| Abstract | As the world’s population continues to expand, the agricultural industry is encountering major challenges to meet the rapidly increasing demand in the face of limited farmland and water supplies. In order to meet these challenges, the industry must move beyond traditional breeding practices and help farmers produce more yield with less resources. One active area of research is the study of key biological pathways in crop species to improve yield and tolerance to drought. Major pathways of interest include photosynthesis, nitrogen uptake, water utilization and flowering time. By understanding the dynamics of these pathways and their connections to important traits, we can predict novel alterations in the pathways that will improve one or more traits. These predicted pathway interventions can then be implemented through crop breeding or genetic transformation. Mathematical models can be a powerful tool to help detail key biological pathways in crop species, and to predict optimal modifications to these pathways for trait improvement. This talk will provide an overview of these challenges, some key biological pathways of interest, the current state of modeling in this area, and opportunities for new models that can help suggest novel leads for improving traits in crops. |
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