description
- Bread wheat is a major staple of world food supply and the UKs major crop. This project will be carried out in the Crop Genetics department of the John Innes Centre with strong commercial support from KWS, a leading wheat breeding company . The student will study the way in which one gene controls senescence of wheat with consequences for crop maturity, grain filling, and yield. They will work towards identifying this gene and show how it interacts with genes controlling flowering and how this type of genetic variation can be used to grow better crop under conditions of stress (reduced nitrogen fertilization and drought) so contributing to the sustainability of crop production. This will provide the opportunity to understand the consequences of genetic changes from the single plant developmental level, through to farmers fields, and real impact for global food security. Already developed precise genetic resources will be used to uncouple flowering time from maturity and show whether the two traits can be manipulated independently resulting in improved crop performance. The student will receive excellent training in genetics, genomics, molecular biology and breeding.