Brachypodium distachyon as a

valuable resourcefor investigating

cereal grain biology and

evolution

Syabira Yusoff

PhD researcher

Department of Genetics

University of Leicester

Brachypodium – Arabidopsis for cereal crops

ArabidopsisBiologically different to grasses (eg: cell wall composition, development, grain production)

Brachypodium???Bridge the gap for the research areas not reached

YES – it has already proven to be a valuable reference species for comparative analyses in addition to its “model system” toolkit

Brachypodium Wheat

Has revealed extent and nature of variation in grains

Transcriptome details

PreAnOvMature Ovary

YGYoungGrain

MLMid-length

Grain

FLFull-length

Grain

MGMatureGrain

GermGerminating

Grain

SDLSeedling

Stage

YABBY gene family…

Algae

CRABS CLAW/DROOPING LEAF

FILAMENTOUSFLOWER

YABBY2

INO

YABBY5

YABBY2

YABBY1

YABBY2

YABBY6

YABBY2 FAS

SHATTERING1

Summaries…

- Extent and nature variation in Brachypodium is valuable for comparative study of grain development

- Using Brachypodium, we suggest an interesting gene that might be involved during grain development based on preliminary data.

Acknowledgement

Sinead Drea (Dr.)

Sofia Kourmpetli (Dr.)Cranfield University

David Twell (Prof.)Eamonn Mallon (Assoc Prof)University of Leicester

Cristobal Uauy (Dr.)Abdul Kader AlabdullahJohn Innes Center (JIC)

227 and 319 lab members

MALAYSIAN GOVERNMENT

GENETICS DEPARTMENTUniversity of Leicester