Tuning into plant development to improve the sustainability of arable farming

全球气温上升，加上气候不稳定和人口增长，给我们的食品供应链带来了前所未有的挑战。这些挑战的解决方案将涉及社会的各个方面。在这个项目中，我们专注于其中的一部分，即更可持续的面包小麦作物生产，旨在减少过度的营养应用。为了实现这一目标，我们的目标是开发一种测试系统，该系统测量植物发育中的第一个分子变化，这些变化发生在任何可见的变化之前。然后，使用这种分子变化作为一个准确的指导，一个单一的冬季/早春营养应用的时间。我们已经确定了一个基因，我们相信它将提供这样一个早期指标，并对气候变化作出反应。这一点很重要，因为需要根据每年发生的独特发育时间调整反应。通过测定基因表达量，可以确定养分施用的时间。在这个项目中，我们将通过多基因型试验与标准的双营养素应用，比较它与新的基因表达导致的单营养素应用，有力地检验这一假设。这些试验将在多年和多个地点进行。如果我们的假设是正确的，这些试验的最终产量应该没有统计学上的显著差异。因此，这将为小麦育种者和农民提供一个系统，以减少他们对小麦作物的养分施用，提供经济效益以及重要的环境效益。过度施用养分一直是集约化农业中的一个长期问题，因为它会导致一些有害的环境后果，包括生物多样性的减少。此外，在本项目中，我们将在分子水平上对靶基因进行测序，以确定它如何调节植物发育网络以及控制其表达的因素。这将包括开发转基因系，这些转基因系将用于通过使用CRISPR技术在相同遗传背景下产生突变体来鉴定结合靶标以及分子功能。我们将在未来气候情景下在气候智能控制环境中测试这些品系。在这个项目完成后，我们希望对我们鉴定的标记基因的功能以及它如何参与小麦植物发育的分子调控有详细的了解。这对促进将项目结果转化为其他谷类作物很重要。其次，我们的目标是有一个原型系统，用于测试基因的表达，了解其表达水平的重要阈值，以及如何将其与英国田间的最佳营养应用联系起来。

Increasing global temperature, combined with climate instability and an increasing human population are placing unprecedented challenges on our food supply chains. The solutions to these challenges will involve all aspects of society. In this project we are focussed on one part of this, the more sustainable production of the bread wheat crop with the aim of reducing excessive nutrient application. To achieve this we aim to develop a testing system which measures the first molecular changes in plant development, which occur before any visible changes. Then to use this molecular change as an accurate guide for the timing of a single winter/early spring nutrient application. We have identified a gene which we believe will provide such an early indicator and is responsive to climate variations. This is important as the response needs to be tuned according to the unique developmental timing which occurs each year. Through measuring the gene expression the timing of nutrient application could be determined. In this project we will robustly test this hypothesis through multi-genotype trials with the standard two-nutrient application comparing it with the new gene expression led one-nutrient application. These trials will be conducted over multiple years and locations. If our hypothesis is correct the final yields of these trials should show no statistically significant differences. This would therefore provide wheat breeders and farmers with a system to reduce their nutrient application to the wheat crop, providing financial benefits as well as important environmental benefits. Excessive nutrient application has been a long-standing issue in intensive farming as it leads to a number of detrimental environmental consequences, including a reduction in biodiversity. Additionally, in this project we will characterise the target gene at the molecular level to identify how it regulates the plant developmental network and what controls its expression. This will include the development of transgenic lines which will be used to identify binding targets as well as the molecular function through the generation of mutants in the same genetic background, using CRISPR technology. We will test these lines under future climate scenarios in climate-smart controlled environments.On completion of this project we hope to have a detailed understanding of the function of our identified marker gene and how it is involved with the molecular regulation of wheat plant development. This is important to facilitate the translation of the project findings to other cereal crops. Secondly, we aim to have a prototype system for testing the expression of the gene, knowing the important threshold for its expression level and how this links with optimal nutrient application in the field in the UK.