Award details

A 'breeder's tool kit' to improve Hagberg Falling Number for the economic and environmental sustainability of UK wheat

Reference	BBS/E/J/000CA434
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Professor Cristobal Uauy
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors
Institution	John Innes Centre
Department	John Innes Centre Department
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	404,039
Status	Completed
Type	Institute Project
Start date	01/11/2010
End date	30/11/2014
Duration	49 months

Abstract

Hagberg Falling Number (HFN) is one of several standards against which the UK wheat crop is routinely assessed for bread-making quality. Low HFN is a serious problem reducing grower's margins, increasing costs in the processing industries and with many negative environmental impacts. The most effective and sustainable option for achieving consistent HFN for bread-making specifications and export premiums is through proper varietal selection. Considerable progress has been made in understanding the genetic systems involved through the Defra-BBSRC-funded LINK project (LK0975, 2005-2010). Despite the success of this initial discovery phase, several factors restrict the use of the project outcomes in commercial breeding programmes. There is now an opportunity to address these limitations and convert this knowledge into a 'breeder's tool kit' allowing high throughput marker-assisted selection. We have selected QTL (chromosomal regions) which have been prioritized based on stability, effect on pre-harvest sprouting (PHS)/HFN and their importance to both academic and industrial partners. We propose an extended partnership to identify and validate closely linked markers associated with these QTL to allow marker assisted breeding of new wheat varieties with improved HFN and resistance to PHS. We will evaluate interactions between these QTL in isogenic genetic backgrounds and determine their effect on yield related traits and agronomic characteristics. We will also use the precise germplasm generated in this proposal for controlled physiological experiments to characterize seed dormancy mechanisms and to exploit new technologies to accelerate marker development. This information will enable UK plant breeders to develop new, more competitive varieties of wheat with reduced environmental footprint and more consistent grain quality.

Summary

unavailable

Committee	Not funded via Committee
Research Topics	Crop Science, 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

I accept the terms and conditions of use (opens in new window)

export PDF file

back to list new search