Abstract
There are compelling economic and environmental reasons to improve the efficiency with which crops capture and use water and nutrients in the soil. As pressure increases on global food prices and supply, a balance is needed between food production and the maintenance of healthy and diverse of ecosystems. High water abstraction and diffuse pollution from fertilisers can have negative impacts on adjacent ecosystems. Since, water is the most important factor limiting crop production, and water availability during the UK growing season is predicted to decline, it will be important to have crop varieties that can use the available water more efficiently. Nitrogen inputs are a major source of carbon dioxide emissions and leaching of nitrogen and phosphorus from soils results in poor water quality. Breeding crops that require less fertiliser can form part of an effective mitigation strategy for reducing diffuse agricultural pollution. Following recent steep increases in the price of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilisers, and the non-renewable nature of phosphorus, there are good economic incentives for reducing fertiliser use in crop production. We are currently using forward genetics to identify and map major genetic loci contributing to water and nutrient acquisition and use efficiency in the Brassica A and C genomes (HH3501, WQ0119, HH3608TX, LK0979, IF0125), and investigating the genetic control of water-use efficiency in Arabidopsis (HH3608TX, WU0116), and water capture in Solanaceous crops (HH3615SPC). We have generated information that will be used to breed field crops that can capture and use water and nutrients more efficiently. These projects deliver directly to Defra’s policy objectives on water quality and use. In Brassica oleracea, we have identified regions of the genome (loci) associated with improved water and phosphorus use efficiency. To define the position of these loci more precisely, we have performed back-crosses to the parent (A12DHd), and currently have stocks of F1 or F2 seed, depending on the lines. In this project we propose to continue crossing lines and identify recombinants in the F2 using molecular markers.
United Kingdom