Enhancing stress tolerance in plants by manipulation of properties of stress responsive transcription factors. This project will describe structural and functional properties of cereal transcription factors that are critical to plant development under hostile environmental conditions. The knowledge of the revealed molecular mechanisms of transcription factors will open avenues to developments of improved crop plants.
Mid-Career Industry Fellowships - Grant ID: IM230100042
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$980,358.00
Summary
Unlocking the full reproductive potential for hybrid wheat breeding. Globally, wheat is cultivated as an inbred self-fertile crop with yield gains stagnating over the last decades. This contrasts with unabated yield gains and yield stability achieved for rice and corn through hybrid breeding and cross-pollination. Wheat hybrids hold potential for a 10-22% yield boost, but commercial deployment is restricted due to high seed production costs, a result of wheat’s floral architecture and poor outcr ....Unlocking the full reproductive potential for hybrid wheat breeding. Globally, wheat is cultivated as an inbred self-fertile crop with yield gains stagnating over the last decades. This contrasts with unabated yield gains and yield stability achieved for rice and corn through hybrid breeding and cross-pollination. Wheat hybrids hold potential for a 10-22% yield boost, but commercial deployment is restricted due to high seed production costs, a result of wheat’s floral architecture and poor outcrossing characteristics. This project aims to reduce costs by improving wheat’s female receptivity to airborne pollen, a major bottleneck to commercial realization of hybrids globally. Higher and more stable yields from wheat hybrids will ensure food security in the face of climate uncertainty and growing population.Read moreRead less
Identifying the diversity and evolution of loci associated with adaptation to aridity/heat and salinity in ancient cereal crops. This project will use ancient grains of wheat, barley and rye to find 'lost' genetic diversity at key genes associated with resistance to aridity, salt and disease. This project will make the proteins of key genes, and study their interaction with the environment over time by measuring ions in the grains to reveal the ancient environmental conditions.
Exploring genetic diversity to identify new heat tolerance genes in wheat. This project aims to improve the selection and development of heat-tolerant wheat varieties. Heatwaves seriously reduce wheat yields worldwide, and the situation will worsen with climate variation. This project aims to apply a broad genetic scan to identify the main chromosome regions controlling heat tolerance at the sensitive flowering stage in Australian and European wheat varieties. It is expected that this knowledge ....Exploring genetic diversity to identify new heat tolerance genes in wheat. This project aims to improve the selection and development of heat-tolerant wheat varieties. Heatwaves seriously reduce wheat yields worldwide, and the situation will worsen with climate variation. This project aims to apply a broad genetic scan to identify the main chromosome regions controlling heat tolerance at the sensitive flowering stage in Australian and European wheat varieties. It is expected that this knowledge will deliver crucial breeders’ tools to select heat-tolerant varieties. The project also aims to identify genes most likely to control tolerance at these chromosome locations using gene expression profiling data, trait associations and knowledge of heat-tolerance genes from other species. It is expected that these genes will reveal molecular mechanisms of heat tolerance and create new opportunities to engineer superior levels of tolerance in cereals.Read moreRead less
Breeder-ready genetic tools for sustaining wheat yields under heat stress. Yield losses in wheat due to heat stress are increasing with climate change, driving an urgent need for new heat-tolerant varieties; however, few resources for heat tolerance are available for use in breeding. This research aims to use comprehensive genetic and agronomic approaches to provide breeders with the tools and evidence to select WtmsDW, a newly discovered genetic region that protects pollen fertility and sustain ....Breeder-ready genetic tools for sustaining wheat yields under heat stress. Yield losses in wheat due to heat stress are increasing with climate change, driving an urgent need for new heat-tolerant varieties; however, few resources for heat tolerance are available for use in breeding. This research aims to use comprehensive genetic and agronomic approaches to provide breeders with the tools and evidence to select WtmsDW, a newly discovered genetic region that protects pollen fertility and sustains grain yield under heat stress. These tools are expected to significantly boost productivity for the $9.8B Australian wheat industry, benefitting rural communities and industry partners and supporting food security, both directly and through longer-term extension of novel heat tolerance mechanisms to other crop species.Read moreRead less