Growing pains: Elucidating the control logic of developmental transitions in Brassica (MORRIS_J17DTP2)
Lead Research Organisation:
University of East Anglia
Department Name: Graduate Office
Abstract
The most direct impacts will be in the interdisciplinary training of the student, the novel approaches and fundamental new insights into the biology of developmental transitions and the sharing of these findings and data through high quality publications and the webportal. In addition to that, there are clear downstream economic impacts related to this research.
Understanding the environmental sensitivity of the underlying regulatory pathways will be of pivotal importance for optimising crop performance in new climates. In Europe and most of the World, predicted climate change will demand mitigation strategies including changes in crop sowing and harvesting dates, the introduction of cultivars with different relationships between developmental transitions and seasonal progression, and breeding for robust performance under stressful conditions. This project will determine tissue-specific gene expression networks to understand developmental trade-offs and optimise strategies for the stable, synchronised production of quality vegetables in Brassica oleracea. This knowledge will underpin breeding strategies for optimizing future Brassica crops.
Understanding the environmental sensitivity of the underlying regulatory pathways will be of pivotal importance for optimising crop performance in new climates. In Europe and most of the World, predicted climate change will demand mitigation strategies including changes in crop sowing and harvesting dates, the introduction of cultivars with different relationships between developmental transitions and seasonal progression, and breeding for robust performance under stressful conditions. This project will determine tissue-specific gene expression networks to understand developmental trade-offs and optimise strategies for the stable, synchronised production of quality vegetables in Brassica oleracea. This knowledge will underpin breeding strategies for optimizing future Brassica crops.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Richard Morris (Primary Supervisor) | |
| Shannon Woodhouse (Student) |
Publications
Calderwood A
(2020)
Total FLC transcript dynamics from divergent paralogue expression explains flowering diversity in Brassica napus
in New Phytologist
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BB/M011216/1 | 01/10/2015 | 31/03/2024 | |||
| 1937619 | Studentship | BB/M011216/1 | 01/10/2017 | 30/09/2021 | Shannon Woodhouse |
| Description | A bioinformatics pipeline has been developed and made openly available for gene association studies in Brassica oleracea. We validated our approach on the example of vernalisation, by taking trait data and identifying candidate genes. |
| Exploitation Route | The pipeline which has been developed, will enable various trait studies in B. oleracea to be carried out, which will help to guide breeding programmes. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink |
| Title | Brassica oleracea Associative Transcriptomics Pipeline |
| Description | A bioinformatics pipeline has been developed and made openly available for gene association studies in Brassica oleracea. R based scripts have been made available that allow gene expression marker analysis and visualisation of results. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4529809 |
| Type Of Material | Data analysis technique |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | This pipeline will enable various trait studies in B. oleracea to be carried, which may identify candidate genes that could be used to help to guide future breeding programmes. |
| URL | https://github.com/JIC-CSB/Boleracea-AssociativeTranscriptomics |
| Title | Targeted sequencing of selected genes in Brassica oleraceae accessions |
| Description | A diverse set of Brassica oleracea accessions have been selected from the Diversity Fixed foundation Set (maintained by the University of Warwick) and sequenced using targeted sequence capture (https://zenodo.org/record/4473283#.YBGjxVCnw2w). Accessions were chosen to encompass as much variation as possible, by both ecogeographical origin and crop type. Seven different crop types are represented; Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Calabrese, Cauliflower, Kale and Kohl Rabi. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Sequencing underlying ecotilling for BBSRC BRAVO. Papers currently under review or development. |
| URL | https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ena/browser/view/PRJEB43076 |
| Description | BRAVO Management Meeting November 2019 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | 2019 BRAVO management meeting to discuss progress and future goals. Session for presentations of current research, followed by discussions on prioritising next steps and future work. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Breeders Day (JIC), June 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Breeders Day at the John Innes Centre is an event targeted mainly at industry and highlights where applied science can be taken out of the lab and go on to have dramatic commercial benefits. I presented a large scale phenotyping experiment that I was carrying out at the time as part of my PhD. This sparked lots of questions from the vegetable breeders present at the day and le to interactions with journalists leading to talks and media discussions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Bringing The Scientists To You, July 2019 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Five different sessions throughout the day, allowing pupils to extract their own DNA. Aim to encourage students to think about careers in Science. Workshop carried out for Year 8 and 9 pupils at St. Clements Academy, King's Lynn. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Bringing The Scientists To You, June 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Five different sessions throughout the day, allowing pupils to extract their own DNA. Aim to encourage students to think about careers in Science. Workshop carried out for Year 8 and 9 pupils at Thetford Academy, Thetford. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | East Norfolk Triple Science Network Day, January 2020 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Sixty pupils from three Norfolk schools attended a school visit to the John Innes Centre, where I ran two workshops enabling pupils to learn about DNA extraction and ultimately to extract their own DNA in a hands on practical session. All students were Year 9 and interested in careers in science or medicine and the day aimed to show them the positives of the NBI Research Park. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | London Lates Event, Year of the Engineer, October 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | 2018 was the Year of Engineering - a national HM Government campaign led by the Department for Transport to get young people engaged with engineering. The London Science Museum held a London Lates Event which showcased engineering from all fields of science. UEA in partnership with the SAW Trust and OpenPlant had a stall themed around "Engineering with Natural Products" or synthetic biology. Visitors engaged well, asking lots of questions and getting involved with demonstrations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | http://www.openplant.org/blog/2018/11/16/late-night-biological-engineering-in-london |
| Description | Norwich Science Festival, October 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The Norwich Science Festival aims to showcase the scientific research associated with the city, to engage the general public. OpenPlant had a stand focused around Synthetic Biology, aimed mainly at getting younger children interested in Science. Throughout the day much discussion was generated about DNA and science as a career. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Red Oak Primary School, Science Day, June 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Pupils ranging from Yr 2 to Yr 6 engaged in a science day to help encourage those with an interest in the subject and allow them to experience hands on practical activities. One of the activities was based around food, with the aim being to understand that plants contain substances that can contribute both to taste and human health. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | The Vegetable Farmer Magazine, February 2021 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | The Vegetable Farmer is a magazine aimed at field vegetable, outdoor salad crop and potato growers. In the February 2021 issue, Heather Briggs, an independent journalist, wrote an article about the work of the BRAVO team, including about the large scale phenotypic experiment I had run within B. oleracea. The aim of the article was to inform breeders and growers of the research being carried out on heading date in B. oleracea and to promote discussion. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | http://www.vegetablefarmer.co.uk/ |
| Description | The Vegetable Farmer, September 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | The Vegetable Farmer is a magazine aimed at field vegetable, outdoor salad crop and potato growers. In the August 2018 issue, Heather Briggs, an independent journalist, wrote an article about the large scale phenotypic experiment I was carrying out at the time as part of my PhD. The aim of the article was to inform breeders and growers of the research being carried out on heading date in B. oleracea and to promote discussion. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | http://www.vegetablefarmer.co.uk/ |
| Description | UK-BRC 2021 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presented a summary of my phenotypic experiment and associated GWAS work at the Annual UK-BRC conference. Conference was held virtually in November 2020. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://ukbrc.hosted.york.ac.uk/events_2020.html |
| Description | University of East Anglia, CSI Activity, April 2019 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Approximately 100 Sixth Form Students attended a school visit to the University of East Anglia as part of a university taster day for pupils interested in science or medicine. Pupil have a DNA Fingerprinting activity to complete, allowing them to experience a university laboratory environment. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | University of East Anglia, CSI Activity, March 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Approximately 100 Sixth Form Students attended a school visit to the University of East Anglia as part of a university taster day for pupils interested in science or medicine. Pupils have a DNA Fingerprinting activity to complete, allowing them to experience a university laboratory environment and aid their decision at whether and where to attend university. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | VeGIN Stakeholder Meeting, November 2019 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | The Vegetable Genetic Improvement Network (VeGIN) Stakeholder meeting brings together individuals working a s part of the VeGIN team alongside stakeholders, breeders and researchers working in related fields to discuss the latest updates in vegetable based research in the UK. The purpose was to make more connections within the research community and to discuss ideas about how to go forward with those working in a related field. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Visit to Elsoms Seeds, September 2019 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Visit to Elsoms seeds to discuss research and potential collaboration. Good discussion was had, lots of questions generated. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Visit to University of York, December 2019 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | Visit to University of York to discuss work on the B. oleracea Associative Transcriptomics pipeline. Lots of discussion generated. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |