Annalene Hansen

An ancient Japanese farming tradition of treading crops is the inspiration behind a PhD research project exploring innovative ways of making wheat crops more resilient.

Making wheat more resilient

What happens when you gently brush young wheat plants to mimic the effects of wind and rain? It's a question at the heart of Annalene Hansen's doctoral programme at IBERS.

Annalene’s research investigates how physical forces such as touch, wind and rain influence the growth and development of wheat. Her aim is to understand how crops can become more resilient to increasingly challenging weather conditions associated with climate change.

“Heavy wind and rain are bad news for crops because they cause lodging, where the wheat stem bends and sits perpendicular to the ground. This reduces grain quality, makes harvesting difficult and causes economic losses for farmers who can lose around 25% of their crop because of lodging,” says Annalene, who came to study at IBERS in 2022 and is due to submit her final thesis in December 2026.

“What I’m doing in my research is using mechanical stimulation as a proxy for heavy wind and rain – both of which are set to increase as a result of climate changes. I then analyse and assess the impact on the crop.

“My work is inspired by mugifumi, which is an old farming practice used in Japan of treading wheat and barley when they’re very young. It increases the crop’s yield and resilience and decreases lodging.”

Controlled environment experiments

Annalene has been carrying out a series of experiments in the controlled environment facility at IBERS where conditions can be carefully regulated.

A series of wheat plants were brushed daily for four weeks, using a custom-built device developed by IBERS technician Johnny Knowler, to replicate mechanical stresses experienced in the field.

Annalene explains:

“When you stimulate young wheat plants in this way, the plant is introduced to stress at an early stage and so its genes can ‘learn to adapt’ to that stress. The plant becomes shorter and therefore its centre of gravity is lowered. The plant is also reinforced through anatomical alterations within the stem. At a smaller scale, cell wall composition is altered to become more structurally sound."

Supported by industry partner Mondelēz International, Annalene has undertaken RNA sequencing studies to investigate how gene activity changes following mechanical stimulation. Her findings could help researchers better understand crop resilience and inform future breeding programmes.

“There appear to be many mechanisms that ultimately govern the plant to withstand forces such as wind and rain, meaning it is less likely to buckle and collapse. Mechanical force also appears to increase chlorophyll content and increases phenols in the grain, which act as powerful antioxidants and prevent chronic health conditions.”

“Surprisingly, despite drastic morphological changes, grain yield is completely  uncompromised. Collectively, these results yield really promising outcomes from just hitting wheat - it’s relatively inexpensive and doesn’t pollute the environment like agrochemicals can.”

Published papers

Alongside her experimental work, Annalene was lead author of a review article published in BMC Biology in February 2025, for which she also created all the scientific illustrations: Mechanical stimulation in plants: molecular insights, morphological adaptations, and agricultural applications in monocots.

Annalene was also a contributing author to a paper published in Nutrition Bulletin in August 2023: Increasing fibre in white flour and bread: Implications for health and processing.

Annalene’s wider interests span plant biology, genetics, bioinformatics and ecology. Before coming to IBERS, she completed both her BSc and MRes at the University of Southampton. Her PhD studies are funded by UKRI through its UK Food Systems Centre for Doctoral Training and her research profile can be viewed on the IBERS website.

Ultimately, Annalene hopes her research will contribute to crops that are better able to withstand environmental challenges while reducing reliance on agricultural inputs.

“Further work is needed on the response of different varieties to mechanical stimulation, but it would be brilliant to be able to show that the process can increase the yield and resilience of crops as well as reducing the need for chemical inputs, bringing social, environmental and economic benefits.”