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Releasing natural variation in bread wheat by modulating meiotic crossovers

Reference	BBS/E/J/000CA639
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Professor Cristobal Uauy
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors
Institution	John Innes Centre
Department	John Innes Centre Department
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	9,764
Status	Completed
Type	Institute Project
Start date	01/01/2016
End date	31/03/2017
Duration	14 months

Abstract

In bread wheat, important agronomical traits are distributed along chromosomes. Traditionally, plant breeders cross high yielding parental lines and then select for progeny in subsequent generations that carry desirable attributes whist removing undesirable traits. However, the process of 'gene-shuffling' (meiotic recombination) is non-random and skewed towards the ends of the chromosomes. Therefore, desirable traits are often transmitted as a block together with undesirable traits. This is analogous to dealing a deck of cards where a significant proportion of the cards are tethered by an elastic band. In this case a desirable hand cannot be achieved until the elastic band is severed and the cards are able to segregate freely. In this proposal we aim to understand why desirable and undesirable traits in bread wheat are often tethered together, so that we can break this bond, and release the full potential of available natural variation. Then, we aim to modulate this process so that the plant breeder can decide which traits can be 'dealt' together in the same variety. This unlocking of wheat's natural variation will lead to the production, via classical plant breeding, of superior varieties with favourable agronomic traits such as increased yield and improved nutrient acquisition.

Summary

unavailable

Committee	Not funded via Committee
Research Topics	Crop Science, Plant Science, Synthetic Biology
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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