A mechanistic model predicting flowering in cereals

Wheat is an important food crop because it is adaptable to local environments. Phenology plays a major role in this process because life cycle transitions need to be aligned with the environment. One of the major phenological traits is flowering time, or heading date and this is closely related to yield. Winter wheat requires vernalization, a prolonged cold period, in order to flower. We propose to generate and experimentally test a mechanistic model for the vernalization pathway in Brachypodium and extend this mathematical model to the more complex case of wheat.