Location: Cereal Crops Research
Project Number: 5090-21430-012-000-D
Project Type: In-House Appropriated
Start Date: May 9, 2023
End Date: May 8, 2028
Objective:
Objective 1: Integrate transcriptome, proteome, metabolome, and miRNome of malting barley to identify and functionally characterize key genes of high impact that modulate malt quality associated traits.
Sub-objective 1.A: Analyze metabolomic changes during various stages of barley malting.
Sub-objective 1.B: Integrate transcriptional, proteomic and metabolic changes during various stages of malting.
Sub-objective 1.C: Genetic and/or biochemical analysis of novel enzymes associated with carbohydrate and protein metabolism in barley seeds.
Objective 2: Investigate the microbiome associated with barley seeds during the malting process and the growing roots during heat and drought stress.
Sub-objective 2.A: Assess microbiome changes during various stages of barley malting.
Sub-objective 2.B: Root microbiome in barley lines with contrasting responses to heat and drought stress.
Objective 3: Identify and functionally analyze genetic factors associated with improved tolerance to heat and drought stress in barley.
Sub-objective 3.A: Analysis of regulatory genes associated with abiotic stress response in the mini-core barley lines with contrasting responses to heat and drought stress.
Sub-objective 3.B: Over-expression and knock-out generation of candidate genes using the meristem-based transformation system.
Sub-objective 3.C: Phenotyping heat and drought stress responses and malt quality analysis in cisgenic lines.
Approach:
Objective 1: Metabolomic changes during different stages of malting will be analyzed in the barley variety Conrad. Changes in the transcriptome, proteome, small RNAome during malting stages will be integrated with the metabolome data to cogently define molecular pathways associated with barley malting process. Functional characterization novel carbohydrases and key regulatory factors associated with malting will be pursued.
Objective 2: Microbiome associated with the various stages of malting process will be identified. Differences in the rhizosphere microbiome associated with roots of barley varieties with contrasting responses to heat and drought stress combination will be characterized.
Objective 3: Key regulatory genes that are associated with heat and drought stress tolerance will be overexpressed or knocked out in the genetic background of a malting barley variety. Phenotypic evaluations in response to heat and drought will be pursued in these transgenic lines. Impact of abiotic stress on the malting quality of the seeds from these transgenics will also be analyzed.
