ABOUT THE SCIENTIFIC PROJECT:

• Project name:

  Adding values to the Central Asian wheat through the means of whole genome scanning, automated phenotyping and intensive selection

• The purpose of the project: Identifying and harnessing the genomic variations that are related to significant economic traits and can dissect the founder effect in CAWP through modern tools of genomics and phenomics to strengthen wheat breeding practices in Kazakhstan.
• Objectives:

The current grant project is consisted of six extensive objectives.

Genetic standardization of CAWP in IBP.

The reduction of loci segregation degree in populations is vital prior to any genomic assessments.

Phenotyping the CAWP in the fully automated growing chambers, glasshouses and wheat growing regions.

Conventional breeding approaches in Kazakhstan did not allow wheat breeders to look for an alternative allele for vital adaptation traits such as flowering time and plant height.

High-density genotyping

Within the budget of this grant call it is financially impossible to have all CAWP genotypes sequenced. So, instead we will genetically fingerprint the CAWP to assess the population genetic diversity, then conduct WGS of 120 diverse genotypes within CAWP.

WGS of most diverse genotypes in CAWP

The most diverse 120-genotypes from cluster analysis will go for WGS. If the grant gets funded, we will start digitalising genomic data of Kazakh wheat for the first time.

Association mapping and Target market development

With a great deal of genetic and genomic data in hands, the genome wide association analysis will be conducted. For the significant associations, at least 50 target homoeologous specific molecular markers will be developed.

Knowledge sharing and capacity building

This project possesses an excellent research outreach program which dedicated to knowledge, resource sharing and capacity building among Kazakhstani plant breeding community.

• The idea of the project:

  The recent disruption in a global wheat grain supply was a testament to the fact that wheat is a primary source of nutrients1 in most of the underdeveloped and developing, even in developed nations, playing a vital role in a global food security. For Kazakhstan, wheat flour is not only unwavering recipe of its cuisine but a significant source of income. So, global wheat producers, including Kazakhstan, must be highly committed to maintaining a sustainable wheat breeding and production. Besides geopolitical instability, a rapid change in climates also pose a massive threat on a sustainable wheat breeding and production worldwide2,3. This requires a development of wheat varieties with improved yield and quality in a short period of time.

• Expected results:

1) One article or review with high impact factor will be published in a peer-reviewed scientific publication indexed in the Science_Citation_Index_Expanded and included in the Q1 of impact factor in the Web_of_Science.

2), 4)

Not planned

3) The application will be submitted to obtain a patent for the utility model (Qazpatent).

5) We will organise theoretical/practical workshop at ZU for plan (mainly wheat) breeders and researchers to share the knowledge. Moreover, the next generation (students, school pupils) will also be our target audience. Importantly, a great deal of genetic, genomic, phenotypic and seed materials will also be available for local and international wheat breeding community for free of charge (through signing MTA).

6)

6.1) The end users of the project outcomes will be the national, regional and international plant scientists working to enhance crop quality and quantity, and University lecturers and students studying agronomy/biology. Our workshop to inspire students, plant geneticists and breeders indicates the significant social effect of the project that aimed at knowledge sharing.

6.2) The genomic selection with the combination of conventional plant breeding methods shows the importance of current plant improvement systems this project based on. We hypothesise that our intensive breeding platform and genomic strategies will further enhance the Kazakhstan’s agro-industrial sector.

6.3) Establishing the IBP and developing diagnostic KASP molecular markets for effective/precision agriculture provides some type of services for the breeding stations and research centres from Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries.

6.4) This grant proposal has colossal social impact due to that fact of planned science popularisation, and knowledge and resource sharing among general, scientific community and next generation. The obtained resources from the project should support the delivery of positive economic, social and scientific-technical impact through plant breeding in country/region.

Having said this, we believe that the resources (genetic data, genomic data, knowledge sharing, capacity building) developed in this proposal will lay the foundation for much future studies aiming to release new improved wheat varieties.

The grant proposal supports very positive effects on ecology. No methods of genetic engineering methodologies are involved in the project. So, the project goals are fully compatible with requirements of “green technology or organic farming”. The scientific-technical and multiplicative effects will be delivered by the introduction of genomic selection methods into country’s wheat breeding systems.