Research interests:
Nick’s work at NIAB focuses on research and develop for crop breeding to improve the sustainability and productivity in a range of cropping systems. His PhD project investigates the genetic architecture of milling and baking, as well as nutritional quality, and how these traits can be predicted. This work uses various quantitative genetics approaches including QTL mapping using a MAGIC population and genomic prediction models to incorporate GxE interactions. Nick has been at NIAB since 2015, prior to starting his PhD in 2018, where he worked on developing the 16-founder MAGIC Diverse wheat mapping population and the NIAB pedigree resource. He also maintains an interest in crop breeding for low-input farming systems.
Research title:
Dissecting genetic control of wheat milling and baking quality
Duration: October 2018 - 2022
Partners: NIAB, University of Cambridge, DSV UK
Funding: iCASE VVSRC DTP
Publications:
Recent papers and preprints (5 max)
Scott, M.F., Ladejobi, O., Amer, S., Bentley, A.R., Biernaskie, J., Boden, S.A., Clark, M., Dell’Acqua, M., Dixon, L.E., Filippi, C.V., Fradgley, N., et al., 2020. Multi-parent populations in crops: a toolbox integrating genomics and genetic mapping with breeding. Heredity, pp.1-21.
Fradgley, N., Evans, G., Biernaskie, J.M., Cockram, J.S., Marr, E.C., Oliver, A.G., Ober, E. and Jones, H., 2020. Effects of breeding history and crop management on the root architecture of wheat. Plant Soil 452, 587–600.
Fradgley, N., Gardner, K.A., Cockram, J., Elderfield, J., Hickey, J.M., Howell, P., Jackson, R. and Mackay, I.J., 2019. A large-scale pedigree resource of wheat reveals evidence for adaptation and selection by breeders. PLoS biology, 17(2), p.e3000071.
Hughes, N., Oliveira, H.R., Fradgley, N., Corke, F.M., Cockram, J., Doonan, J.H. and Nibau, C., 2019. μ CT trait analysis reveals morphometric differences between domesticated temperate small grain cereals and their wild relatives. The Plant Journal, 99(1), pp.98-111.
Fradgley, N.S., Creissen, H.E., Pearce, H., Howlett, S.A., Pearce, B.D., Döring, T.F. and Girling, R.D., 2017. Weed suppression and tolerance in winter oats. Weed Technology, 31(5), pp.740-751.