Download Project title Boron deficiency in wheat. Supervisors Tim

Project title
Boron deficiency in wheat.
Supervisors
Tim Sutton, Julie Hayes
Contact
Details
[email protected]
Tel. 8313 7171
Keywords: boron deficiency/efficiency, boron transporters, wheat
Background
Aims &
Significance
In wheat, the primary effect of boron (B) deficiency is male sterility, leading to
reduced grain set. This is a significant problem in low B soils that are found in tropical
wheat growing areas of Thailand, China, Bangladesh and India, and possibly also in
the northern wheat growing regions of Australia. Research in Arabidopsis has
demonstrated that B transporters play a key role in B efficiency of higher plants
(Takano et al. (2002) Nature 420: 337-340.). In the wheat genome, there are at least
nine members of the TaBotL B transporter gene family. This project would initially
involve determining the sequences of TaBotL gene family members predicted to be
involved in tolerance to B deficiency. Gene expression analyses in tissues of B
efficient and inefficient wheat varieties would be used to identify key gene targets.
Detailed studies would also be undertaken to identify different allele types of TaBotL
transporters in wheat germplasm and to correlate these with reported variation in B
efficiency. Mapping populations would be developed and QTL analysis performed to
assess association between genes of interest and tolerance to boron deficiency.
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Techniques
to be used
To determine the relative contribution of B transporters to B deficiency
tolerance in wheat, and to identify which B transporters are important in this
role
To develop robust methods for assessing B deficiency tolerance in cereals
Primer design, DNA and RNA extractions, Southern and Northern hybridizations,
hydroponic experiments, sand culture experiments, PCR, gel electrophoresis, DNA
sequencing and sequence analysis, mapping population development, QTL mapping.