Understanding the genetic and physiological basis for adaption of Norwegian perennial forage crops to future climates

WP1 - Modelling: this WP was completed before this reporting period. Preparation of manuskripts has been ongoing in this period. . WP2 - Developing of breeding materials with adaptation to future climates: The field trials with pre-breeding materials for diverse use was terminated in the autumn of 2013. In 2011, 2012 and 2013 surviving plants following natural selection have been dug from the ground. A total number of 50 populations (of 55 possible) from 7 climatically diverse locations from Rogaland (Jæren) to Finnmark (Alta). The growth cessation field trails at Fureneset and Bodø with perennial ryegrass and Festulolium was terminated in the autumn of 2013 following 3 years of field registrations of yield and 2 years of leaf length and chlorophyll flourescense measurements. Fluorescense measurements were followed up by recordings on single plants in autumn 2013. Selections were made from 3 cutting regimes at each location (Bodø, Bjørke and Fureneset) in the autumn of 2013 from the timothy field trials aiming at testing regrowth capasity. Also leaf material for genotyping (GBS) was collected from the plants from the field trials at all locations. Morfological traits were scored in the timothy field trial at Fureneset. All surviving plants have been sent to Graminor, Bjørke for intercrossing under isolation. Natural selection in diverse environments may give new productive cultivars of timothy, perennial ryegrass, Festulolium, red clover and lucerne which are adapted to the future climatic conditions. Seed of the different selections will be available for testing and inclusion in new projects in 2015 at the earliest. Two rounds of selection (2011 and 2013) for early spring growth in red clover have been conducted (4 diploid and 4 tetraploid cultivars). The seed has been transferred to Graminor for further testing and selection. In addition a field trial with red clover cultivars with different earliness was terminated in the autumn of 2013. In this experiment phenological development and earliness has been recorded in similar ways as for forage grasses in order to determine how many plants it is necessary to score for establishing an exact prognosis for earliness in red clover. WP3 - Winter survival in a prolonged growth season: Work in the reporting period has focussed on data analyses and writing of manuscripts which are part of the Phd thesis of Sigridur Dalmannsdottir. WP4 - Physiological and molecular basis for hardening, dehardening and rehardening: Work in the reporting period has focussed on bioinformatic analyses of large dataset from RNA sequencing of transcripts from perennial ryegrass and Festulolium, and writing of manuscripts. WP5 - Changes in allele frequencies as a result of natural selection and management stress in different climates: GBS (genotyping-by-sequencing) has been performed by Aarhus University, Flakkebjerg, on leaf materials of timothy and diploid red clover collected from all prebreeding fields. Sequencing was completed in the spring of 2014 and the data will be analysed after the end of the project. Focus will be on getting the GBS data from perennial ryegrass published first. WP6 - Disease resistance in the future climate: Work in the reporting period has focussed on writing and publication of the results. The manucripts will be part of the PhD thesis of Mohamed Abdelhalim which will be submitted in the beginning of 2015 (see final report).

Understanding the genetic and physiological basis for adaptation of Norwegian perennial forage crops to future climates is a 4-year project investigating important traits for Norwegian forage crops in view of future climate changes. Global warming constit utes a great challenge for perennial plants. They have to adapt to new climatic conditions both during the growth season and during the winter for optimal persistency and productivity. Our objective is to develop knowledge, methods and germplasm as the ba sis for future development of cultivars of timothy, perennial ryegrass/Festulolium and red clover. In addition breeding populations of lucerne, which might be an important legume in future in Norway, will be field tested in new regions in the country. Dev elopment of new cultivars needs to be based on knowledge about genetic and physiological regulation of traits which are important for a sustainable forage production in the expected changing climate. The project is interdisciplinary involving mechanistic modelling of plant performance under climate change to identify target traits and germplasm, crossing and pre-breeding to increase genetic variation and resilience in the breeding populations, physiological and molecular genetic studies of cold acclimatio n in autumn and de-acclimation in spring including the effects of ice-encasement and water-logging, molecular markers for development of more efficient selection methods, and investigations of fungal disease resistance that are expected to be even more im portant in future due to changes in temperature, humidity and light conditions. New cultivars are required in order to utilize the potential for increased biomass production due to higher temperatures in the growth season and to survive a milder and more variable winter climate. The project is innovative, and involves collaboration between highly competent research groups both nationally and internationally with active participation of the plant breeding industry.