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Potato and onion are major UK and worldwide crops required year-round by consumers and processors. Due to seasonal production, long term storage is necessary, during which produce must be maintained with good quality for fresh consumption and processing, and in a nutritious state. Potato tubers and onion bulbs are natural over-wintering structures with a tendency to resume growth during storage, resulting in sprouted produce that is unattractive and unsaleable, or unsuited to processing due to compositional changes such as increased sugar levels. Multiple strategies are used to extend dormancy and minimise sprouting and waste, including low temperature storage and application of sprout suppressants such as chlorpropham, maleic hydrazide or ethylene. Such treatments are not fully effective as quality deterioration may occur even if sprouting is inhibited and legislation increasingly limits use of many of these chemicals. In addition, long-term cold storage is a major economic cost with a substantial carbon footprint. Development of alternative strategies to maintain tubers and bulbs in a dormant state and long-term suppression of sprouting are top industry priorities. Genetic studies in potato have shown that inheritance of tuber dormancy characteristics is affected by several genes acting alone or in combination, but the identity of these genes is unknown. Despite substantial progress, a full understanding of the biology of dormancy and sprouting has not yet emerged, and this substantially hampers development of new strategies for storage, and breeding of new varieties with better dormancy and sprouting behaviours. Fortunately recent advances in the field of molecular biology allow us to make major advances to address these issues. Scientific studies have revealed common roles in potato and onion for several plant hormones including abscisic acid, ethylene, gibberellins and cytokinins, in regulation of dormancy, and sprout growth, suggesting that knowledge of one commodity further our understanding of another. This project will benefit from major advances in potato genetics, especially publication of the genome sequence, as well as huge developments in DNA sequencing technologies which now enable in-depth analysis of the relatively unexplored but highly complex onion genome. New, powerful potato genetic resources will allow us to pinpoint the position and identity of genes that exert the greatest control of dormancy and sprouting. These resources include large mapping populations, developed by crossing highly divergent parents. Preliminary studies have already revealed genomic regions containing key genes that can drive crop improvement and new management methods. The assembled research consortium brings together James Hutton Institute, Cranfield University, Imperial College London and Greenwich University, providing a wealth of experience in genomics, genetics, molecular biology, physiology, agronomy and storage of potato and onion. Project outcomes will include (1) identification of key genes in potato and onion, their variant forms and regulatory mechanisms that underpin potato tuber dormancy, (2) development of genome-wide data on major genes in onion bulb dormancy and sprouting, and (3) comparison of shared and distinctive elements of dormancy and sprouting control in potato and onion, leading to elucidation of key physiological and molecular control steps. Through involvement of industry representative bodies and companies, information generated can readily be translated towards enhanced, variety-specific storage regimes, enabling reduced chemical usage and less reliance on expensive low temperature storage. Knowledge of key regulatory genes can in the longer term be adopted by breeders to develop potatoes with better dormancy characteristics.

Marek's disease virus (MDV) is an oncogenic avian herpesvirus that induces malignant T-cell lymphomas and neurological disorders in its natural host, chicken. Although tropism for the central nervous systems is consistently associated with highly virulent MDV strains, the mechanism of MDV-mediated neuropathology is still poorly understood. For the first time, phosphoprotein-14 (pp14), an immediate early protein from MDV1, has been identified as a neurovirulence factor. Furthermore, cAMP Response Element-Binding protein 3 (CREB3) has been identified as a cellular ligand for pp14 through which the viral protein may mediate the neurovirulence. CREB3 is a membrane-bound transcription factor that has recently been shown to be activated in response to DNA and RNA viral infections. Although transcription factors of the CREB3 subfamily are understood to be activated through regulated intra-membrane proteolysis (RIP) the physiological stimuli for proteolytic activation of discrete transcription factors in the CREB3 subfamily and their physiological targets remain to be identified and characterised. The aim of this project is to use a combination of biochemical, reverse genetic and structural approaches to derive new knowledge in pp14-CREB3-mediated neurovirulence.

Doctoral Training Partnerships: a range of postgraduate training is funded by the Research Councils. For information on current funding routes, see the common terminology at https://www.ukri.org/apply-for-funding/how-we-fund-studentships/. Training grants may be to one organisation or to a consortia of research organisations. This portal will show the lead organisation only.

The brain is a complex organ that possesses the characteristics of learning, memory and personality. This is achieved by complex interplay between the best known cell type in the brain, the neuron. However, there is a second kind of cell type in the brain, the glial cell. The most common type of glial cell is the astrocyte, named after its star-like appearance. Astrocytes out-number neurons and play important roles in regulating the environment within which neurons operate. Neuronal activity results in inbalances in the extracellular space of the brain, and astrocytes act to counter these unwanted effects. Recently, we have learned that astrocytes are also involved in the processing of information in the brain, a role previously though to be restricted to neurons. In order to perform this signal processing function, astrocytes must maintain tight control of their intracellular environment. This is particularly true for pH, any large variation of which will severely compromise the astrocytes ability to communicate with neighbouring cells. Previous studies have examined astrocyte ionic handling in reduced preparation, such as cultured cells removed from the brain and maintained in glass dishes. This grant will apply cell imaging and ion-sensitive electrode techniques to reveal how astrocytes within the normal brain manage to regulate their internal pH and ion concentrations while at the same time controlling the extracellular environment as required by neurons. Understanding how astrocytes achieve this balancing act will tell us a lot about how the brain functions.

This project focuses on normal molecular and cellular mechanisms by which neurons maintain homeostasis studying them through the opposing paradigms of neuronal function and dysfunction. Developing and maintaining healthy neurons is of crucial importance to humans and animals and we seek to bring novel approaches to the study of non-pathological cognitive deficits resulting from various stressors. This area is central to the BBSRC strategic priority of bioscience underpinning health. However, since CNS function and wellbeing are inextricably linked to the behaviour and welfare of animals, this area is also central to the BBSRC overarching policies on food security and the health and welfare of managed animals. Healthy CNS homeostasis relies on multiple factors, including regulation of neuronal survival, neuronal protection (eg. by neuropeptides and neurosteroids), cross-talk between neuronal networks and inter-cellular communication (e.g. between glia and neurons via chemokines). We have shown that exposure to stress at various times of life, from the prenatal period through to adulthood, can have detrimental effects on the brain, in particular in neuroendocrine systems that maintain homeostasis and brain circuits regulating social behaviour and cognition. In this theme we will investigate the central mechanisms involved and whether early life stress has detrimental effects on cognitive performance and behavioural outcomes. We will investigate how communication between neurons and glia contribute to neuronal health. Within neurons, various molecules have been identified as potential mediators of neuronal protection and we will determine how neuroprotection from these is manifest at molecular levels.

The European seed market is worth around £5 billion annually. Seed quality summarises the desirable characteristics of seeds sold on the market: they should germinate swiftly and evenly across a broad range of germination conditions, leading to a homogeneous stand of robust seedlings in the minimum length of time. These seedlings should establish a vigourous crop stand. Seed companies produce hybrid seeds in multiple sites globally, each subject to environmental variation between and within sites that can negatively impact seed quality. Across all species temperature variation during seed production is a major driver of variable seed quality, and breeding new varieties with robust seed quality in a range of production environments in now a key strategic goal of seed companies. A core goal of our research is to understand signalling pathways through which environmental variation during seed production affects seed quality traits, such as dormancy, germination and establishment vigour. Based on our recently published research and preliminary data we show that temperature during seed production has a major affect on seed behaviour through a signalling pathway that operates in the mother plant. This is a major new discovery as previously it has not been clear whether the developing seed itself is sensing the environment, or whether the mother plant senses the environment and somehow passes this information to the progeny seeds. We identify that the well known cold-sensing pathway that regulates tolerance to freezing also controls gene expression and physical properties of the seed coat that are known to be linked to changes in seed behaviour. The first part of the proposal aims to understand how temperature sensing leads to the plastic development, biochemistry and permeability of the seed coat, and how seed coat properties control seed behaviour. A major focus here is to understand how elements of the cold acclimation pathway and control of phenylpropanoid pathway gene expression known from experiments in vegetative tissues operate in maternal seed coat tissues and the nature of their targets in seeds. This requires intergrating knowledge from genetics molecular signalling and transcriptional control of secondary metabolism in seed coats. The second key section is to transfer this new knowledge from model to crop species, and for this we have developed a collaboration with Syngenta to assess and improve Brassica seed quality, a species where germination and establishment of seedlings varies according to seed production sites and seasons. We will examine control of seed quality in a panel of Brassica varieties with varying seed quality responses to maturation environmental conditions, and relate these to gene expression and the developmental, physical and biochemical properties of the seed coat. Finally we will delete genes in Brassica that we have shown control the transduction of temperature signals affecting seed quality in Arabidopsis. The goal here is to evaluate this technology for use in product development in seed companies, and collaboration with Syngenta will ensure exploitation of commercially useful germplasm. A key feature of our new seed technology is that seed quality of seed for sale can be controlled in hybrid seed from the genome of the mother plant rather than the zygote. This means that the properties of the seed sold and the crop seed can be independently controlled: in the future this will be useful in the many instances when high germination propensity of the crop is undesirable, such as to control sprouting in cereals, of fruit quality in glasshouse crops.

How will climate change affect the diseases that threaten our health and food security? We have good reason to believe that climate change will cause a number of infectious diseases to spread to new places or occur more often, particularly vector-borne diseases - those spread by arthropod (mostly insect) pests, such as malaria and dengue. This is because the arthropods that spread these diseases are themselves affected by climate and the environment they live in. While we recognise that climate change will affect vector-borne diseases, we currently have very limited ability to make predictions about what will actually happen in future - even to say which disease will threaten next. We cannot, therefore, give policy makers the information they need to be able to take necessary and timely measures. Our main aim here is to develop a tool for exploring the nature of vector-disease outbreaks under future conditions of climate and environment, and to assess what interventions may be needed to contain them. We develop the tool for bluetongue (BT), a viral disease of sheep and cattle that is spread by tiny biting insects (midges). BT reappeared in Europe in 1998 after a gap of several decades and, in the next ten years, spread over most of the continent, including the UK in 2007, leading to the deaths of millions of animals, mostly sheep. This BT outbreak was unprecedented: the longest and largest on record; numerous countries, including Italy, France, Germany and UK, were affected for the first time; disease occurred much further north than ever before; and a large number of viral strains were involved. Furthermore, the disease continues to threaten: midges are hugely abundant on our farms, feeding on our animals, and for the majority of viral strains there is no vaccine immediately available for use. We have chosen BT because it is considered a prime example of a disease that has emerged already in response to climate change. The tool we propose to develop is a novel mathematical model for the spread of BT between farms in GB, integrated with state-of-the-art climate model projections of the future, so that we can investigate the way in which the disease will spread under conditions of future climate (up to 2050), and what interventions may be required in the event of an outbreak. It will not only be climate that changes by 2050 however. Other environmental changes may also affect BT, although we have only limited understanding of what these 'drivers' are and very little knowledge of how they will change. We will hold a workshop to solicit expert opinion about non-climate drivers and scenarios for how they might change in future; and we will then consider the effect of these changes within our modelling system. Model-based predictions of the future are always uncertain. It is useful to try to measure the scale of this uncertainty, and also from where in the model it is arising, so as to better understand the limitations of the predictions and to guide further work. We will investigate whether the main source of uncertainty in our model arises because we do not understand BT well enough, or because we have insufficient clarity about the future conditions that BT will occur in. Finally, we know already that some uncertainty arises in our disease model from limited knowledge of the biology of the insects that spread BT. We will trap Culicoides at 144 farms across England and Wales in order to map them, statistically analyse the results with weather and climate data to improve our models; and undertake detailed studies on a smaller number of farms to investigate how able the midges are to spread BT virus.

Doctoral Training Partnerships: a range of postgraduate training is funded by the Research Councils. For information on current funding routes, see the common terminology at https://www.ukri.org/apply-for-funding/how-we-fund-studentships/. Training grants may be to one organisation or to a consortia of research organisations. This portal will show the lead organisation only.

This interdisciplinary research project will study the immune response and pathogenesis of arboviral infections in their mammalian hosts while additionally addressing the effect of vector arthropod saliva. The majority of studies investigating the immune response towards arboviruses and vector arthropod saliva will be carried out using their natural mammalian host, either in vivo or by establishing primary and/or ex vivo cell and organ culture systems. A major aspect of the in-vivo studies will be the cannulation of superficial lymphatic vessels in cattle and sheep to compare the inflammatory and migratory cell response in the collected lymph between infected and non-infected as well as arthropod exposed and non-exposed animals. The project will also investigate if certain aspects of the innate and systemic immune response contribute to the development of disease in mammalian hosts, rather than conferring protection. Initial studies will focus on the immune response of ruminants towards bluetongue virus infection and Culicoides spp. blood-feeding. Innate and systemic immune responses in ruminants towards Culicoides spp, can later be compared to responses of hosts towards other haematophagous arthropod vectors (e.g. ticks and mosquitoes) as well as additional arboviruses. The in-vitro work studying the immune response of skin cells and endothelial cells has the additional benefit of being transferable to include equine derived cells, therefore allowing research into important horse disease or in the wider future important zoonotic arboviruses such as West Nile virus.

Losses of nitrogen from soil, whether as the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide, or to drainage water, is environmentally damaging and also represent a loss of profit and possibly yield to famers because they decrease fertiliser use efficiency. In water, excess nitrate can lead to eutrophication, adding cost in preparing drinking water, and reducing abundance and diversity of biota in lakes, rivers, and coastal waters. Microbial activity in soil is responsible for both nitrification (the oxidation of ammonia to nitrate) and denitrification (the reduction of nitrate to nitrous oxide or nitrogen gas). Some nitrous oxide is also produced during nitrification. Bacterial ammonia oxidizers are less abundant than archaea in many soils although until recently most research focussed on the former. Various factors are known to control denitrification (soil temperature, organic matter, aerobicity and nitrogen content) but the contribution of nitrous oxide by nitrifiers is not yet clear. The project aims to describe the conditions under which different groups of these bacteria proliferate and function, in order to understand the soil management conditions likely to lead to the optimal balance of providing nitrogen for plants whilst minimising losses. The main objectives are: 1. To determine the relative importance of nitrifiers and denitrifiers in soil nitrous oxide emissions. 2. To establish the feasibility of managing soil to ensure that if denitrification occurs, nitrate is fully reduced to nitrogen gas rather than environmentally-damaging nitrous oxide.