Trehalose 6-phosphate signalling and impact on crop yield

A - Papers appearing in refereed journals

Paul, M. J., Watson, A. and Griffiths, C. A. 2020. Trehalose 6-phosphate signalling and impact on crop yield. Biochemical Society Transactions. 48 (5), pp. 2127-2137. https://doi.org/10.1042/BST20200286

AuthorsPaul, M. J., Watson, A. and Griffiths, C. A.
Abstract

The domestication and breeding of crops has been a major achievement for mankind enabling the development of stable societies and civilisation. Crops have become more productive per unit area of cultivated land over the course of domestication supporting a current global population of 7.8 billion. Food security crops such as wheat and maize have seen large changes compared to early progenitors. Amongst processes that have been altered in these crops, is the allocation of carbon resources to support larger grain yield (grain number and size). In wheat, reduction of stem height has enabled diversion of resources from stems to ears. This has freed up carbon to support greater grain yield. Green revolution genes responsible for reductions in stem height are known, but a unifying mechanism for the active regulation of carbon resource allocation towards and within sinks has however been lacking. The trehalose 6-phosphate (T6P) signalling system has emerged as a mechanism of resource allocation and has been implicated in several crop traits including assimilate partitioning and improvement of yield in different environments. Understanding the mode of action of T6P through the SnRK1 protein kinase regulatory system is providing a basis for a unifying mechanism controlling whole plant resource allocation and source-sink interactions in crops. Latest results show it is likely that the T6P/ SnRK1 pathway can be harnessed for further improvements such as grain number and grain filling traits and abiotic stress resilience through targeted gene editing, breeding and chemical approaches.

KeywordsTrehalose 6-phosphate; Sucrose allcoation; Assimilate partitioning; Abiotic stress; Crop yield improvement
Year of Publication2020
JournalBiochemical Society Transactions
Journal citation48 (5), pp. 2127-2137
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1042/BST20200286
Open accessPublished as ‘gold’ (paid) open access
FunderBiotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
Funder project or codeIWYP Call 2: Transforming yield through source-sink synchronisation
Designing Future Wheat - WP1 - Increased efficiency and sustainability
Publisher's version
Supplemental file
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online02 Oct 2020
Publication process dates
Accepted09 Sep 2020
PublisherPortland Press Ltd
ISSN0300-5127

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