Researchers have identified a novel mechanism in barley plants, which could help crop growers achieve high yields as temperatures rise.

With grain production highly sensitive to changing environmental conditions, rising temperatures are known to reduce the number of seeds that can be produced on each plant. One solution is to increase the number of flowers or branches on each ‘spike’, which is the reproductive structure from which grain is harvested.

In a study published in Nature Plants, research led by Professor Dabing Zhang from the University of Adelaide’s Waite Research Institute and Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s Joint Lab for Plant Science and Breeding, explored the possibility of increasing seed production through the reproductive mechanisms in plants that respond to high temperatures.

«Cereal crops such as wheat and barley are worth over $12B to the Australian economy,» said lead author Dr Gang Li with the University of Adelaide’s Waite Research Institute.

«Genes that control the amount of grain produced per plant under higher temperatures are really attractive targets for breeders and researchers, particularly in the face of changing environmental conditions.

«It has long been presumed that environmental cues such as temperature are responsible for the diversity of the biological structures between cereals. However the mechanisms behind the structural changes have been largely unknown, which is why this study is important.»

In the study, Professor Zhang’s team found a novel mechanism by which a barley protein, known as HvMADS1, regulates the number of flowers generated on each spike, in response to high temperatures. The researchers were able to demonstrate that HvMADS1 is critical in maintaining an unbranched barley spike under high ambient temperatures.

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Materials provided by University of Adelaide. Original written by Kelly Brown. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.