Wheat Association Genetics for Trait Advancement and Improvement of Lineages

小麦关联遗传学促进性状提升和谱系改良

• 批准号: BB/J002607/1
• 负责人: James Brown
• 金额: $ 12.52万
• 依托单位: John Innes Centre
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2012 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FJ002607%2F1
• 关键词: Wheat; Association; Genetics; Trait; Advancement

Diseases of crops present major threats to the security of food supplies throughout the world. In the UK, our more important crop, wheat, is challenged by several significant harmful organisms including fungi, viruses and insects. Food production which is environmentally and economically sustainable requires crop yields to be maintained despite attacks by these pathogens. The two main pillars of disease control in arable crops are pesticide applications and the cultivation of resistant varieties. New legislation by the European Union will prevent increasingly severe obstacles to the introduction and use of pesticides from 2014 onwards, especially after 2018. Improved disease resistance is an important objective for wheat breeding but will become even more crucial to project food production in the UK once the new EU regulations come fully into effect. Almost all research on plant diseases, whether of crops or model species, focuses on single diseases. In field conditions, however, it is normal for crops to be attacked by epidemics of several pests and parasites simultaneously. This proposal takes a novel approach to researching the genetics of resistances to multiple diseases and their impact on yield. A particularly important goal is to identify genes for resistance to one disease which neither reduce yield nor increase susceptibility to other, non-target diseases. We will achieve this aim using association genetics, an approach which has proved extremely powerful in research on the genetics of disease and other traits in human populations. We will study a panel of 480 wheat varieties, including varieties which are commercially significant at present and their progenitors. We have chosen to study the four main diseases caused by fungi that attack the leaves of wheat plants. Together, these diseases present the main actual and potential threats to yield of wheat in UK conditions. There is currently good resistance in UK wheat varieties to powdery mildew and it is important that this desirable situation continues. Resistance to Septoria tritici has improved over the last ten years but this is still the most important wheat disease. Resistance to yellow rust is generally good by international standards but is often not durable, being quickly overcome through evolution of virulence in the fungus. There have been severe epidemics of brown rust in the UK in recent years and it is important that the average level of resistance of our wheat varieties to this disease is improved. An important goal is to generate a resource for use by the whole wheat research community. The association genetics analysis and the associated data, seed and DNA stocks will be a excellent resource for research on traits which are currently important. It will also, however, enable breeders and geneticists to respond to new threats, such as diseases which become important rapidly as a result of climate change or new agronomic practices; this has happened recently with Ramularia leaf spot of barley in northern Europe, including the UK. In summary, the association genetics approach will enhace current wheat breeding, especially for disease resistance, and enable us to be forearmed against future challenges.

农作物病害对全世界粮食供应安全构成重大威胁。在英国，我们更重要的作物小麦受到多种重要有害生物的挑战，包括真菌、病毒和昆虫。环境和经济可持续的粮食生产要求在受到这些病原体侵袭的情况下仍能维持作物产量。耕地作物病害控制的两个主要支柱是农药的施用和抗性品种的培育。欧盟的新立法将防止从 2014 年起，特别是 2018 年之后，农药的引入和使用面临日益严重的障碍。提高抗病性是小麦育种的一个重要目标，但一旦实现这一目标，对于预测英国的粮食产量将变得更加重要。欧盟新法规全面生效。几乎所有植物病害的研究，无论是作物还是模式物种，都集中在单一病害上。然而，在田间条件下，农作物同时受到多种害虫和寄生虫流行病的侵袭是正常的。该提案采用了一种新颖的方法来研究多种疾病抗性的遗传学及其对产量的影响。一个特别重要的目标是鉴定对一种疾病具有抗性的基因，该基因既不会降低产量，也不会增加对其他非目标疾病的易感性。我们将利用关联遗传学来实现这一目标，这种方法在人类疾病和其他特征的遗传学研究中已被证明非常强大。我们将研究 480 个小麦品种，包括目前具有商业意义的品种及其祖先。我们选择研究由侵袭小麦叶子的真菌引起的四种主要疾病。这些疾病共同构成了英国小麦产量的主要实际和潜在威胁。目前英国小麦品种对白粉病具有良好的抗性，这种理想的情况持续下去非常重要。过去十年来，小麦壳针孢的抗性有所改善，但这仍然是最重要的小麦病害。按照国际标准，对黄锈病的抗性总体上良好，但通常不持久，通过真菌毒力的进化很快就会被克服。近年来，英国发生了严重的褐锈病流行，提高我们的小麦品种对这种病害的平均抗性水平非常重要。一个重要的目标是生成供整个小麦研究界使用的资源。关联遗传学分析和相关数据、种子和 DNA 库将成为研究当前重要性状的极好资源。然而，它也将使育种者和遗传学家能够应对新的威胁，例如由于气候变化或新的农艺做法而迅速变得重要的疾病；最近北欧（包括英国）的大麦 Ramularia 叶斑病就发生了这种情况。总之，关联遗传学方法将增强当前的小麦育种，特别是抗病性，并使我们能够为未来的挑战做好准备。