Quantitative real-time PCR analysis for the thermal responses of genes from the circadian clock, heat-shock and GABA-shunt pathways in wheat

Biological processes that control a plant’s response to temperature have been investigated in model species, and we aim to use knowledge gained from this work to analyse thermal responsive pathways in wheat. Three of the identified thermal responsive processes include chromatin-dependent regulation of transcription, aggregation of proteins with roles in the circadian clock, and accumulation of the non-proteinogenic amino acid, GABA (γ-Aminobutyric acid).

We will identify transcript- and metabolite-based biomarkers for each of these processes to screen germplasm that is predicted to be tolerant to growth under warmer conditions. Germplasm identified to show thermal insensitivity will be screened for physiological and yield-related traits under high ambient temperatures in glasshouse and field-based trials, which will help determine if the biomarkers can be used as tools to identify genotypes that will perform well in a warmer climate. Together, the outputs will provide breeding tools to predict germplasm that is more tolerant to growth under high ambient temperatures, and a list of germplasm that shows resilience to heat.