Arable
Wheat could yield another 5t/ha say
researchers • UK yields could increase by half again • Raising output could help food security • Genetic tools could create perfect plant
W
heat yields could be in- creased by more than 5t/ha by exploiting the
crop’s untapped genetic poten- tial, suggests newly published research. Yields in the UK could be in- creased by half as much again compared to typical harvests from today’s commonly used va- rieties, according the Rothamst- ed Research study. And some oth- er European countries could see increases of up to 90%. Such improvements would go
a long way to feeding the growing world population – while reduc- ing pressure to convert wild habi- tats to farmland, say researchers who used simulations to create “perfect” wheat plants tailored to each region. In all cases, they found wheat varieties were underperforming for grain yield compared to the performance of locally adapted cultivars – with an obvious ge- netic yield gap between reality and possibility.
Scientists behind the study de- fine a crop’s genetic yield poten-
tial as the highest yield achiev- able by an idealised variety – in other words, a plant with a ge- nome that allows it to capture wa- ter, sunlight and nutrients more efficiently than any other. Lead researcher Mikhail Se-
menov said: “Improving genetic yield potential and closing the ge- netic yield gap are important to achieve global food security. “Europe is the largest wheat
producer, delivering more than a third of wheat globally, but Euro- pean wheat’s yield potential from genetic improvements has not yet been realised.”
The study looked at six local- ly adapted wheat cultivars at 13 sites across the continent, repre- senting the major and contrast- ing wheat growing regions in Eu- rope – from Spain in the south to Denmark in the north, and Hun- gary in the east to the UK in the west.
Computer simulation Using a computer model called Sirius, they ran millions of simu- lations. The results demonstrated
The study scrutinised six locally adapted wheat cultivars.
that many wheat traits contrib- uting to the amount of grain pro- duced were performing well be- low their optimums.
Simulations were based on ex- tensive data on the natural ge- netic variation underpinning key plant traits. These included toler- ance and response to drought and heat stresses, the size and orien- tation of the light-capturing up- per leaves, and the timing of key life cycle events. Published in the journal Glob-
al Food Security, the results show that fine-tuning wheat genomes to their environments could po- tentially produce up to 15t/ha, with the idealised average of 5.2t/ ha being greater than the current average.
“Despite intensive wheat breeding efforts, current local cul- tivars were found to be far from the achievable optimum, mean-
ing that a large genetic yield gap still exists for European wheat,” said Malcolm Hawkesford, who heads up Rothamsted’s Plant Sci- ences Department.
Improvements ahead Dr Semenov is optimistic that wheat yields can be improved. “A vast natural genetic variation ex- ists for different traits in wheat. In the last few decades substan- tial progress has been made in identifying the genes associat- ed with key traits for wheat im- provement and adaptation.” At the same time, modern plant breeding technology has ad- vanced – including gene mapping, molecular marker-assisted breed- ing, genomics-assisted breeding and gene editing. These advanc- es could help develop well-adapt- ed, climate smart cultivars for fu- ture climates.
Protein antibiotics offer new hope against diseases
Scientists have tested a new way to protect crops from a widespread and devastating bacterial disease without using chemical sprays.
They say the new method could protect a wide variety of important crops – including fruit and vegetables – against the common crop bacteria Pseudomonas syringae (Ps), which is responsible for diseases like blight, spot and bacterial speck. Using genetic modification, the team were able to make plants express a targeted protein antibiotic, or bacteriocin. These plants then successfully fought off the bacterial infection without any damage to the plants themselves or the surrounding environment.
10 MIDLAND FARMER • JANUARY 2020
Chemicals, conventional antibiotics and resistance genes introduced by plant breeding are currently used to protect plants against these bacteria. But they have limited suc- cess and often have adverse environmental impacts. Joel Milner and Daniel Walker, from Glas- gow University, created plants which were genetically modified to produce the bacteri- ocin throughout their life. Their research is the first time this modification has been tri- alled in plants. With increased regulatory pressure on the
use of chemical treatments and the risk of spreading resistance associated with conven- tional antibiotics, Dr Milner said there was
a pressing need to develop alternative strat- egies to combat bacterial disease in crops. “Our results provide proof-of-principle that the expression of a bacteriocin in plants can provide effective resistance against bac- terial disease. Unlike conventional antibiot- ics, bacteriocins are highly targeted; in this case they act only against the Ps strains that infect plants.
“By using bacteriocins we avoid the risks associated with conventional antibiotics; that resistance will spread indiscriminately to oth- er bacteria. In fact, by replacing conventional antibiotics, we take away an important driv- er of resistance that could even spread to hu- man bacterial pathogens.”
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