James Milson

James is a third year PhD student currently part of the Borrill group, working in collaboration with KWS UK to investigate the quality of hybrid wheat. He focuses on how the presence of certain known quality alleles influences the quality phenotype, especially when in a heterozygous state. This will be expanded to investigate any parent of origin effects that may be present for these quality alleles within the hybrids. The goal of this work is to gain a better understanding of the genetics underlying the quality phenotype of hybrid wheat and provide helpful information to breeding efforts.

Before joining the Borrill group for his PhD he completed an Undergraduate degree in Biochemistry with Genetics at the University of Birmingham. During this time, he undertook his final year dissertation project in the Borrill group investigating the effect of the transcription factor NAC6 on the abiotic stress tolerance of wheat.