Unlocking the properties of pre-Green Revolution rice with focus on nitrogen economy
Lead Research Organisation:
Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
Department Name: Trait Diversity and Function
Abstract
Crop plants evolve under the pressure of human needs and agricultural practices, hence contemporary varieties can be very different from those cultivated a century ago. In 1967, the Green Revolution invoked one of the most radical changes to crops and their cultivation environment. It encompassed mechanisation, the introduction of agro-chemicals, irrigation, and the replacement of traditional landraces with high-yielding hybrid monoculture. While it is credited with saving around one billion lives from starvation in developing countries, it implemented high chemical-input unsustainable agriculture, which affected crops, their environment, their associated microbiomes, and our dietary habits. Due to the high pace of rice agriculture transformation in Asia, we have very limited knowledge about the past genetic diversity, symbiotic relationships, and nutritional qualities of rice. In particular, we know very little about rice interactions with microbes, which are frequently suggested as sustainable alternatives to chemical inputs. To better understand the chemical-independent agriculture of the past, and to unlock rice properties that could improve sustainable nitrogen uptake, I propose to characterize the genomic, metagenomic and chemical diversity of historical populations of rice in Southeast Asia that predate the Green Revolution. Tailoring multi-omic approaches to degraded historical plants is not trivial. This project will utilize state-of-art methodology for archaeogenomics, pioneer analyses of nutrients in historical samples, and employ new methods for accurate microbiome characterization. I will conduct field experiments to test the effects of pre-Green Revolution microbial mixtures on rice nitrogen economy. In sum, this project will spearhead the mining of historical crop collections to unlock lost properties of crops through multi-omics. It will inspire the search for lost biotic and abiotic resistance traits with promise to increase our future food security.
Publications

Alsantely A
(2023)
The International Oryza Map Alignment Project (IOMAP): the Americas-past achievements and future directions.
in Journal of experimental botany

Burbano H
(2023)
Ancient DNA genomics and the renaissance of herbaria
in Science
Description | Landrace reintroduction |
Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
Policy Influence Type | Implementation circular/rapid advice/letter to e.g. Ministry of Health |
Description | Characterising Rice Genetic Diversity of the Past to Safeguard the Future |
Amount | £100,000 (GBP) |
Funding ID | 2869278 |
Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 09/2023 |
End | 09/2027 |
Title | Clean room facilities for ancient and historical DNA |
Description | Design, construction and commission of ultra-clean laboratory facilites with ISO6 clean air certification for processing ancient and historical degraded DNA. |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2024 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | New frontiers in analyzing historical plant materials, resultant in 3 new research collaborations. |
Description | Can Tho University, Vietnam |
Organisation | Can Tho University |
Country | Viet Nam |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Intellectual contributions. Training and seminars. |
Collaborator Contribution | Identification of sampling sites. Support in securing sampling permits. |
Impact | Training workshops for CTU partners. Distribution map for sampling. |
Start Year | 2023 |
Description | International Rice Research Institute, Philippines |
Organisation | International Rice Research Institute |
Country | Philippines |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | Intellectual contributions: population genomic analyses on partner's data. |
Collaborator Contribution | Intellectual contributions: analyses of grain micronutrients. |
Impact | None yet. |
Start Year | 2023 |
Description | National Museum of Natural History Phlippines |
Organisation | National Museum of Natural History |
Country | Philippines |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | Intellectual inputs, seminars and training. |
Collaborator Contribution | Participation in field work, support with sampling permissions, sample preparation. |
Impact | Sampling and sharing of 72 biological samples. |
Start Year | 2022 |
Description | CNB Junior's seminar |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Invited talk and two-day programme organized by postgraduate students: CNB Junior Seminars, Spanish National Biotechnology Centre, Spain. Inspired postgraduate students to pursue academic career. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Wallmer 2023 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Summer event at Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, which provides researchers (and their families) an opportunity to network with others and find future collaborators within the field of ecology and evolution. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
URL | https://www.ucl.ac.uk/centre-ecology-evolution/wallmer |
Description | Workshops at NMP, Philippines |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
Results and Impact | Seminar and workshop series on use of genomics on museum collections. Reported increased interest in training and application of genomics techniques. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023,2024 |
Description | Workshops for CTU, Vietnam |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
Results and Impact | Seminar, demonstration and workshop series for genomics. Sparked interest in further collaborations. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |