Skip to main content
ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Pullman, Washington » WHGQ » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #412629
Research Project: Wheat and Barley Adaptation to a Changing Climate - Discovery of Genetic and Physiological Processes for Improved Crop Productivity and Quality

Location: Wheat Health, Genetics, and Quality Research

Title: Leveraging phenotypic plasticity in seed oil content for climate-adapted breeding and production

Author
item ZENG, LINGJU - Huazhong Agricultural University
item HAN, XU - Huazhong Agricultural University
item GUO, XIANGJIAN - Huazhong Agricultural University
item PEI, HE - Huazhong Agricultural University
item SHAO, YANG - Huazhong Agricultural University
item CAO, YILAN - Huazhong Agricultural University
item ZHANG, ZHENWEI - Huazhong Agricultural University
item Li, Xianran
item YU, JIANMING - Iowa State University
item YAN, JIANBING - Huazhong Agricultural University
item GUO, LIANG - Huazhong Agricultural University
item GUO, TINGTING - Huazhong Agricultural University

Submitted to: Plant Cell and Environment
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/13/2025
Publication Date: 2/3/2025
Citation: Zeng, L., Han, X., Guo, X., Pei, H., Shao, Y., Cao, Y., Zhang, Z., Li, X., Yu, J., Yan, J., Guo, L., Guo, T. 2025. Leveraging phenotypic plasticity in seed oil content for climate-adapted breeding and production. Plant Cell and Environment. https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.15408.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.15408

Interpretive Summary: Oil content is a critical trait for rapeseed. The oil content is jointly determined by both internal genetic makeup and external growing conditions. With a large scale multi-environmental trial, this study systematically identified major genes and environmental indices determining oil content across different environments through the CERIS-JGRA framework. Predictive models were developed based on these genes and indices. Empirical experiments demonstrate the power of predictive models. Based on the predictive models and future weather conditions, under-utilized alleles would be desired in future for higher oil content.

Technical Abstract: Phenotypic plasticity is the ability of organisms to respond to environmental changes; understanding and leveraging phenotypic plasticity is crucial for mitigating the threats caused by climate change. Here, we assessed phenotypic plasticity in multi-environment trials over 4 years, covering a wide geographical area, using 505 inbred lines from a Brassica napus genetic diversity panel. The observed phenotypic variation for seed oil content (SOC) was jointly influenced by three environmental indices (precipitation, diurnal temperature range, and ultraviolet B) during the flowering or pod-filling stage and five plasticity genes. Leveraging this information with climate records, we developed a predictive model to estimate SOC for various planting dates in seven major production regions, validating the accuracy of our predictions in new environments. We also quantified the plasticity conferred by genetic variation in the five plasticity genes, identifying an optimal haplotype for each production region for adaptability to future climate projections, thus offering valuable breeding materials to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change on agriculture.