Functional characterization of Nuclear Factor Y for grain filling and yield formation in barley

• Applicant: Dr. Volodymyr Radchuk
• Subject Area: Plant Cell and Developmental Biology ; Plant Physiology
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 555456321

The final yield of a cereal crop strongly depends on grain filling. The efficient redirection of assimilates from source organs towards the developing grains and accumulation of starch, proteins and lipids in a grain is tightly controlled at molecular, biochemical and physiological levels. The transcriptional regulation of grain filling is largely unexploited due to the elevated complexity of crop plants as models for molecular and imaging approaches. Elucidating the mechanisms of grain filling is essential for both ensuring efficient grain filling of modern varieties and producing highly productive and climate-resilient crops. We identified one subunit of the Nuclear Factor Y among the most highly expressed endosperm-specific genes. Now we have succeeded in generating transgenic models, and at the same time, advanced molecular, biochemical and in vivo imaging tools have become available to comprehensively investigate the mechanism of Nuclear Factor Y action in barley grains. The project aims to understand how the grain-specific Nuclear Factor Y controls grain filling in barley by studying its mechanism of action using state-of-the-art ChIP-seq, RNA-seq, metabolic analysis and novel Artificial Intelligence-supported in vivo Magnetic Resonance Imaging techniques. The target genes for the Nuclear Factor Y will be detected and validated, and the comprehensive mechanistic view on the regulation of grain filling will be elaborated.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Co-Investigator: Privatdozentin Dr. Ljudmilla Borisjuk