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The role of cereal dwarfing genes in tolerance of abiotic stress: characterisation of cereal DELLA proteins

Reference	BBS/E/J/00000601
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Dr Margaret Boulton
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors
Institution	John Innes Centre
Department	John Innes Centre Department
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	1,001,558
Status	Completed
Type	Institute Project
Start date	01/04/2001
End date	31/03/2011
Duration	120 months

Abstract

The Boulton group aims to translate fundamental discoveries, usually made in model systems, to crops. For example, the growth regulating DELLA proteins of Arabidopsis (which are members of the gibberellic acid (GA) signalling pathway) were recently shown to be important in survival of salt and cold stress. Currently we are investigating the role of the agronomically important wheat orthologue (Rht; the dwarfing gene of the Green Revolution) in tolerance of long- (drought, salinity) and short- (heat) term abiotic stress. By better understanding the mechanism by which DELLA proteins control cereal growth and by characterising the Rht homoeologues, their expression, and their allelic diversity, we aim to take a knowledge-based approach to improvement of wheat stature and its potential for adaptation to climate change. By including barley in our studies we compare the ability of the diploid species to act as models for hexaploid wheat and are able to assess the universality of our findings. We use near isogenic and mutant lines in our studies and include other components of the GA-DELLA pathway in our studies. In addition, in a collaborative project with the University of East Anglia, we use salt marsh grasses to investigate novel mechanisms, and candidate genes, which confer tolerance to salinity.

Summary

unavailable

Committee	Closed Committee - Plant & Microbial Sciences (PMS)
Research Topics	Crop Science, Microbiology, Plant Science
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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