The University of NottinghamTom Giles
Room C16, Main building,
Multidisciplinary Centre for Integrative Biology,
University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington,
LE12 5RD.
Background:
BSc Biomedical Science from Nottingham Trent University.
Current research:
BBSRC funded reasearch PhD project in Bioinformatics: The geneotypical affects of cold temperatures on winter wheat in regards to vernalization.
Vernalization is the acquisition of the competence to flower after exposure to periods of prolonged cold temperatures (Sung and Amasino 2005; Michaels and Amasino 1999). Many plant species must go through a period of cold (4-8'C) before they can flower. This process ensures that reproductive development and seed production occurs in optimal environmental conditions.
When plants are exposed to cold temperatures there are many changes in gene expression that occur. In wheat it is estimated that greater than 50% of the genome is in some way cold responsive (Houde et. al., 2006). In Arabidopsis thaliana it has been shown that there are roughly 50 genes that affect and regulate flowing time (Alexandre and Henning 2008). The wheat genome is nearly 100x larger than that of Arabidopsis and significantly less research has been carried out into the genetics of the vernalization response. Furthermore, only ~9.5% of the Triticum aestivum genes are conserved in Arabidopsis (Michaels and Amasino 1999).
Wheat is an agronomically important crop being a staple food source for more than 35% of the worlds population (Williams 1993). In wheat vernalization is economically important because there are both spring and winter cultivars (Steinera and Hatfield 2008). Only winter wheats have a vernalization requirement and it is these cultivars that give higher yields and results in lower growing costs.
This Project uses transcriptomic data to test the genotypical affects of cold temperatures on winter wheat. Standard micro-array analysis and artificial neural networks have been used to identify potential gene regulatory components of the vernalization response. Lab based conformation is currently being carried using vector transformation in transgenic plants.
Supervisor: Dr Chungui Lu and contact Tom Giles: