Flowering is a key component of plant adaptation, affecting geographical distribution and suitability for farming practices. It is highly relevant to yield, quality and environmental considerations as flowering at the appropriate time ensures best use of the available growing season, promoting sustainability and reducing the need for inputs. The genus Brassica includes species with many morphological forms that are cultivated for use as vegetables, oils, fodder and condiments, and much of this morphological diversity can be attributed to variation in flowering time. Biennial cultivars require a period of cold treatment (vernalization) to induce flowering. This flowering behaviour is critical for the production of some vegetable forms and for adaptation to certain agricultural practices, such as planting of overwintering cauliflower varieties. Annual Brassica cultivars do not require cold treatment to flower, although some annuals can respond to vernalization by flowering earlier and more uniformly. How different varieties respond to vernalization has a big effect on when and how they mature. Many vegetables are harvested and eaten at the vegetative stage, prior to flowering. Successfully predicting the timing and length of the vegetative phase has a big influence on the quality and commercial return from the crop. For other vegetables it is the timing of the floral transition that is critical. In this project we will identify genes which can exert greater or lesser control on the vernalization process with the aim of using this information to produce parent lines and hybrids which have a more predictable harvest period. We will relate variation at these loci to performance under present and historical weather patterns to associate specific allelic combinations with maturity under different climatic conditions. Knowledge of key Brassica vernalization genes and how they vary in different vegetable Brassicas will allow us to address key questions about the impact of climate patterns on the availability of UK-produced quality Brassica vegetables.

Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.

Plant diseases seriously limit the production of crops in European agriculture. The diseases can be controlled by chemicals, but ways to reduce chemical inputs are being sought. Sustainable agricultural methods are therefore placing increased emphasis on the genetic potential of plants to control pathogens. Resistance genes have been widely used in plant breeding to control diseases. However, pathogens readily evolve and mutate, which results in the 'break-down' of resistance genes in the field. Thus, an alternative, more durable form of resistance is required in sustainable agriculture. Recently, fundamental work with the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana has led to the discovery of a new class of proteins called Pattern Recognition Receptors (PRR's) which recognise essential conserved pathogen molecules that cannot be mutated or lost. These PRR's represent the first line of defence against potential pathogens, and offer the prospect of durable resistance to a broad range of diseases. This project advances our knowledge about PRR's so that it can be applied to crop plant species. We will concentrate on cereals, brassica and grapevine, and focus on PRR's that recognise the fungi and oomycetes which are the major pathogens of these crops. We will identify novel molecules from important crop pathogens that induce this first line of defence in plants. We will also look for new PRR's, both in Arabidopsis and crop plants, and investigate developmental and environmental effects on their performance. We will also test whether known PRR's function when transformed into crop plants. This is a joint project between European research groups in UK, Germany, Holland and France, and also involves collaboration with a seed company. The work will enable us to evaluate the potential of PRR's in breeding to provide durable disease control, so reducing the need for agrochemicals and benefitting the environment.

Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.

Attack by insects, molluscs and microbial pathogens causes significant losses to the oilseed rape crop and considerable expense is incurred in trying to counter this problem by using pesticides. The aim of this project is to undertake research to underpin the development of new oilseed rape varieties with increased resistance to insect herbivory. Exposure of plants to UV-B wavelengths, which are a natural component of sunlight, has been shown to reduce the attractiveness of plants to insect herbivores by altering plant chemical composition. Several plant responses to UV-B are mediated by a protein called UVR8 and the defence response to herbivory involves the regulatory molecule jasmonic acid. In this project, we will examine the potential of UVR8 and a protein called MYC2 that mediates the response to jasmonic acid to increase resistance to insect herbivory in oilseed rape. We will test whether transgenic over-expression of specific genes increases resistance to insect herbivory as 'proof of concept' that manipulation of the UV-B response could be used to develop new varieties.