Mechanisms of celery seed morphological dormancy, longevity and quality

该项目的总体目标是更深入地了解具有形态休眠的蔬菜种子的支撑机制，并从那里开发提高其质量的应用解决方案。因此，该项目是农业和主要作物生产的粮食安全的核心。学生将接触到世界一流的生物科学研究的商业应用-为可持续地提高农业生产提供解决方案。这个博士项目与Tozer Seeds合作，使用芹菜种子作为形态休眠的蔬菜模型。Tozer Seeds是一家独立的英国蔬菜育种公司，位于萨里，旨在为国际市场提供始终如一的高质量种子和服务。芹菜种子是他们的关键产品之一-他们是第一家开发F1杂交品种的公司-然而，芹菜种子质量存在问题。这个问题只能解决形态休眠的基础机制的知识。这是一类休眠，发育不全的小胚嵌入丰富的活胚乳组织中。为了发芽，微小的胚必须首先在消耗胚乳的情况下长大，但这是如何机械地实现的还不知道。这类休眠与许多具有生理休眠的菊科和茄科植物种子非常不同，对于这些植物种子存在基础机制的知识。形态休眠是胡萝卜、芹菜等伞形科植物的典型休眠类型。学生将首先进行形态学（显微镜，种子大小分数）和生理学（温度和水为重点的种子吸胀的环境条件）的形态休眠及其释放与不同基因型的调查。这将提供定量框架和靶组织的生物力学分析结合激素和转录组分析，以阐明形态休眠，其释放，随后的种子萌发和幼苗建立的基础分子机制。这些知识有助于随后分析芹菜种子后熟储存、寿命和老化的激素、表观遗传和基因表达机制，以及它们对生产结实和均匀的幼苗的重要性。RHUL种子生物学团队的可能性以及与Tozer公司的合作将提供极好的培训可能性，并将为学生提供利用新工作方式的技能。该研究旨在建立芹菜作为形态休眠种子的模型，并开发识别分子标记的诊断检测方法，这对提高芹菜种子质量和育种至关重要。

The overall aim of the project is to gain a deeper understanding of the underpinning mechanisms of vegetable seeds with morphological dormancy and from there to develop applied solutions for improving their quality. This project is therefore be at the very core of agriculture and food security of primary crop production. The student will be exposed to commercial application of world-class bioscience research - providing solutions for sustainably enhancing agricultural production. This PhD project is in collaboration with Tozer Seeds and is using celery seeds as a vegetable model for morphological dormancy. Tozer Seeds is an independent British vegetable breeding company located in Surrey that aims to provide consistent high quality seeds and services for the international market. Celery seed is one of their key products - they were the first company to develop a F1 hybrid variety - however, there are problems with celery seed quality. This problem can only be solved with knowledge of the underpinning mechanisms of morphological dormancy. This is a class of dormancy in which an underdeveloped tiny embryo is embedded into abundant living endosperm tissue. In order to germinate, the tiny embryo must first grow in size on the expense of the endosperm, but how this is achieved mechanistically is not yet known. This class of dormancy is very different to the many vegetable seeds with physiological dormancy of the Brassicaceae and Solanaceae families for which knowledge of the underpinning mechanisms exists. Morphological dormancy is the typical dormancy class for carrot, celery and other species of the Apiaceae family. The student will first conduct a morphological (microscopy, seed size fractions) and physiological (ambient conditions for seed imbibition with temperature and water as focus) investigation of morphological dormancy and its release with different genotypes. This will deliver the quantitative framework and target tissues for the biomechanical analysis combined with hormone and transcriptome profiling to elucidate the underpinning molecular mechanisms of morphological dormancy, its release, subsequent seed germination, and seedling establishment. This knowledge is instrumental for subsequently analysing the hormonal, epigenetic, and gene expression mechanisms underlying after-ripening storage, longevity and aging of celery seeds, as well as their importance for the production of sturdy and uniform seedlings. The possibilities of the Seed Biology team at RHUL and the collaboration with the company Tozer will provide superb training possibilities and will equip the student with skills that exploit novel ways of working. This studentship aims to establish celery as a model for seeds with morphological dormancy, and to develop diagnostic assays that identify molecular markers, critical for improving celery seed quality and breeding.