Plant Science

Worldwide Nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) stands at 33% for cereals. This inefficiency represents a substantial economic cost to the farmer and to the environment in terms of nitrate pollution. Agronomic practices have partially improved NUE in wheat by identifying and managing nutrient losses in the soil-crop system. Moving the farming industry towards more sustainable agricultural systems is often impeded by socio-economic determinants. One solution to mitigate the nitrogen pollution in agriculture is to develop wheat genotypes with enhanced NUE. This project will provide the under pinning science to enable breeders to screen for and select suitable germplasm and will address the EU Nitrates Directive (91/676/EEC).

We aim to use the latest technologies in molecular genetics and cereal transformation to develop wheat with enhanced NUE. We will exploit our knowledge of the enzyme glutamine synthetase which incorporates inorganic ammonium into amino acids in plants. Integrated methodologies from the laboratory to the field will be utilised to reach our objectives.

New biochemical marker for marker assisted selection in wheat.

Genotypes modified or selected for enhanced NUE