Trilateral FPP 2023: Harnessing genome variation to optimise stomatal characteristics and create abiotic stress tolerant and nutritious rice

This NIFA/USDA supported project is a component of a joint BBSRC/DFG/NSF/NIFA-USDA funded 'Trilateral FPP 2023' research program between the Assmann lab and the groups of Profs. Julie Gray and Stuart Casson (University of Sheffield, UK), Prof. Arthur Korte (University of Wu?rzburg, Germany), and Dr. Amelia Henry (International Rice Research Institute, The Philippines). The overall goal of the project is to identify mechanisms to improve abiotic stress tolerance of rice, an important food crop in the U.S. and globally. The project focuses on six rice genes with natural variation associated with variation in environmental parameters, as found through our online database that correlates genotypic and environmental variation (freely available at Gramene.org).The major goals of the NIFA/USDA component are:1. Generate knockout and overexpression Kitaake rice lines of six genes with variants that are correlated with environmental parameters in the locations where they are grown.2. Phenotype the transgenics from #1 for three of the genes, under optimal and abiotic stress conditions. (The UK researchers in this multi-national team will be responsible for phenotyping the other three genes.)3. Research the physiological and cellular mechanisms underlying phenotypes observed in #2.4. Support research led by co-PD Dr. Amelia Henry (Philippines) on the field performance of rice landraces harboring natural variants of these genes.5. Utilize transcriptomic data generated by the Korte group (Germany) to add a TWAS (transcriptome-wide association study) module to our online database at Gramene that correlates genotypic and environmental variation.