Award details

Spraying for Yield

Reference	BB/R019606/1
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Dr Matthew Paul
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors	Professor Benjamin Davis, Dr Ian Shield
Institution	Rothamsted Research
Department	Plant Biology & Crop Science
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	367,885
Status	Completed
Type	Research Grant
Start date	01/06/2018
End date	31/05/2020
Duration	24 months

Abstract

unavailable

Summary

Crop yields must double in the next 35 years to meet projected global food demand. However, annual yield improvements of major crops are increasing below the rate required. We have pioneered new technology building on previous BBSRC funding that significantly increases grain size and overall yield of wheat. The sugar signalling mechanism mediated by trehalose 6-phosphate (T6P) regulates the allocation of sucrose within the plant and the conversion of sucrose to starch in grain. Through a plant science-chemistry collaboration, UV-cleavable T6P precursors have been developed that enable T6P to be increased in wheat grain to increase conversion of sucrose into starch increasing grain size and yield by up to 20%. To support translation of this fundamental research into commercialisation the project will: 1) to demonstrate efficacy in field environments typical of global wheat production; 2) to develop methodology for scale up synthesis of T6P precursor suitable for large-scale application.

Committee	Not funded via Committee
Research Topics	Crop Science, Plant Science
Research Priority	X – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative	Follow-On Fund Super (SuperFOF) [2012-2015]
Funding Scheme	X – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme

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