Award details

Internal nitrogen resources and the regulation of pod growth, crop ripening and grain quality in lupins

Reference	BBS/E/C/00091495
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Dr Ian Shield
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors
Institution	Rothamsted Research
Department	Rothamsted Research Department
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	245,940
Status	Completed
Type	Institute Project
Start date	01/04/1997
End date	31/03/1999
Duration	24 months

Abstract

The strategic research involved in this project underpins the development of lupins as a novel, high-quality protein crop for the UK that has an existing and identified market and the potential to compete with imported soya, without subsidy if necessary. The project provides the physiological understanding of plant responses to climate, abiotic stresses and agronomic practices to guide the breeding and evaluation of new genotypes suited to British conditions. This knowledge also helps accelerate the development of the optimal agronomic packages for the new genotypes in different regions of the UK, and the production of management and decision-support systems to stimulate the commercial introduction of the crop and aid the transfer of technology from research to growers and the processing industries. The work directly contributes to the Technology Foresight objective to increase the competitiveness of British agriculture in European and world markets, and to the Agricultural Systems Directorate's perceived requirement for technology to underpin the development of new types and varieties of crops to meet consumer demand. A preceding project identified the characteristics that limited the performance of older, unsuccessful, spring-sown, indeterminate genotypes in the UK and led directly to the development of winter hardy, determinate genotypes that have a high yield potential, good yield stability and, most importantly, early ripening necessary under our cooler, maritime growing conditions. The architecture of these genotypes influences pod retention, pod and seed growth rates and pod retention by altering radiation penetration through crop canopies and the light environment of the pods, and by altering the degree of competition for assimilates and nitrogen. Preliminary evidence suggests that two effects of the determinate character are to make flowering on mainstems and first-order branches more synchronous, and to shift the balance of vegetative and reproductive development in favour of developing pods. This has consequences for ripening because it induces early senescence through the remobilisation of nitrogen from the leaves and fleshy pod walls to the developing seed to sustain protein accumulation. This project tests that hypothesis. It also examines whether the further reduction of structure introduced by the addition of dwarfing genes into the determinate background would overly advance ripening and have deleterious consequences for grain yield or grain protein. To examine the implications of differences in architecture for the competition for resources in indeterminate, determinate and dwarf-determinate genotypes and their consequences for seed numbers and size. To examine the patterns of accumulation and distribution of nitrogen within the plants, their role in ripening, and effects on seed protein content. To examine the implications of differences in architecture for the competition for resources in determinate and dwarf-determinate genotypes and their consequences for seed numbers and size. To examine the patterns of accumulation and distribution of nitrogen within the plants, their role in ripening, and effects on seed protein content. To identify the mechanism by which an identified genotype achieves a high seed nitrogen content

Summary

unavailable

Committee	Closed Committee - Agri-food (AF)
Research Topics	X – not assigned to a current Research Topic
Research Priority	X – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative	X - not in an Initiative
Funding Scheme	X – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme

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