Crop Science and Plant Breeding - Forage Crops

 

Goals

Breeding Goals

Long term goals in breeding that require inputs from fundamental research include: 

  • Incorporation of genomics assisted breeding to accelerate genetic gain.
  • Exploiting genome sequence data to better understand traits and direct crosses
  • Use of new technology (drones, machine learning, AI) for phenotyping in the field.
  • Breeding targets for zero carbon and climate friendly farming – carbon sequestration, root   growth, resilience to climate change, persistency. 
  • Improvement of nutrient use efficiency to reduce inputs.
  • Breeding forages with improved quality traits that reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. 
  • Novel uses of forage crops, pulses and oats, such as extraction of protein for monogastric feed
    and plant-based diets. 
  • Improved resilience of grain quality traits (oats) as demanded by millers and end-users. 
  • Multistress tolerance & resilience to sudden adverse weather events (drought, waterlogging). 
  • Improvement of breeding efficiency (accuracy of selection) using high throughput phenotyping. 
  • Pre-breeding to identify novel alleles and increase genetic diversity.
  • Understanding of adaptation- matching phenology to environment.
  • Development of benchmarks for farmers and crop growth models.
  • The addressing of the agricultural productivity gap through improvements in crop yield and yield stability.
  • New methods of plant breeding (gene editing, speed breeding) and recombination control

Current Projects

Current Projects

Core Strategic Programme in Resilient Crops BBSRC (2017-2022)   
BBS/E/W/0012843A http://www.resilientcrops.org 
 
Oat domestication - understanding the origin of a European cereal 
Funder: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) 
Grant number: BB/S008195/1 (2018-2021) 
 
Genetic improvement of pea to replace soyabean in the diets of poultry and monogastric livestock (PeaGen) BBSRC Link BB/P017517 https://www.pgro.org/peagen-project/ (2017-22) 
 
Food BioSystems Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) (2019-2021) https://research.reading.ac.uk/foodbiosystems/ 
 
Oat Breeding (industrial funding from Senova) 
 
Pulse Breeding (industrial funding from UK Pulses) 
 
Nitrogen and sulphur fertiliser management for yield and quality in winter and spring oats (NoatS) AHDB 2018-2022 
 
The influence of genotype, environment and management factors on yield development, grain filling and grain quality in oats (Walsh Fellowship) 
 
Understanding milling efficiency in oats: developing tools to improve grain quality (Walsh Fellowship) 
 
“Grazing tolerant red clover for future livestock farming”. CIEL Seed Funding (2020-2021). Germinal with IBERS (£50K) 
 
“Red clover as a cash crop: Protein for monogastric farm animals and metabolites for human health (RC-Promo)”. WEFO SMARTExpertise 2020/82292 (2020-2022) IBERS, Germinal Holdings Ltd, Blue Sky Botanics – (£264K) 
 
“Improved resistance of red clover to soil borne pathogens for sustainable livestock production”. WEFO SMARTExpertise 2017/COL/008 (2018-2021) IBERS, Germinal Holdings Ltd and Hybu Cig Cymru – (£250K) 
 
“Maximising the value of commercial forage grass seed production”. Innovate UK/BBSRC 93314-562353/TS/R005133/1 (2017-2020) Germinal Holdings and IBERS - Co-I (£207K) 
 
“EUCLEG - Breeding forage and grain legumes to increase EU's and China's protein self-sufficiency”. EU Horizon 2020 (H2020-SFS-2016-2 727312-2). 38 partners (2017-2021) - (€5M) - http://www.eucleg.eu
 
“Genetics of crown rot resistance in red clover” KESS II PhD studentship (2017-2020) IBERS and Germinal Holdings –  (£52K) 
 
“Genomic selection for utilisation, seed production and animal health traits in white clover” (2017-2021) Teagasc Walsh Fellowship – (€145K) 

Completed Projects

Recently completed projects

 
BBBSRC-LINK, AHDB,  Developing enhanced breeding methodologies for oats for human health and nutrition (InnovOat) 2014- 2019 Industry partners Senova and BOBMA http://www.innovoat.uk/ 
 
Optimising oat yield and quality to deliver sustainable production and economic impact (Opti-Oat) Innovate UK 2014-2018 https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FM02749X%2F1 
 
UKRI-NRC Prototyping Root System Architecture in Avena: Technologies for Environmental Sustainability and Food Security BB/S020926/1 
 
“Novel strategies for genetic improvement of disease resistance in perennial ryegrass”. Innovate UK/BBSRC 47055-329315/ BB/M028267/1. (2015-2020) Germinal Holdings and IBERS (£730K) 
 
“Comparative population genomics of red clover domestication and improvement” BBSRC-IPA BB/L023563/1 with TGAC and Germinal Holdings (2014-2017) (£741K) 
 
“Genomics-assisted breeding for fatty acid content and composition in perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) BBSRC LINK1 award (with Germinal Holdings and Hybu Cig Cymru) BB/K017160/1 (2013-2018) (£999,435) 
 
GIANT-LINK: Genetic improvement of miscanthus as a sustainable feedstock for bioenergy in the UK (£6.4M) 
 
MUST: Miscanthus upscaling technology (£1.8M) 

Principal Investigators

Principal Investigators

Picture Name Email Telephone
Dr Maurice Bosch mub@aber.ac.uk +44 (0) 1970 823103
Dr Narcis Fernandez Fuentes naf4@aber.ac.uk +44 (0) 1970 621680
Prof Huw D Jones hdj2@aber.ac.uk +44 (0) 1970 823015
Prof Alison Kingston-Smith ahk@aber.ac.uk +44 (0) 1970 823062
Dr Dylan Phillips dwp@aber.ac.uk +44 (0) 1970 621617
Prof Rattan Yadav rsy@aber.ac.uk +44 (0) 1970 823174

Publications

Publications

Muhandiram, NPK, Humphreys, MW, Fychan, R, Davies, JW, Sanderson, R & Marley, CL 2023, 'Designing agricultural grasses to help mitigate proteolysis during ensiling to optimize protein feed provisions for livestock', Food and Energy Security, vol. 12, no. 4, e475. 10.1002/fes3.475
Rohner, M, Manzanares, C, Yates, SA, Thorogood, D, Copetti, D, Lübberstedt, T, Asp, T & Studer, B 2023, 'Fine-mapping and comparative genomic analysis reveal the gene composition at the S and Z self-incompatibility loci in grasses', Molecular Biology and Evolution, vol. 40, no. 1, msac259. 10.1093/molbev/msac259, 10.5281/zenodo.7289792, 10.5281/zenodo.7015164, 10.5281/zenodo.7290695
Martínez-Fortún, J, Phillips, DW & Jones, HD 2022, 'Natural and artificial sources of genetic variation used in crop breeding: A baseline comparator for genome editing', Frontiers in Genome Editing, vol. 4, 937853. 10.3389/fgeed.2022.937853
Arpaia, S, Christiaens, O, Giddings, K, Jones, H, Mezzetti, B, Moronta-Barrios, F, Perry, JN, Sweet, JB, Taning, CNT, Smagghe, G & Dietz-Pfeilstetter, A 2020, 'Biosafety of GM Crop Plants Expressing dsRNA: Data Requirements and EU Regulatory Considerations', Frontiers in Plant Science, vol. 11, 940. 10.3389/fpls.2020.00940
Taning, CNT, Arpaia, S, Christiaens, O, Dietz-Pfeilstetter, A, Jones, H, Mezzetti, B, Sabbadini, S, Hoen-Sorteberg, H-GO, Sweet, J, Ventura, V & Smagghe, G 2020, 'RNA-based biocontrol compounds: Current status and perspectives to reach the market', Pest Management Science, vol. 76, no. 3, pp. 841-845. 10.1002/ps.5686
Mezzetti, B, Smagghe, G, Arpaia, S, Christiaens, O, Dietz-Pfeilstetter, A, Jones, H, Kostov, K, Sabbadini, S, Opsahl-Sorteberg, HG, Ventura, V, Taning, CNT & Sweet, J 2020, 'RNAi: What is its position in agriculture?', Journal of Pest Science, vol. 93, no. 4, pp. 1125-1130. 10.1007/s10340-020-01238-2
Clifton-Brown, J, Harfouche, A, Casler, M, Jones, H, MacAlpine, WJ, Murphy-Bokern, D, Smart, L, Adler, A, Ashman, CR, Awty-Carroll, D, Bastien, C, Bopper, S, Botnari, V, Brancourt-Hulmel, M, Chen, Z, Clark, L, Cosentino, S, Dalton, S, Davey, C, Dolstra, O, Donnison, I, Flavell, R, Greef, JM, Hanley, S, Hastings, A, Hertzberg, M, Hsu, TW, Huang, L, Iurato, A, Jensen, E, Jin, X, Jørgensen, U, Kiesel, A, Kim, D-S, Liu, J, McCalmont, JP, McMahon, GG, Mos, M, Robson, P, Sacks, EJ, Sandu, A, Scalici, G, Schwarz, K, Scordia, D, Shafiei, R, Shield, IF, Slavov, G, Stanton, B, Swaminathan, K, Taylor, G, Torres, AF, Trindade, LM, Tschaplinski, T, Tuskan, J, Yamada, T, Yu, CY, Zalesny, R-F, Zong, J & Lewandowski, I 2019, 'Breeding progress and preparedness for mass‐scale deployment of perennial lignocellulosic biomass crops switchgrass, miscanthus, willow and poplar', GCB Bioenergy, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 118-151. 10.1111/gcbb.12566, 10.1111/gcbb.12566
Jones, H 2019, 'Continuing the dialogue on organic and GMOs' A Bigger Conversation. <https://abiggerconversation.org/continuing-the-dialogue-on-organic-and-gmos/>
Jones, H 2019, 'Future-proofing regulation for rapidly changing biotechnologies', Transgenic Research, vol. 28, no. Suppl 2, pp. 107-110. 10.1007/s11248-019-00143-4
Davies, HR, Maddison, A, Phillips, D & Jones, H 2019, Genetic Transformation of Protoplasts Isolated from Leave of Lolium temulentum and Lolium perenne. in LM Vaschetto (ed.), Cereal Genomics. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol. 2072, Springer Nature. 10.1007/978-1-4939-9865-4
Sun, Y, Sparks, C, Jones, H, Riley, M, Francis, F, Du, W & Xia, L 2019, 'Silencing an essential gene involved in infestation and digestion in grain aphid through plant‐mediated RNA interference generates aphid‐resistant wheat plants', Plant Biotechnology Journal, vol. 17, no. 5, pp. 852-854. 10.1111/pbi.13067, 10.1111/pbi.13067
Jones, H 2018, 'Smart gene edits need tailored regulations', Journal of Cereal Science, vol. 77, pp. A1-A2. 10.1016/j.jcs.2017.10.004
Casacuberta, J, Nogué, F, Naegeli, H, Birch, AN, De Schrijver, A, Gralak, MA, Guerche, P, Manachini, B, Messéan, A, Nielsen, EE, Robaglia, C, Rostoks , N, Sweet, J, Tebbe, C, Visioli, F, Wal, J-M, Moxon, S, Schneeberger, K, Federici, S, Ramon, M, Papadopoulou, N & Jones, H 2018, 'Technical Note on the quality of DNA sequencing for the molecular characterisation of genetically modified plants', EFSA Journal, vol. 16, no. 7, e05345. 10.2903/j.efsa.2018.5345
Shewry, PR, Corol, DI, Jones, H, Beale, MH & Ward, JL 2017, 'Defining genetic and chemical diversity in wheat grain by 1H-NMR spectroscopy of polar metabolites', Molecular Nutrition and Food Research, vol. 61, no. 7, 1600807. 10.1002/mnfr.201600807
Driever, SM, Simkin, AJ, Alotaibi, S, Fisk, SJ, Madgwick, PJ, Sparks, CA, Jones, H, Lawson, T, Parry, MAJ & Raines, CA 2017, 'Increased SBPase activity improves photosynthesis and grain yield in wheat grown in greenhouse conditions', Philosophical Transactions B: Biological Sciences, vol. 372, no. 1730, 20160384. 10.1098/rstb.2016.0384
Martinez-Fortun, J, Phillips, D & Jones, H 2017, 'Potential impact of genome editing in world agriculture', Emerging Topics in Life Sciences, vol. 1, no. 2, 2, pp. 117-133. 10.1042/ETLS20170010
Primavesi, LF, Wu, H, Mudd, EA, Day, A & Jones, HD 2017, 'Visualisation of plastid degradation in sperm cells of wheat pollen', Protoplasma, vol. 254, no. 1, pp. 229-237. 10.1007/s00709-015-0935-x
Jones, HD 2016, 'Future of breeding by genome editing is in the hands of regulators', GM crops & food, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 223-232. 10.1080/21645698.2015.1134405
Wang, G-P, Yu, X-D, Sun, Y-W, Jones, H & Xia, L-Q 2016, 'Generation of marker- and/or backbone-free transgenic wheat plants via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation', Frontiers in Plant Science, vol. 7, 1324. 10.3389/fpls.2016.01324

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