain genes affecting HFN. We will investigate how these regions affect agronomic traits which are of interests to breeders and farmers; such as yield and other quality characteristics. We will also combine the six regions in different combinations to better understand how they work together and if we can produce more resilient varieties that will have high HFN values independent of the weather conditions. We will also investigate the basic biology of how these regions affect HFN. Together, this information will enable UK plant breeders to develop new, more competitive varieties of wheat with reduced environmental footprint and more consistent grain quality.