Understanding Vernalization for predictive breeding in Brassica

Abstract - Deploying genetic variation that alters flowering time is a major goal of plant breeding efforts to produce novel varieties that are better adapted to local environments. In agricultural or horticultural species, where the switch to flowering is central to the formation of the commercial product, management of the flowering process is often critical to maximising commercial returns.   An excellent example of this is how variation in flowering time and response to overwintering has been exploited to breed brassica vegetables that can be harvested year-round. Our knowledge of flowering time control now enables investigation of the molecular basis of this important variation. I will focus on how allelic variation at FLOWERING LOCUS C confers quantitative variation in heading date via an influence on epigenetic silencing of FLC expression and how mining this variation should help to breed less environmentally sensitive varieties and reduce crop losses.

Host: Andrea Harper