Improving winter hardiness in wheat using genomic technologies

小麦（Triticum aestivum L.）是一种广泛适应的作物，生长在从斯堪的纳维亚和俄罗斯的北纬67度到阿根廷的南纬45度的各种环境中，包括热带和亚热带的高海拔地区（Feldman，1995年）。这种广泛的适应性大部分是由于小麦对低温的耐受性。与春小麦不同，冬小麦需要暴露在低温下（春化）一段时间才能开花。它的产量往往超过春小麦，由于许多原因，从更容易的管理实践到更环保和更有益的种植系统组成部分，受到许多种植者和农学家的青睐。然而，一个成功的冬小麦品种是能够忍受零下20摄氏度的低温的品种，通常是通过冷驯化过程获得的。这项研究旨在使用各种新颖的方法研究耐寒性和冬季硬化的不同方面。我们将试图更好地了解遗传学的抗寒性的影响，需要春化。这将包括我们试图确定基因及其在小麦基因组中的区域。我们还将试图了解控制冬小麦植株这一重要特征的生理机制。我们希望能够描述冬小麦的抗寒性及其对寒冷处理的反应的广泛遗传多样性。然后，我们将研究一组选定的这些小麦基因型如何与环境和管理相互作用。本研究的结果有望为植物育种家提供新的工具，帮助他们在育种计划中进行更有效的抗寒性选择。更好地了解抗寒生理，预计将有助于种植者作出更明智的管理决策，如品种的选择和种植时间。

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is a widely adapted crop, grown across a wide range of environments from 67º N in Scandinavia and Russia to 45º S in Argentina, including elevated regions in the tropics and sub-tropics (Feldman, 1995). Most of this wide adaptation is due to wheat's tolerance to cold temperatures. Winter wheat, unlike spring wheat, requires to be exposed to cold temperature (vernalization) for a period of time, for it to flower. It often yields more than spring wheat and for many reasons ranging from easier management practices to being more environment friendly and beneficial component of the cropping system is favoured by many growers and agronomists. However, a successful variety of winter wheat is the one that can tolerate sub-zero temperatures, as low as -20 C, often acquired through a process of cold acclamation. This research is designed to study different aspects of cold tolerance and winter hardening using a variety of novel approaches. We will attempt to better understand the genetics of winter hardiness as influenced by the need for vernalization. This will include our attempt to identify the genes and their region in the wheat genome. We will also attempt to understand the physiological mechanisms that control this important characteristic of the winter wheat plant. We expect to be able to characterize a wide range of genetic diversity in winter wheat for winter hardiness, their response to cold treatment. We will then examine a selected set of these wheat genotypes for how they interact with environment and management. The outcome of this research is expected to provide novel tools for plant breeders, assisting them in making more efficient selection for winter hardiness in their breeding program. A better understanding of the physiology of winter hardiness is expected to help the growers making more informed management decisions such as choice of varieties and planting time.