Institut für Züchtungsforschung an landwirtschaftlichen Kulturen
The natural genetic diversity in the outbreeding species rye was the fundamental basis for achieving a series of technological advances that facilitated the establishment of a cutting-edge plant breeding technology – hybrid breeding. Despite the formidable achievements, major challenges in rye production remain that might further advance rye from its current role as an orphan crop. Promoting the significance of rye cultivation for increased agrobiodiversity asks for a paradigm shift towards predictable, knowledge-based hybrid breeding for the development of authentic high-performance cultivars with diverse certified end-uses and a sustainable production of bio-based raw materials. With the release of two high-quality genome sequences, rye has only recently reached the genomics era, enabling the integration and advancement of both, fundamental and applied breeding research. Further progress in rye phenomics, functional genomics, and proteomics research is necessary to associate genome sequence information with phenotypes related to rye growth, development, and performance in a changing climate. A roadmap determining the biological function of almost every gene in the genome is necessary to understand how genome diversity underpins rye biology and performance as a crop. The overall goal of RYE-HUB is to foster genome-based breeding of hybrids for optimal development and for prospective, accelerated adaptation to a changing climate. For this purpose, we will (1) develop genetic resources and tools for an international community of scientists to maintain and increase agrobiodiversity and soil health, (2) systematically explore natural variation to adapt rye to abiotic and biotic stressors, (3) increase resource use efficiency and sustainability by advancing Gibberellin-sensitive semi-dwarf rye hybrids, (4) establishing new traits and functionalities like high-quality protein, amylose free (waxy), high amylose or high anthocyanin rye, and (5) integrate state-of-the-art breeding bioinformatics and predictive plant breeding for the development of sustainable, resilient rye varieties with important agronomic traits. We will advance highly reproducible genetic stocks for the public domain to accelerate the discovery of the genetic basis for species-specific traits and unique selling points of rye. We aim to advance and evaluate a rye Nested Association Mapping (NAM) population to enhance this multi-parental population to become a powerful community resource for rye research and breeding. In rye, test units are heterozygous and populations have a low level of linkage disequilibrium (LD). In comparison to wheat, barley, and oat, these factors introduce additional complexity in the estimation of marker-trait associations and the development of appropriate tools for rye. We will determine patterns of deleterious variation between rye populations that inhibit current breeding efforts to improve rye performance. For the accelerated allele mining in genetic resources and efficient purging of deleterious or (sub)lethal genes, a novel technology platform utilizing state-of-the-art algorithms, chemical inducers, and automated cell handling will be used for integrating homozygous double haploid lines in commercial breeding programs. The use of remote sensing technology, artificial intelligence, and precision phenotyping will improve our understanding of the mechanisms of non-additive genetic variation and epistatic interactions between rye genes. The pan-genome will close a current innovation gap between rye and other major small-grain cereal crops. The pan-genome, thus, will support breeding as well as research to identify and functionally characterize genes that can be used for accelerated improvement of rye production and quality. We will integrate the diverse genomics and phenomics data with bio- and breeding informatics for developing systemic models for predictive rye breeding and the development of sustainable, resilient varieties with improved agronomic performance.
Federal Ministry of Education and Research
