Global Research Partnership Investigators
2007 Winner Profiles
Dr. Nicholas Paul Harberd
University of Oxford
Oxford, England
Dr. Nicholas Paul HarberdView Dr. Nicholas Paul Harberd's presentation at the GRP Symposium
Dr. Nicholas Paul Harberd, KAUST Investigator, is Sibthorpian Professor in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Dr. Harberd has received many citations recognizing the significance of his original contributions to science, and is author of the best-selling popular science book Seed to Seed: The Secret Life of Plants.
KAUST Investigator Award: Crop-plant Domestication in the Genome-Biology Era
Wheat is one of the world’s major food crops, and has recently become an important crop in the agriculture of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. However, whilst continued increases in Kingdom, regional and world wheat production are necessary to feed the growing local and global human population, these increases are constrained by the extent of cultivatable land and by the damaging effects of environmental stress. For example, modern bread wheat is relatively intolerant of sub-optimal soils, and especially of soil salinity. In contrast, wild wheat-relatives contain genetic variation conferring tolerance of high salinity. Here we propose to use the latest genomic science to determine the precise nature of that genetic variation, with the aim of making it accessible for use in the development of salt-tolerant bread wheat.
Essentially, what we are proposing is a genome-era recapitulation of the domestication events that 10,000-15,000 years ago resulted in cultivated wheat. Combined advances in high-throughput DNA sequencing technologies and associated statistical analyses are now enabling in-depth analysis of genome sequence variation. We propose to harness these advances to a key aim in crop plant breeding: the development of wheat varieties that have increased tolerance of salinity and other environmental stresses. Modern bread wheat is derived from wild progenitor species, yet possesses only a fraction of the genetic variation that exists in natural progenitor populations. We therefore propose to discover the nature and extent of genetic variation in natural populations of bread wheat progenitor-relatives. First, we will determine the full protein-encoding sequence of progenitor-relative genomes. Next, we will ”re-sequence” the protein-encoding sequence of selected additional wheat accessions. Discovery of sequence differences (for example, the DNA base-pair differences known as single nucleotide polymorphisms or SNPs) will reveal the extent of within-species genetic variation, thus enabling us to estimate the nature and frequency of such variation. Once the structure of genetic variation in bread wheat progenitor-relatives is understood, we will use that information in association-genetic studies. Association-genetics enables the determination of precise relationships between individual genetic variants and particular characteristics of organisms. Thus, we will perform association-genetic studies to identify natural genetic variants that confer tolerance of salinity and other environmental stresses. These identified variants will constitute a previously untapped novel source of tolerance genes for the development of bread wheats that are adapted to growth in high-salinity and/or high-stress environments in Saudi Arabian, regional and world agriculture.
About the University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. Oxford was ranked joint second in the world in the Times Higher Education Supplement’s World University Rankings 2007. In 2006-2007, Oxford won more research income from external sponsors than any other U.K. university, earning more than £248.2 million. The combined value of Oxford’s spinoff companies has reached £2 billion. Oxford has approximately 20,000 students, including more than 7,000 postgraduates.