Understanding the molecular control of senescence and nutrient remobilisation in wheat

了解小麦衰老和养分再利用的分子控制

基本信息

批准号：
BB/M014045/1
负责人：
Philippa Borrill
金额：
$ 39.88万
依托单位：
John Innes Centre
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Fellowship
财政年份：
2015
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2015 至无数据
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FM014045%2F1
关键词：
Understanding molecular control senescence nutrient

项目摘要

Wheat is one of the world's most important crops providing over 20% of calories eaten by mankind. However, wheat not only provides calories, it is also a vital source of other nutrients including protein and minerals such as iron and zinc. Protein and mineral malnutrition affects over 30% of the world's population, so if we could improve the levels of nutrients in the grain of staple crops such as wheat, it could have a dramatic impact on the health and lives of people across the globe.The nutrient content of wheat grain is intimately linked to the controlled death (senescence) of the plant. There is an important trade-off between prolonging the life of the plant to maximise yield, and ensuring that nutrients are released from dying parts of the plant (e.g. leaves) to the grain. Scientists have often studied the senescence of leaves and grain development separately. I hypothesize that if we understand the integrated process from the dying leaves to the developing grain we will be able to improve the amount of nutrients entering the grain, without reducing yield. I propose to improve our understanding of nutrient movement from the leaves into the grain, and its relationship with senescence, in three main ways. Firstly I will study the genes involved in these processes in plants with normal and reduced ability to move nutrients into their grain. This will identify which genes are key control points. Secondly I will explore where genes known to be involved in nutrient movement and senescence are active in the plant and what their functions are. Thirdly I will identify mutant plants which have altered rates of senescence and identify which genes are changed in these plants, to understand the senescence process in more detail. Currently very few genes have been identified in wheat to be important in controlling senescence and nutrient content. This project will identify several of the most important genes representing a step change in understanding which genes control senescence and nutrient content in wheat. This information will be useful to crop breeders and biotechnologists to improve the nutrient content of wheat grain without reducing the yield.

小麦是世界上最重要的农作物之一，可提供人类食用20％的卡路里。但是，小麦不仅提供卡路里，而且是其他营养素的重要来源，包括蛋白质和矿物质，例如铁和锌。蛋白质和矿物营养不良会影响全球30％以上的人口，因此，如果我们可以改善诸如小麦等主食农作物中的养分水平，它可能会对全球人的健康和生活产生巨大影响。小麦颗粒的营养含量与植物的受控死亡（衰老）密切相关。延长植物的寿命以最大化产量，并确保从植物的垂死部分（例如叶片）释放营养物质到谷物之间，这是一个重要的权衡。科学家经常分别研究叶子和谷物发育的衰老。我假设，如果我们了解从垂死的叶到发育中的谷物的综合过程，我们将能够改善进入谷物的养分量，而不会降低产量。我建议以三种主要方式提高我们对从叶到谷物的营养运动及其与衰老的关系的理解。首先，我将研究具有正常和降低的养分能力进入其谷物的植物中所涉及的基因。这将确定哪些基因是关键控制点。其次，我将探索涉及营养运动和衰老的基因在植物中活跃的地方以及它们的功能。第三，我将确定变化衰老发生率并确定这些植物中哪些基因的突变植物，以更详细地了解衰老过程。目前，很少有小麦的基因在控制衰老和养分含量中很重要。该项目将确定几个最重要的基因，代表了了解哪些基因控制衰老和小麦中的营养含量的步骤变化。这些信息对于农作物育种者和生物技术医生将很有用，可以改善小麦谷物的养分含量而不降低产量。