Crop Science and Plant Breeding - Forage Crops

 

Forage crops play a crucial role in livestock agriculture, providing feed for animals and contributing to the overall productivity and sustainability of the livestock industry. IBERS has a long history of forage crop research, improving genetic traits for enhanced yield, nutritional quality, and environmental resilience. IBERS science underpins 47 ABER varieties of grass and clover on the current UK National Variety List, commercialised by our long-term partner Germinal Horizon Ltd. Through interdisciplinary and commercial collaborations, IBERS aims to advance sustainable and resilient forage crop systems to support livestock agriculture and provide the science needed to support breeding and commercialisation of new varieties.

Goals

Breeding Goals

Long term goals in breeding that require inputs from fundamental research include: 

  • Incorporation of genomics assisted breeding to accelerate genetic gain.
  • Exploiting genome sequence data to better understand traits and direct crosses
  • Use of new technology (drones, machine learning, AI) for phenotyping in the field.
  • Breeding targets for zero carbon and climate friendly farming – carbon sequestration, root   growth, resilience to climate change, persistency. 
  • Improvement of nutrient use efficiency to reduce inputs.
  • Breeding forages with improved quality traits that reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. 
  • Novel uses of forage crops, pulses and oats, such as extraction of protein for monogastric feed
    and plant-based diets. 
  • Improved resilience of grain quality traits (oats) as demanded by millers and end-users. 
  • Multistress tolerance & resilience to sudden adverse weather events (drought, waterlogging). 
  • Improvement of breeding efficiency (accuracy of selection) using high throughput phenotyping. 
  • Pre-breeding to identify novel alleles and increase genetic diversity.
  • Understanding of adaptation- matching phenology to environment.
  • Development of benchmarks for farmers and crop growth models.
  • The addressing of the agricultural productivity gap through improvements in crop yield and yield stability.
  • New methods of plant breeding (gene editing, speed breeding) and recombination control

Current Projects

Current Projects

Core Strategic Programme in Resilient Crops BBSRC (2017-2022)   
BBS/E/W/0012843A http://www.resilientcrops.org 
 
Oat domestication - understanding the origin of a European cereal 
Funder: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) 
Grant number: BB/S008195/1 (2018-2021) 
 
Genetic improvement of pea to replace soyabean in the diets of poultry and monogastric livestock (PeaGen) BBSRC Link BB/P017517 https://www.pgro.org/peagen-project/ (2017-22) 
 
Food BioSystems Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) (2019-2021) https://research.reading.ac.uk/foodbiosystems/ 
 
Oat Breeding (industrial funding from Senova) 
 
Pulse Breeding (industrial funding from UK Pulses) 
 
Nitrogen and sulphur fertiliser management for yield and quality in winter and spring oats (NoatS) AHDB 2018-2022 
 
The influence of genotype, environment and management factors on yield development, grain filling and grain quality in oats (Walsh Fellowship) 
 
Understanding milling efficiency in oats: developing tools to improve grain quality (Walsh Fellowship) 
 
“Grazing tolerant red clover for future livestock farming”. CIEL Seed Funding (2020-2021). Germinal with IBERS (£50K) 
 
“Red clover as a cash crop: Protein for monogastric farm animals and metabolites for human health (RC-Promo)”. WEFO SMARTExpertise 2020/82292 (2020-2022) IBERS, Germinal Holdings Ltd, Blue Sky Botanics – (£264K) 
 
“Improved resistance of red clover to soil borne pathogens for sustainable livestock production”. WEFO SMARTExpertise 2017/COL/008 (2018-2021) IBERS, Germinal Holdings Ltd and Hybu Cig Cymru – (£250K) 
 
“Maximising the value of commercial forage grass seed production”. Innovate UK/BBSRC 93314-562353/TS/R005133/1 (2017-2020) Germinal Holdings and IBERS - Co-I (£207K) 
 
“EUCLEG - Breeding forage and grain legumes to increase EU's and China's protein self-sufficiency”. EU Horizon 2020 (H2020-SFS-2016-2 727312-2). 38 partners (2017-2021) - (€5M) - http://www.eucleg.eu
 
“Genetics of crown rot resistance in red clover” KESS II PhD studentship (2017-2020) IBERS and Germinal Holdings –  (£52K) 
 
“Genomic selection for utilisation, seed production and animal health traits in white clover” (2017-2021) Teagasc Walsh Fellowship – (€145K) 

Completed Projects

Recently completed projects

 
BBBSRC-LINK, AHDB,  Developing enhanced breeding methodologies for oats for human health and nutrition (InnovOat) 2014- 2019 Industry partners Senova and BOBMA http://www.innovoat.uk/ 
 
Optimising oat yield and quality to deliver sustainable production and economic impact (Opti-Oat) Innovate UK 2014-2018 https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FM02749X%2F1 
 
UKRI-NRC Prototyping Root System Architecture in Avena: Technologies for Environmental Sustainability and Food Security BB/S020926/1 
 
“Novel strategies for genetic improvement of disease resistance in perennial ryegrass”. Innovate UK/BBSRC 47055-329315/ BB/M028267/1. (2015-2020) Germinal Holdings and IBERS (£730K) 
 
“Comparative population genomics of red clover domestication and improvement” BBSRC-IPA BB/L023563/1 with TGAC and Germinal Holdings (2014-2017) (£741K) 
 
“Genomics-assisted breeding for fatty acid content and composition in perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) BBSRC LINK1 award (with Germinal Holdings and Hybu Cig Cymru) BB/K017160/1 (2013-2018) (£999,435) 
 
GIANT-LINK: Genetic improvement of miscanthus as a sustainable feedstock for bioenergy in the UK (£6.4M) 
 
MUST: Miscanthus upscaling technology (£1.8M) 

Group Members

Publications

Publications

Hansen, A, Gladala-Kostarz, A, Hindhaugh, R, Doonan, JH & Bosch, M 2025, 'Mechanical stimulation in plants: Molecular insights, morphological adaptations, and agricultural applications in monocots', BMC Biology, vol. 23, no. 1, 58. 10.1186/s12915-025-02157-3
Skøt, L, Nay, MM, Grieder, C, Frey, LA, Pégard, M, Öhlund, L, Amdahl, H, Radovic, J, Jaluvka, L, Palmé, A, Ruttink, T, Lloyd, D, Howarth, CJ & Kölliker, R 2024, 'Including marker x environment interactions improves genomic prediction in red clover (Trifolium pratense L.)', Frontiers in Plant Science, vol. 15, 1407609. 10.3389/fpls.2024.1407609
Muhandiram, NPK, Humphreys, MW, Fychan, R, Davies, JW, Sanderson, R & Marley, CL 2023, 'Designing agricultural grasses to help mitigate proteolysis during ensiling to optimize protein feed provisions for livestock', Food and Energy Security, vol. 12, no. 4, e475. 10.1002/fes3.475
Rohner, M, Manzanares, C, Yates, SA, Thorogood, D, Copetti, D, Lübberstedt, T, Asp, T & Studer, B 2023, 'Fine-mapping and comparative genomic analysis reveal the gene composition at the S and Z self-incompatibility loci in grasses', Molecular Biology and Evolution, vol. 40, no. 1, msac259. 10.1093/molbev/msac259, 10.5281/zenodo.7289792, 10.5281/zenodo.7015164, 10.5281/zenodo.7290695
Martínez-Fortún, J, Phillips, DW & Jones, HD 2022, 'Natural and artificial sources of genetic variation used in crop breeding: A baseline comparator for genome editing', Frontiers in Genome Editing, vol. 4, 937853. 10.3389/fgeed.2022.937853
Arpaia, S, Christiaens, O, Giddings, K, Jones, H, Mezzetti, B, Moronta-Barrios, F, Perry, JN, Sweet, JB, Taning, CNT, Smagghe, G & Dietz-Pfeilstetter, A 2020, 'Biosafety of GM Crop Plants Expressing dsRNA: Data Requirements and EU Regulatory Considerations', Frontiers in Plant Science, vol. 11, 940. 10.3389/fpls.2020.00940
Taning, CNT, Arpaia, S, Christiaens, O, Dietz-Pfeilstetter, A, Jones, H, Mezzetti, B, Sabbadini, S, Hoen-Sorteberg, H-GO, Sweet, J, Ventura, V & Smagghe, G 2020, 'RNA-based biocontrol compounds: Current status and perspectives to reach the market', Pest Management Science, vol. 76, no. 3, pp. 841-845. 10.1002/ps.5686
Mezzetti, B, Smagghe, G, Arpaia, S, Christiaens, O, Dietz-Pfeilstetter, A, Jones, H, Kostov, K, Sabbadini, S, Opsahl-Sorteberg, HG, Ventura, V, Taning, CNT & Sweet, J 2020, 'RNAi: What is its position in agriculture?', Journal of Pest Science, vol. 93, no. 4, pp. 1125-1130. 10.1007/s10340-020-01238-2
Clifton-Brown, J, Harfouche, A, Casler, M, Jones, H, MacAlpine, WJ, Murphy-Bokern, D, Smart, L, Adler, A, Ashman, CR, Awty-Carroll, D, Bastien, C, Bopper, S, Botnari, V, Brancourt-Hulmel, M, Chen, Z, Clark, L, Cosentino, S, Dalton, S, Davey, C, Dolstra, O, Donnison, I, Flavell, R, Greef, JM, Hanley, S, Hastings, A, Hertzberg, M, Hsu, TW, Huang, L, Iurato, A, Jensen, E, Jin, X, Jørgensen, U, Kiesel, A, Kim, D-S, Liu, J, McCalmont, JP, McMahon, GG, Mos, M, Robson, P, Sacks, EJ, Sandu, A, Scalici, G, Schwarz, K, Scordia, D, Shafiei, R, Shield, IF, Slavov, G, Stanton, B, Swaminathan, K, Taylor, G, Torres, AF, Trindade, LM, Tschaplinski, T, Tuskan, J, Yamada, T, Yu, CY, Zalesny, R-F, Zong, J & Lewandowski, I 2019, 'Breeding progress and preparedness for mass‐scale deployment of perennial lignocellulosic biomass crops switchgrass, miscanthus, willow and poplar', GCB Bioenergy, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 118-151. 10.1111/gcbb.12566, 10.1111/gcbb.12566
Jones, H 2019, 'Continuing the dialogue on organic and GMOs' A Bigger Conversation. <https://abiggerconversation.org/continuing-the-dialogue-on-organic-and-gmos/>
Jones, H 2019, 'Future-proofing regulation for rapidly changing biotechnologies', Transgenic Research, vol. 28, no. Suppl 2, pp. 107-110. 10.1007/s11248-019-00143-4
Davies, HR, Maddison, A, Phillips, D & Jones, H 2019, Genetic Transformation of Protoplasts Isolated from Leave of Lolium temulentum and Lolium perenne. in LM Vaschetto (ed.), Cereal Genomics. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol. 2072, Springer Nature. 10.1007/978-1-4939-9865-4
Sun, Y, Sparks, C, Jones, H, Riley, M, Francis, F, Du, W & Xia, L 2019, 'Silencing an essential gene involved in infestation and digestion in grain aphid through plant‐mediated RNA interference generates aphid‐resistant wheat plants', Plant Biotechnology Journal, vol. 17, no. 5, pp. 852-854. 10.1111/pbi.13067, 10.1111/pbi.13067
Jones, H 2018, 'Smart gene edits need tailored regulations', Journal of Cereal Science, vol. 77, pp. A1-A2. 10.1016/j.jcs.2017.10.004
Casacuberta, J, Nogué, F, Naegeli, H, Birch, AN, De Schrijver, A, Gralak, MA, Guerche, P, Manachini, B, Messéan, A, Nielsen, EE, Robaglia, C, Rostoks , N, Sweet, J, Tebbe, C, Visioli, F, Wal, J-M, Moxon, S, Schneeberger, K, Federici, S, Ramon, M, Papadopoulou, N & Jones, H 2018, 'Technical Note on the quality of DNA sequencing for the molecular characterisation of genetically modified plants', EFSA Journal, vol. 16, no. 7, e05345. 10.2903/j.efsa.2018.5345
Shewry, PR, Corol, DI, Jones, H, Beale, MH & Ward, JL 2017, 'Defining genetic and chemical diversity in wheat grain by 1H-NMR spectroscopy of polar metabolites', Molecular Nutrition and Food Research, vol. 61, no. 7, 1600807. 10.1002/mnfr.201600807
Driever, SM, Simkin, AJ, Alotaibi, S, Fisk, SJ, Madgwick, PJ, Sparks, CA, Jones, H, Lawson, T, Parry, MAJ & Raines, CA 2017, 'Increased SBPase activity improves photosynthesis and grain yield in wheat grown in greenhouse conditions', Philosophical Transactions B: Biological Sciences, vol. 372, no. 1730, 20160384. 10.1098/rstb.2016.0384
Martinez-Fortun, J, Phillips, D & Jones, H 2017, 'Potential impact of genome editing in world agriculture', Emerging Topics in Life Sciences, vol. 1, no. 2, 2, pp. 117-133. 10.1042/ETLS20170010
Primavesi, LF, Wu, H, Mudd, EA, Day, A & Jones, HD 2017, 'Visualisation of plastid degradation in sperm cells of wheat pollen', Protoplasma, vol. 254, no. 1, pp. 229-237. 10.1007/s00709-015-0935-x
Jones, HD 2016, 'Future of breeding by genome editing is in the hands of regulators', GM crops & food, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 223-232. 10.1080/21645698.2015.1134405

More publications on the Research Portal »

Impact Case Stories - Forage Crops

High Sugar Grasses
 
Persistent Clover Varieties

Deep-Rooted Grasses