Profile

Career

Research

Overview

Key research interests

Our research focuses on the relationships between genome evolution and the control of characteristics of plants that are of relevance to food security, health, conservation or sustainability. We use Brassica napus (a species that includes oilseed rape and several other crop types) as a model for polyploid genomes and have developed computational approaches for the deployment of “second generation” sequencing technologies to analyse molecular variation. Exploiting comparative genomics and the transcriptome as a means of analysing both gene sequence variation and gene expression variation, either directly or via our network of collaborations we are uncovering the genetic bases of a range of traits in B. napus including leaf, seed and seed oil composition.  We are applying the technology in additional species, including various traits in Triticum aestivum – bread wheat, and ash dieback tolerance in the European Ash tree Fraxinus excelsior.

Two references

• A.L. Harper, M. Trick, J. Higgins, F. Fraser, L. Clissold, R. Wells, C. Hattori, P. Werner and I. Bancroft (2012). Associative Transcriptomics of traits in the polyploid crop species Brassica napus Nature Biotechnology 30:798-802

• Bancroft, C. Morgan, F. Fraser, J. Higgins, R. Wells, L. Clissold, D. Baker, J. Meng, X. Wang, S. Liu and M. Trick (2011). Dissecting the genome of the polyploid crop oilseed rape by transcriptome sequencing. Nature Biotechnology 29:762-6

Discoveries

Genetic studies in many crops and most species of industrial or medical interest are hampered by the genetic complexity arising from polyploidy and/or lack of genomic resources. We have discovered that these limitations can be overcome by transcriptome sequencing-based approaches.

Projects

• BBSRC Renewable Industrial Products from Rapeseed (RIPR) Programme (BBSRC)
• Commercialising thermo-stable rapeseed oil for the bio-lubricants industry (BBSRC / Innovate UK)
• Evolution of genomes: structure function relationships in the polyploid crop species Brassica napus (ERA-CAPS)
• Broadening the genetic diversity underpinning seed quality and yield related traits in mustard rape and oilseed rape (BBSRC)
• Oilseed rape genetic improvement network (Defra)

Research group(s)