Genetic analysis of plant developmental traits contributing to increased winter-hardiness in winter wheat

冬小麦比春小麦有优势，因为它的产量更高(25%)，更有效地利用春季水分，并通过在秋季和早春提供地面覆盖来减少土壤侵蚀。冬小麦春季初期的快速生长使其在竞争中胜过杂草，并通过提早开花避开镰刀菌赤霉病的侵染高峰期。然而，加拿大草原生产者要求冬小麦具有更强的抗寒性和更好的冬季存活率，以提供足够的保险，以应对冬季和春季突然寒流造成的损失。 冬小麦田间生存取决于两个主要因素：(1)在秋季冷驯化过程中积累的耐冷性；(2)影响冬小麦冬季冷习服速率的因素。冷驯化和去驯化过程影响着植物的发育，进而决定着冬田的生存能力。拟议的项目建立在我们最近完成的加拿大基因组项目的基础上，并专注于发育性状，如最终叶数、俯卧生长习性、株高和顶部节间长度，我们假设这些性状对冬季生存至关重要。我们早期的研究结果表明，染色体1B、2B、6A、6D、7A、B和D与上述发育性状相关。在这个项目中，我们将对与感兴趣的特征相关的染色体区域进行DNA测序。生物信息学分析和比较基因组学将确定基因，功能分析将确认它们在冬小麦田间生存中的作用。 这项研究的成功完成将阐明植物应对冰冻胁迫的适应策略背后的遗传/分子机制。我们建议开发理想的等位基因(基因)组合的发育性状，以提高冬季存活率。科学进步将有助于“有弹性的冬小麦”的发展，这种小麦不仅能经受加拿大严寒的冬季，而且还具有减轻气候变化引起的反复无常天气影响的基因/特征。

Winter wheat has an advantage over spring varieties as it yields higher (25%), uses spring moisture more efficiently and reduces soil erosion by providing ground cover during the fall and early spring. Rapid initial spring growth of winter wheat allows it to out-compete weeds and escape peak of Fusarium head blight infections by flowering early. However, Canadian prairie producers require winter wheat with increased cold hardiness and improved winter survival to provide adequate insurance against losses due to sudden cold snaps during winter and spring. Winter wheat field survival depends on two major factors: (i) amount of low temperature (LT) tolerance accumulated during fall cold acclimation, and (ii) factors affecting cold de-acclimation rate during the winter months. The processes of cold acclimation and de-acclimation influence plant development, which determines winter field survival capability. The proposed project builds on our recently concluded Genome Canada project and focuses on developmental traits such as final leaf number, prostrate growth habit, plant height, and top internode length which we hypothesize are critical for winter survival. Our earlier results show that chromosomes 1B, 2B, 6A, 6D, 7A, B and D are associated with the mentioned developmental traits. In this project we will DNA sequence the chromosomal regions associated with traits of interest. Bioinformatics analysis and comparative genomics will identify genes and functional analysis will confirm their role in winter wheat field survival. Successful completion of this research will elucidate genetic/molecular mechanisms underlying plant's adaptive strategies to cope with freezing stress. We propose to develop ideal allele (gene) combinations of developmental traits for improved winter survival. Scientific advances will contribute to development of 'Resilient Winter Wheat', which will not only withstand harsh Canadian winters, but also possess genes/traits which mitigate the effects of erratic weather caused by climate change.