Most major changes in UK wheats, such as the introduction of dwarfing genes (which reduced plant height, but increased the yield) have been introduced from wide crosses. Wide crosses can still be used to introduce new genes which allow further major changes to be made in UK wheats. The proposal presented here will introduce new genes conferring longer ear rachis (= axis of the ear) associated with improved ear fertility from Mexican wheats (from CIMMYT) which could facilitate a quantum leap in overall yield in UK wheats. The material to test this has already been produced. Specifically, we have created a population of lines from a cross between the Mexican 'big-ear' line and a productive (highly efficient at turning sunlight into sugar) UK adapted wheat, Rialto. In a preliminary study, we have shown rachis length to be positively correlated with ear fertility (and grain number per unit land area). This proposal asks for funds to look at why the Mexican wheat produces more grain for each ear than UK wheat and whether we can use the same genes to improve UK wheat yields. The programme works with UK plant breeders from CPB-Twyford Ltd to produce wheat pre-breeding lines containing these new genes from the Mexican material. For breeders to introduce novel traits into elite UK varieties, they must first know which genes are responsible for controlling the traits and how they work to cause differences between varieties. So, we will map the genes controlling ear fertility and in doing so develop genetic markers to facilitate their selection in breeding programmes. The weather and environmental conditions can vary considerably between different countries and genes that may be useful in some countries may not be in others. We plan to carry out physiological experiments which would identify why the Mexican wheat has more grains in each ear and how this might help improve wheat yield in the UK varieties. We will also carry out experiments to examine whether these genes influence other important determinants of yield at the crop level, such as ear number and grain weight. Crucially, there should be added benefits due to the high photosynthetic ability of Rialto combined with more fertile ears in the 'big-ear' line. We already have seed from the crosses which are needed to do this work, but need funding to understand how wheat controls the number of grains produced per ear. Our industrial partner will use their breeding expertise to make new lines suited to UK breeding, and we will help develop these lines and also use these lines to help us understand the genetics of how many grains are produced per ear. Using this combined approach we will then identify a pool of candidate genes which may directly influence this trait.

Rhynchosporium leaf blotch of barley, caused by the fungus Rhynchosporium secalis, is of increasing importance in world agriculture. It is the most serious disease on winter and spring barley in the UK, causing substantial losses nationally, despite expenditure of £50M per year on fungicides. The disease is difficult to control with fungicides, as the fungus can exist for a long period in the crop without causing symptoms. A severe epidemic may then emerge without warning. The sources of infection responsible for such epidemics are not well understood. We have recently discovered, for instance, that contaminated seed may be an important primary source of the disease. This project aims to clarify the origin and early dynamics of epidemics using molecular techniques (quantitative PCR) that can detect and quantify the DNA of the pathogen in barley plants before symptoms occur. The same techniques can also detect genetic characteristics of the fungus, such as mating type, virulence, and genes responsible for resistance to fungicides. Each season, epidemics will be monitored on both winter (October-sown) and spring (March-sown) barley. Work will also be done on historical spring barley samples archived at Rothamsted over 150 years, and on samples from current crops from at least 10 sites in England, Scotland and Ireland. We aim to study short-term and long-term changes in the pathogen population. Knowledge from this project will be combined with new information from related projects being funded by BBSRC LINK, Defra, HGCA and SEERAD (at ADAS, and in Scotland, SAC and SCRI) to develop guidelines for crop husbandry and agronomic practices to reduce R. secalis population size and genetic variation to achieve sustainable control of rhynchosporium disease of barley.

Bio-lubricants have both environmental and technical advantages over their counterparts derived from mineral oils. In addition to being renewable, they are biodegradable, have lower volatile emissions and low environmental toxicity. They provide superior anti-wear protection and exhibit reduced combustibility. In addition, bio-lubricants have lower coefficients of friction, which results in reduced energy costs for equipment in which bio-lubricants as used. Although vegetable oils are used in blending some less stressed lubricants, their thermal stability is inadequate for the majority of applications as a consequence of the presence of excessive polyunsaturation of their constituent fatty acids. In view of the poor stability of conventional refined rapeseed oil, lubricant blenders currently favour the use of synthetic esters with a high renewables content of the production of the more stressed lubricant types; this more expensive base oil currently inhibits uptake of bio-lubricants by end users. Rapeseed oil has many physical and chemical properties that are advantageous for base oil for the lubricants industry. However, the total content of polyunsaturated fatty acids remains too high and the resulting instability is the principal barrier to its widespread use. The target set by the industry is reduction to less than 5% total PUFAs, whilst retaining the other desirable physical and chemical properties of rapeseed oil. To be economically competitive, some yield penalty in the crop and increased processing costs can be tolerated, as its principal competitor in the market place, low PUFA sunflower oil, is presently priced at up to $120/tonne more on the commodity markets. Nevertheless, the approaches we propose should result in little, if any, yield loss from fully developed varieties. The purpose of the project is to underpin the development of oilseed rape varieties for the production of oil for use in the lubricants industry. A key knowledge gap is an understanding of how to substantially reduce the content of polyunsaturated fatty acids in rapeseed oil without reducing the oil yield of the crop. We will address this knowledge gap and enable establishment of a closed supply chain. This involves: (a) The genetic improvement of oilseed rape by mutagenesis of specific genes in order to produce, from a high-yielding winter crop, oil very low in polyunsaturated fatty acids. (b) Assessment of the physical properties of the oil produced in order to validate its utility. (c) Provision of characterised oilseed rape lines to the breeding industry for the development of cultivars. (d) Catalysing assembly of a supply chain. The strategy is non-GM, so we anticipate no barriers to the widespread utilization of the resultant varieties in the UK.

Bio-lubricants have both environmental and technical advantages over their counterparts derived from mineral oils. In addition to being renewable, they are biodegradable, have lower volatile emissions and low environmental toxicity. They provide superior anti-wear protection and exhibit reduced combustibility. In addition, bio-lubricants have lower coefficients of friction, which results in reduced energy costs for equipment in which bio-lubricants as used. Although vegetable oils are used in blending some less stressed lubricants, their thermal stability is inadequate for the majority of applications as a consequence of the presence of excessive polyunsaturation of their constituent fatty acids. In view of the poor stability of conventional refined rapeseed oil, lubricant blenders currently favour the use of synthetic esters with a high renewables content of the production of the more stressed lubricant types; this more expensive base oil currently inhibits uptake of bio-lubricants by end users. Rapeseed oil has many physical and chemical properties that are advantageous for base oil for the lubricants industry. However, the total content of polyunsaturated fatty acids remains too high and the resulting instability is the principal barrier to its widespread use. The target set by the industry is reduction to less than 5% total PUFAs, whilst retaining the other desirable physical and chemical properties of rapeseed oil. To be economically competitive, some yield penalty in the crop and increased processing costs can be tolerated, as its principal competitor in the market place, low PUFA sunflower oil, is presently priced at up to $120/tonne more on the commodity markets. Nevertheless, the approaches we propose should result in little, if any, yield loss from fully developed varieties. The purpose of the project is to underpin the development of oilseed rape varieties for the production of oil for use in the lubricants industry. A key knowledge gap is an understanding of how to substantially reduce the content of polyunsaturated fatty acids in rapeseed oil without reducing the oil yield of the crop. We will address this knowledge gap and enable establishment of a closed supply chain. This involves: (a) The genetic improvement of oilseed rape by mutagenesis of specific genes in order to produce, from a high-yielding winter crop, oil very low in polyunsaturated fatty acids. (b) Assessment of the physical properties of the oil produced in order to validate its utility. (c) Provision of characterised oilseed rape lines to the breeding industry for the development of cultivars. (d) Catalysing assembly of a supply chain. The strategy is non-GM, so we anticipate no barriers to the widespread utilization of the resultant varieties in the UK.

The aim of this project is to improve stability of the Hagberg Falling Number (HFN), a major quality trait in wheat. HFN is currently sensitive to a number of environmental conditions that reduce the quality of grain and make it unsuitable for bread-making, resulting in severe financial losses to farmers: last year (2004) only 27% of the UK wheat crop grown for bread-making was of acceptable quality, with an estimated loss to farmers of £100 per acre of wheat grown. UK cultivars vary in their susceptibility to low HFN, partly due to the difficulty of applying conventional phenotypic screens to large populations of breeding selections, but some (eg. Option, Malacca) evidently carry adequate genetic resistance. Recommended List scores for HFN rely on the occurrence of appropriate weather conditions to trigger latent susceptibility or overhead irrigation to provoke pre-harvest sprouting (McVittie J & Draper S (1982) or irrigation of standing plots of winter wheat in order to assess varietal predisposition to pre-harvest sprouting. J. Natn. Inst. Bot. 16: 45-48). A key aim of this project is to furnish new tools and biological insights to enable breeders to identify new lines with stable HFN from the available pool of elite UK germplasm. The fact that existing resistant cultivars do not manifest problems with emergence in field sowings indicates that this aim is compatible with prompt stand establishment. Previous research by the applicants has shown that the two most important causes of high alpha-amylase levels in UK grain are pre-harvest sprouting (PHS) and pre-maturity alpha-amylase (PMA). PHS is the result of premature germination of grain in the ear, promoted in susceptible varieties by wet weather in the period between maturity and harvest. The consequent secretion of alpha-amylases into the starchy endosperm results in the deterioration in grain quality that is measured by the HFN test. PMA is less well defined, but is believed to result from inappropriate production of alpha-amylases by the aleurone layer in the crease region of the endosperm, late in grain development. Within the BBSRC financed objectives of this LINK project we intend to study the biochemical and molecular events in the wheat grain that are responsible for reduction of HFN during both PHS and PMA. Molecular genetic information from model species will be used to provide 'candidate genes' associated with germination potential/ endosperm development. These will be used for testing of function during seed development in relation to PHS/PMA. The characterisation of expression characteristics and genetic variation of candidate genes in existing germplasm, and the development of 'smart screens' and validated genetic markers will provide UK wheat breeders with resources to create improved varieties with more stable HFN. This project will address several components of the BBSRC strategic plan objectives for integrative biology and sustainable agriculture, including 'functional and comparative genomics', 'integrative biology-plant', 'transcriptomics', 'whole organism biology' and 'sustainable agriculture'. It will aim to provide a 'pipeline' for the delivery of information gained from studies in model species to tools for use to enhance breeding germplasm, a key recommendation of the recent BBSRC Crop Science Review.