Beyond Face Value: epidermal specialisations in cereals

Look closely at plant surfaces. Perhaps you notice the bluish-white residue covering cereal stems, the soft hairs on peaches or the little pores scattered across most plant leaves? We now know these are exquisite adaptations of the land plant outer epidermis to protect and extract resources from the hostile aerial environment. Most critically, the outer epidermal cells seal their external surface with an impermeable, water-proofing cuticle, channeling gas exchange instead through carefully spaced and adjustable pores called stomata. Further epidermal elaborations, such as cuticular crystals, defensive and water-trapping hairs and mineral depositions, helped plants colonize diverse terrestrial niches. Accordingly, mobilizing epidermal variation in crops could stabilize and improve yield under changing climates: for example, more impermeable cuticles coupled with faster, fewer stomata providing benefits in warmer, drier extremes.

In my seminar, I will describe our recent discovery of a genetic network in barley controlling multiple epidermal specialisations, including cuticle deposition and stomatal patterning. I will also introduce a major new project on epidermal features which evaluates mechanistic connections, conservation in wheat and impacts on crop performance. In addition, I will summarise our recent findings on regulatory pathways controlling barley grain development. All our work is anchored by exploitation and generation of enabling technologies for barley, many of which were developed at the James Hutton Institute, where my lab is located and the site of a newly opened Crop Innovation Centre and headquarters of the international Barley Hub (https://barleyhub.org). Altogether, our research delivers significant advances in understanding and controlling traits important for resiliency and yield.

Dr Sarah McKim is a Principal Investigator and Reader in the Division of Plant Sciences within the School of Life Sciences at the University of Dundee. Her research focuses on improving cereal grain production, particularly barley, which is the most grown crop in Scotland and a key ingredient in the UK’s brewing and distilling industries, worth over £4 billion.