This project is one of CAB’s 2020 Future Leaders Funding opportunities.
Alternate bearing is an issue faced by many commercial fruit tree crops in Australia, including mango, where trees alternate each year between producing high and low fruit yields. This phenomenon appears to be caused by a signal produced in fruits that inhibits flowering the following year, however this inhibition can be prevented if the fruit is removed early from the tree. In citrus, histone modifications of the flowering repressor gene FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) and its expression are highly correlated with alternate bearing. This project will aim to determine whether histone modifications at the FLC locus and expression of FLC and downstream target genes are correlated with alternate bearing in mango.
This project aims to develop tools for improving flowering, precocity and alternate bearing in tree crops that will directly benefit the horticultural industry in Australia and worldwide.
Chief Investigators
