Adam Gicgier

Postgraduate Researcher

Adam is currently completing his PhD in the Borrill lab.

Wheat is a staple crop for a third of the global population and fulfils up to 60% of daily calorie intake. However, it is mostly consumed as white flour, which significantly diminishes its already low mineral content. In areas with high cereal and low animal product consumption, this leads to deficiencies in micronutrients such as iron and zinc that have serious consequences on human health. Biofortification is a cost-effective and sustainable strategy to mitigate this disease burden. Several programmes, including HarvestPlus, have successfully implemented Zn-biofortified wheat, but no Fe-biofortified variety has been produced so far using conventional breeding methods.

During his PhD, Adam will be investigating the bread wheat mutagenized population (Cadenza TILLING lines) for increased iron content, in order to identify novel alleles which could be used in breeding programs for wheat biofortification. Additionally, he will be elucidating the iron homeostasis signaling cascade in wheat, namely the HRZ-PRI axis.