Temperature and vernalisation regulation of seed properties in Brassica napus
Lead Research Organisation:
University of East Anglia
Department Name: Graduate Office
Abstract
In Arabidopsis vernalisation and temperature during seed set both play an important role in determining seed properties such as seed size and seed vigour. In crops these effects can be important for crop yield and seed quality in the field, but have yet to be explored in depth in Brassica crops.
In autumn 2018 the team from the sLOLA Brassica Rapeseed and Vegetable Optimisation (BRAVO) sowed a large experiment to score multiple phenotypic traits in an Oilseed Rape diversity panel. The experiment consists of replicate plants completing vernalisation at three temperatures for two different durations, and then with plants from each treatment setting seeds in two different glasshouses maintained at two temperatures. The experiment has been set up with plans for phenotyping the flowering time and pod shattering of the plants but no plans for phenotyping the resulting seeds.
The first aim of this project is to begin to analyse the seeds produced by the plants to define the effect of vernalisation temperature, duration of vernalisation and seed set temperature on oilseed rape seed qualities. The second aim is to analyse existing transcriptome data from seeds to identify pathways associated with seed size, oil content and vigour that are affected by temperature, using MapMan software pipeline.
In autumn 2018 the team from the sLOLA Brassica Rapeseed and Vegetable Optimisation (BRAVO) sowed a large experiment to score multiple phenotypic traits in an Oilseed Rape diversity panel. The experiment consists of replicate plants completing vernalisation at three temperatures for two different durations, and then with plants from each treatment setting seeds in two different glasshouses maintained at two temperatures. The experiment has been set up with plans for phenotyping the flowering time and pod shattering of the plants but no plans for phenotyping the resulting seeds.
The first aim of this project is to begin to analyse the seeds produced by the plants to define the effect of vernalisation temperature, duration of vernalisation and seed set temperature on oilseed rape seed qualities. The second aim is to analyse existing transcriptome data from seeds to identify pathways associated with seed size, oil content and vigour that are affected by temperature, using MapMan software pipeline.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Steven Penfield (Primary Supervisor) | |
| Rebecca Doherty (Student) |
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BB/M011216/1 | 01/10/2015 | 31/03/2024 | |||
| 2060128 | Studentship | BB/M011216/1 | 01/10/2018 | 30/09/2022 | Rebecca Doherty |
| Description | Seeds produced under different growth conditions were analysed and it was found that vernalisation temperature and seed set temperature has a significant impact on thousand grain weight and seed number per pod in Brassica napus. These are seed properties which impact crop yield. It was also found that the duration of vernalisation did not have a significant effect across the range of cultivars studied. |
| Exploitation Route | Analysis of the seeds has produced a list of candidate genes which may be affecting seed size and number in response to temperature in Brassica napus. These genes are continuing to be studied under this award and their impacts could be further studied in a research setting. These results may be able to inform future breeding of Brassica crops to withstand climate change. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink |
| Description | Seed oil analysis of Brassica napus |
| Organisation | Rothamsted Research |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Data analysis to identify target genes for future collaboration. Seed production for analysis and access to data resulting from analysis of seed oil content. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Provision of use of NMR machines and training to use the machine, to allow seed oil content in Brassica napus to be analyzed using small quantities of seed. |
| Impact | Preliminary analysis of seed oil content has enabled data to be generated comparing oil content between plants grown at different temperatures. |
| Start Year | 2020 |