Winter wheat is an important crop in Irish Agriculture, covering 53,900 ha of land in Ireland in 2018, and yielding 8.1 t/ha in the same year (Teagasc, 2018) however, inefficient use of Nitrogen fertiliser in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production poses considerable problems for producers in terms of cost, and also for the environmental threat of emissions from N production. Currently, fertiliser accounts for 25% of production costs for wheat (Teagasc, 2017), and high amounts of Nitrogen are applied to the crop in order to achieve a sufficient yield for a profitable harvest. The industrial production of Nitrogen also produces nitrates and ammonia as by-products, both of which are harmful to natural aquatic systems as well as nitrous oxide, which is a greenhouse gas.
This research aims to assess the effect of gliadin – a gluten protein found in wheat – on Nitrogen Use Efficiency, and therefore on growth, of wheat under reduced Nitrogen fertiliser application.
It is hypothesised here that the high N requirement in wheat is due to grain filling, whereby storage proteins such as gliadin accumulate in the plant after anthesis and prior to the maturation of the canopy. In the case of insufficient N supply, grain filling occurs foremost, proceeded by premature senescence, inhibiting the plant from reaching maturation, lowering the total yield of the crop.
This study will use a combination of two different methods of study:
1) Analysis of a three-year field trials of winter wheat varieties grown in low and optimal Nitrogen
2) Growth of Fielder wheat plants which have had alpha-gliadins knocked out through RNA Interference.
The end goal of this research is to develop a low gliadin winter wheat variety, which delivers high yields under low Nitrogen conditions. Such a product would eventually be suitable for use as non-ruminant livestock feed, as gliadins are offer low nutritional value to livestock (Pomeranz, 1988).