Dr Anyela Camargo, will add her expertise in computer vision, systems biology, statistics and bionformatics to the project. She has been interested in the topic of plant disease monitoring since his time at Corpoica where she developed a tool for monitoring cotton crops. At Liverpool University she developed a system for the early detection of plant disorders. Later she was involved in the modelling of the gene network describing stress responses in Arabidopsis. Now, she is using the Brachypodium distachon plant model to identify genes associated to the resistance to blast rice. Prof. John Doonan is the director of the National Plant Phenomics Centre, he will add his expertise in genetics and molecular biology to help characterise, from the molecular point of view, the resistance to wheat to tan spot project. Dr Narcis Fernandez-Fuentes has over 10 years of experience in different aspects of Bioinformatics and has developed a number of databases and web-servers widely used by the scientific community. Dr Fernandez-Fuentes is currently leading the Bioinformatics research within IBERS' C3G ISPG grant program, part of which relates to the discovery of genes linked to a range of traits of interest by combining a range of 'omics datasets and developing integrative approaches. Professor John Draper has worked extensively at the interface between plant biology, analytical spectroscopy and computer science. Internationally he has been a pioneer in the use of metabolomics and machine learning to investigate the early stages of pathogen invasion in non-symptomatic host tissue. He has a long publication record in metabolomics, Brachypodium biology and plant defence. IBERS, at Aberystwyth University, is a major centre for public sector plant breeding for ryegrasses, forage and oats. IBERS has an in-house high performance computer (HPC) facility, Next Generation Sequencing labs and the UK's unique National Plant Phenomics Centre. The NPPC is based around automated non-destructive image analysis system running in a purpose-built glasshouse complex. The system is designed to cope with a range of plants, including small and large plants such as oats, wheat, barley, maize and Miscanthus. The NPPC provides a focus for trans-disciplinary research to facilitate the discovery of the genetic and environmental basis for variation in complex traits that underpin the major global. Also within IBERS, the Genome Diversity and Plant Breeding group addresses the major challenge of the sustainable intensification of agriculture: enhancing production whilst reducing environmental impacts, particularly with respect to grassland dominated systems. Dr Flávio Santana is a plant pathologist at Embrapa Trigo since 2006. Since then he is working in characterization of tan spot disease isolates from Brazil. He also is responsible as coordinator of a fungicide control of Wheat Blast and Fusarium Head Blight in several States in Brazil. In this Project he will be committed with the phenotyping of a population of resistant and susceptible wheat cultivars to tan spot disease. Dr Ricardo Lima de Castro has experience in agronomy with emphasis on plant breeding, working mainly in wheat breeding, biometrics and quantitative genetics. In Embrapa Wheat he has been working in wheat breeding. Dr. Lima will identify wheat cultivars resistant and susceptible to the fungus attack deliverable (preparation of a list of cultivars and their genetic background), carry out of the trials to test resistance and help in phenotyping of resistance. Embrapa Wheat is a branch of the Nacional Agricultural Research Center (Embrapa) where several researchers are directly involved in all area of agricultural science related to wheat, as plant pathology, entomology, weed control, plant physiology, soil nutrition, of which the main focus is wheat breeding. The facilities are well equipped with greenhouses, fields for trials and research labs.

The project involves Rothamsted Research, University of Nottingham, and Embrapa Trigo. Between them the teams have expertise in the genetic control of abiotic stress tolerance, developmental genetics of flower formation, and metabolic signalling systems. They bring a range of complementary techniques, from systems biology and bioinformatics through genetics and physiology to wheat transformation. All three institutions are well-equipped, with facilities for all aspects of the study in place. The aim is to study the response of UK and Brazilian wheat to temperature stress between booting and flowering using molecular, whole-plant and transgenic approaches. UK team: Prof. Nigel Halford, RRes: Expertise in the genetics of metabolic regulation in crop plants and how metabolism is affected by abiotic stress, using techniques ranging from mathematical modelling of metabolic networks through molecular and biochemical analyses of signalling factors to RNAseq and GC-MS analyses. Visited Embrapa Trigo in 2013. Dr Matthew Paul, RRes: Expertise in trehalose 6-phosphate signalling, the role of sugar signalling in responses to abiotic stresses, and manipulation to improve yield under stress conditions. Uses a range of molecular and physiological techniques, as well as innovative chemistry. Prof Huw Jones, RRes: Leads wheat transformation at RRes, exploiting gene up-regulation, RNAi silencing and genome editing and validating 30 different gene promoters. Participated in the BBSRC/Embrapa workshop on wheat improvement in 2011 and will deliver a plenary lecture in the XV Brazilian Congress of Plant Physiology in 2015. Has experience of GMO risk assessment and GM field management. Professor Zoe Wilson, University of Nottingham: Expertise in plant developmental genetics, specifically the regulation of pollen and anther development. Current research involves the translation of pollen gene networks from models to wheat and barley, and temperature stress during pollen development in Arabidopsis, wheat and crops such as Bambara Ground Nut, which show tolerance to extreme temperatures. Prof John Foulkes, University of Nottingham: Expertise in the traits determining stress tolerance in wheat. Current research includes the development of high-throughput remote sensing phenotyping, the physiological and genetic basis of ear fertility and the identification of novel genes controlling tillering, spikelet primordia number and floret fertility. Visited Embrapa Trigo in 2013. Brazil team: Dr Edina Moresco. Embrapa Trigo: Expertise in wheat breeding, specifically quantitative genetics, classical breeding techniques, G x E and plant/pathogen interactions, with a focus on evaluation and selection of plants for abiotic stress tolerance. Dr Antonio Nhani Jr, Embrapa Trigo: Expertise in bioinformatics applied to the identification of molecular markers and the analysis of wheat transcriptome data related to biotic and abiotic stresses. Dr Elene Yamazaki Lau: Expertise in molecular biology and biotechnology; currently developing A. tumefaciens-mediated genetic transformation protocols for wheat in order to generate lines with increased tolerance to abiotic stresses, including heat. Dr Jorge Fernando Pereira: Expertise in the molecular basis of abiotic stress responses in wheat and barley; also has interests in developing wheat and barley transformation techniques. Dr Luciano Consoli: Expertise in molecular genetics and wheat pre-breeding; investigating abiotic stress responses and pre-harvest sprouting using association genetics and QTL studies. Dr Mauro Cesar Celaro Teixeira: Expertise in the mechanisms underpinning stress tolerance and yield potential of wheat cultivars in harsh environments. Dr Osmar Rodrigues: Expertise in plant physiology; currently studying the physiological bases for yield formation and grain set on wheat during the winter growing season in the Southern part of Brazil. Aretha Arcen P. Correa, PhD student

Successful agriculture requires crop defence against insects. Brazil's agricultural economy suffers annual yield losses of 14.7 billion US$ from insect pests. Indeed, insects consume 10-20% of all global crops whilst growing or in storage. Agriculture relies on widespread chemical insecticide application. Despite extensive research on insecticide application regimes, insecticidal compounds and genetically modified crops, insects continue to evolve resistance against control agents with predictable regularity. The vast scale of Brazilian agriculture and the levels of insecticide use required for pest control have driven resistance evolution in several significant insect pests. Our pump-priming project assesses how 'biopesticide' fungi that naturally kill insects can be used to sustainably control a major new pest of many Brazilian crops, the invasive cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera. The logic for our project comes from evolutionary science and the particular features of host-pathogen interactions. Insecticide resistance evolution occurs when a single control agent is applied over a broad area, then consistent evolutionary pressures drive previously-rare resistance genes to spread rapidly through the pest population. To prevent this, our project studies how multiple fungal pathogen strains can be used in a spatial matrix across agricultural landscapes, so that selection for resistance varies in different locations, preventing a uniform evolutionary response. On its own, this approach may not be sufficient because of cross resistance: genes making pests resistant to one fungal strain could also confer resistance to others. However, in host-pathogen systems, the optimum genotype to defend against one pathogen is often highly sensitive to the organism's environment. Simultaneous manipulation of an environmental landscape variable (the type of crop grown by farmers) will substantially decrease the consistency of selection: we predict this will prevent resistance evolution. To develop a pest control system using these principles, our pump priming project integrates research in Brazil and the UK to: 1. Quantify the extent to which genes making cotton bollworm resistant under one combination of fungal pathogen and crop plant make them susceptible in another pathogen-crop combination. We will measure these genetic relationships in a large lab experiment, taking many pest genotypes, allowing each to feed on one of three crops, then exposing them to different fungal strains. 2. Establish that multiple fungal pathogen strains can kill cotton bollworm larvae and have desirable pest control properties: e.g. rapid kill rate, feeding suppression, and negative effects on adult survivors. We will do this by testing larval responses to many fungal isolates in the lab. 3. Show that fungal pest control qualities are maintained under temperature and humidity conditions commonly occurring in Brazilian fields. Lab infection experiments will manipulate environmental variables and assess larval mortality. Then we will spray spores onto crops in the field and test how viability and pest pathogenicity degrade over time. After this pump priming phase, our future work will assess: spatial scales for deploying crop types and fungal biopesticides to block resistance evolution; details of potential evolutionary responses in pests; and economics of implementation. The whole project will generate a suite of fungal pathogens and recommendations for their application in managed agricultural landscapes comprising multiple crop species to block resistance evolution. With these outputs and our industry/NGO partners we will commercialise a cost effective, practical and evolution-proof pest control system for Brazil.

Project team The project team combines research leaders with complementary expertise in both the wheat host and the FHB and brusone fungal pathogens in Brazil and the UK. Pedro Scheeren (Embrapa) and Eduardo Caierao (Embrapa) have unrivalled knowledge of Brazilian wheat production, providing expertise in wheat breeding alongside knowledge of germplasm resistance status that is essential for genome wide association scans to be undertaken to identify genomic regions associated with resistance to FHB and brusone. Cristobal Uauy (JIC) is internationally recognised for his expertise in wheat genetics and gene cloning in cereals. CU collaborates closely with Ksenia Krasileva (TGAC/TSL) who leads the development of functional genomics tools in wheat, including the development of exome-capture platforms that will form one of the pillars of the project. Paul Nicholson (JIC) leads a research group investigating the genetic basis of resistance to FHB in cereals and will contribute to both host and pathogen components in the project in partnership with Flávio Santana and Maria Imaculada Moreira Lima (Embrapa), who lead research on FHB resistance. James Cockram (NIAB) has extensive experience in combining molecular genetics and genomics with statistical techniques to investigate complex traits in wheat. These skills will be used in collaboration with Luciano Consoli (Embrapa) who leads the quantitative genetics programme, to undertake association mapping of target traits in Brazilian wheat germplasm. James Cockram will provide training to Embrapa personnel to enable them to undertake additional analyses on FHB and brusone data as these become available. Joao Leodato (Embrapa) is a recognised expert on brusone disease and will work alongside Gisele Torres (Embrapa) who has extensive experience of working with the Brusone pathogen and interactions with the wheat host using functional genomics analysis. Antonio Nhani Jr (Embrapa) employs genomics to investigate virulence and host specificity in the brusone pathogen. The skills and knowledge provided by Embrapa researchers will be complemented those of Nick Talbot (University of Exeter) who is internationally recognised for his expertise in the genetics and virulence of the brusone fungus. Diane Saunders (TGAC/JIC) leads research into pathogen populations and virulence, providing essential insight into the structure of the populations of the FHB and brusone pathogens that will be utilised within studies of the genetics of host resistance. Resources and Infrastructure In addition to the highly complementary skill sets of the Embrapa and UK participants, the organisations contribute complementary resources and infrastructure. Embrapa has excellent field trials facilities and trained personnel across Brazil in regions where the environment is most conducive to the FHB and brusone diseases enabling them to undertake high quality disease trials. The Embrapa site at Passo Fundo is exceptionally well equipped with laboratory, computing infrastructure, glasshouse and plant growth facilities in an environment that enables the rapid growth of plants to minimise generation time and ensure efficient development of plant populations to the required level of fixation for genotyping and phenotyping purposes. The UK partners within this project (JIC, TGAC, NIAB and Exeter) all have extensive laboratory, computational and plant growth facilities, required for the host and pathogen genetics and genomics components of the project. In addition, TGAC has state of the art genome sequencing and transcriptional profiling facilities and computer hardware and software to undertake the associated data processing and analysis.

In total, 22 researchers are involved in this project, 12 in Brazil and 10 in the UK. Ten are EMBRAPA employees located at Trigo, Passo Fundo (5), agricultural informatics, Campinas (1), soybean, Londrina (1) and Cenargen, Brasilia (3). The two additional Brazilian scientists are University based (Vicosa and Maringa). The UK scientists are located at Rothamsted Research (RRes) in the department of Plant Biology and Crop Science (9) and Applied Bioinformatics (1). The assembled team has highly complementary skills, which are required to deliver the initial project objectives and to develop the joint studies required to deliver the full project. The skills needed to deliver on the six work packages (WPs) proposed are as follows: WP1: Phytopathology and modelling, specialising in Fusarium head blight (FHB)-wheat (Fernandes, Del Ponte and Tessmann), epidemiology, diagnostics and air dispersal of various pathogens including wheat infecting Fusaria (West). WP2: Plant, animal and fungal bioinformatics and protein modelling (Martins and Togawa), plant and pathogen genomics (King and Hammond-Kosack). WP3: T-DNA design, stable plant transformation, analysis of transformants (Huttly, Lee and Jones), transient wheat transformation (Lau), transgenic plant analyses (Bonato). Designing/conducting GM wheat field trials in Brazil (Nepomuceno) and UK (Jones). WP4: Functional genomics/genetics and plant biotechnology, including Host induced gene silencing (HIGS) and si-RNA of Fusarium graminearum (Fg) in tobacco (Aragão), wheat and Arabidopsis (Kanyuka, Hammond-Kosack). Fungal molecular genetics and Fg transformation (Urban). WP5: FHB disease assessments in controlled environment and/ or the field (Lima, Urban, Brown, Machado), mycotoxin quantification (Tibola and Urban), near-infrared reflectance analysis of wheat grain quality (Tibola), digital imaging processing (Barbedo). WP6: Grant proposal and report writing - all, either as a team or as an individual. This project requires the use of specific resources. These include the already well characterised cereal infecting fusarium isolate collections obtained from previous wheat crops grown Rio Grande and Parana States in South Brazil. The working prototype FHB-wheat prediction model developed for South Brazil. Advanced bioinformatics pipelines established at RRes for Fg genome assembly and annotation, and at Brasilia for elimination of non-target organism effects. The highly efficient wheat transformation facility only available at RRes. The protected GM field trial site at RRes and equivalent GM trial sites in South Brazil. The licensed containment growth room facilities in place at Cenargen and RRes for exploring HIGS and si-RNA mechanisms using various transgenic plant species in combination with transgenic Fusarium reporter strains. Finally, the unique near infrared resonance analysis facility for grain analysis is only available in Passo Fundo. The four EMBRAPA institutes, two Brazilian Universities and RRes each have well developed scientific infrastructures in place to expedite the experimentation proposed, the data capture, analyses and storage required and the regular communication needed by Skype, e-mail and by using secure data exchange sites. The proposed project will be closely aligned with activities under the new UK-Brazil partnership for Yield Stability and Protection in a Changing Climate (PYSP). PYSP is part-funded by a Newton-fund joint centre award and is jointly coordinated by RRes and EMBRAPA. This project will be integrated within PYSP activities, ensuring there is adequate coordination of exchange activities with minimal duplication and maximum engagement between different groups from EMBRAPA and research groups at RRes. PYSP will provide a central focus for all RRes/ EMBRAPA activities, thereby strengthening links across projects and ensuring greater impact for all joint research undertaken.