Other Plant Sciences Commons^™

Estimation Of The Degree Of Diversity For Some Iraqi Wheat Varieties Through Issr, Srap And Rapd Markers, Dhafir H. Al-Kaab, Majid Sh. Hamdalla, Ismail M. Dweikat, Noora J. Al-Saedi

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

DNA-based molecular markers such as Inter Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR), Sequence-Related Amplified polymorphism (SRAP) and Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) were used in this study to examine the genetic differences among sixteen Iraqi wheat varieties. Seventy three primers out of 177 were reproducible and showed clear amplified bands. The degree of genetic diversity, Polymorphism information content (PIC) and resolving power (RP) were estimated. All the studied molecular markers were informative and showed good ability to classify and distinguish 16 wheat varieties. Total number of polymorphic bands is 134, 221 and 55 for ISSR, SRAP and RAPD respectively. PIC and RP …

Nutrients In The Nexus, Eric A. Davidson, Rachel L. Nifong, Richard B. Ferguson, Cheryl Palm, Deanna L. Osmond, Jill S. Baron

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Synthetic nitrogen (N) fertilizer has enabled modern agriculture to greatly improve human nutrition during the twentieth century, but it has also created unintended human health and environmental pollution challenges for the twentyfirst century. Averaged globally, about half of the fertilizer-N applied to farms is removed with the crops, while the other half remains in the soil or is lost from farmers’ fields, resulting in water and air pollution. As human population continues to grow and food security improves in the developing world, the dual development goals of producing more nutritious food with low pollution will require both technological and socioeconomic …

The C-Terminal Motif Of Siago1b Is Required For The Regulation Of Growth, Development And Stress Responses In Foxtail Millet (Setaria Italica (L.) P. Beauv), Xiaotong Liu, Sha Tang, Guanqing Jia, James C. Schnable, Haixia Su, Chanjuan Tang, Hui Zhi, Xianmin Diao

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Foxtail millet (Setaria italica (L.) P. Beauv), which belongs to the Panicoideae tribe of the Poaceae, is an important grain crop widely grown in Northern China and India. It is currently developing into a novel model species for functional genomics of the Panicoideae as a result of its fully available reference genome sequence, small diploid genome (2n=18, ~510 Mb), short life cycle, small stature and prolific seed production. Argonaute 1 (AGO1), belonging to the argonaute (AGO) protein family, recruits small RNAs and regulates plant growth and development. Here, we characterized an AGO1 mutant (siago1b) in foxtail millet, which …

Genomic Prediction Models For Grain Yield Of Spring Bread Wheat In Diverse Agro-Ecological Zones, C. Saint Pierre, Juan Burgueño, Jose Crossa, G. Fuentes Dávila, P. Figueroa López, E. Solís Moya, J. Ireta Moreno, V. M. Hernández Muela, V. M. Zamora Villa, P. Vikram, K. Mathews, C. Sansaloni, D. Sehgal, Diego Jarquin, P. Wenzl, Sukhwinder Singh

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Genomic and pedigree predictions for grain yield and agronomic traits were carried out using high density molecular data on a set of 803 spring wheat lines that were evaluated in 5 sites characterized by several environmental co-variables. Seven statistical models were tested using two random cross-validations schemes. Two other prediction problems were studied, namely predicting the lines’ performance at one site with another (pairwise-site) and at untested sites (leave-one-site-out). Grain yield ranged from 3.7 to 9.0 t ha⁻¹ across sites. The best predictability was observed when genotypic and pedigree data were included in the models and their interaction with …

Genomic Prediction Of Gene Bank Wheat Landraces, José Crossa, Diego Jarquin, Jorge Franco, Paulino Pérez-Rodríguez, Juan Burgueño, Carolina Saint-Pierre, Prashant Vikram, Carolina Sansaloni, Cesar Petroli, Denis Akdemir, Clay Sneller, Matthew Reynolds, Maria Tattaris, Thomas Payne, Carlos Guzman, Roberto J. Peña, Peter Wenzl, Sukhwinder Singh

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

This study examines genomic prediction within 8416 Mexican landrace accessions and 2403 Iranian landrace accessions stored in gene banks. The Mexican and Iranian collections were evaluated in separate field trials, including an optimum environment for several traits, and in two separate environments (drought, D and heat, H) for the highly heritable traits, days to heading (DTH), and days to maturity (DTM). Analyses accounting and not accounting for population structure were performed. Genomic prediction models include genotype × environment interaction (G × E). Two alternative prediction strategies were studied: (1) random cross-validation of the data in 20% training (TRN) and 80% …

Registration Of ‘Ne05548’ (Husker Genetics Brand Panhandle) Hard Red Winter Wheat, P. Stephen Baenziger, R. A. Graybosch, T. Regassa, R. N. Klein, Greg R. Kruger, D. K. Santra, L. Xu, D. J. Rose, S. N. Wegulo, Y. Jin, J. Kolmer, G. L. Hein, M.-S. Chen, G. Bai, R. L. Bowden, J. Poland

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Western Nebraska wheat producers and those in adjacent areas want taller wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars that retain their height under drought for better harvestability. ‘NE05548’ (Reg. No. CV-1117, PI 670462) hard red winter wheat was developed cooperatively by the Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station and the USDA-ARS and released in January 2014 by the developing institutions. NE05548 was released primarily for its superior performance under rainfed conditions in western Nebraska and adjacent areas of the Great Plains and its tall plant stature. NE05548 was selected from the cross NE97426/NE98574 made in 1999 where the pedigree of NE97426 is ‘Brigantina’/2*‘Arapahoe’ …

Multi-Population Selective Genotyping To Identify Soybean [Glycine Max (L.) Merr.] Seed Protein And Oil Qtls, Piyaporn Phansak, Watcharin Soonsuwon, David L. Hyten, Qijian Song, Perry B. Cregan, George L. Graef, James E. Specht

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Plant breeders continually generate ever-higher yielding cultivars, but also want to improve

seed constituent value, which is mainly protein and oil, in soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.]. Identification of genetic loci governing those two traits would facilitate that effort. Though genome-wide association offers one such approach, selective genotyping of multiple biparental populations offers a complementary alternative, and was evaluated here, using 48 F2:3 populations (n = ~224 plants) created by mating 48 high protein germplasm accessions to cultivars of similar maturity, but with normal seed protein content. All F2:3 progeny were phenotyped for seed protein and oil, but only …

Accuracy Of Genomic Prediction In Switchgrass (Panicum Virgatum L.) Improved By Accounting For Linkage Disequilibrium, Guillaume P. Ramstein, Joseph Evans, Shawn M. Kaeppler, Robert B. Mitchell, Kenneth P. Vogel, C. Robin Buell, Michael D. Casler

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Switchgrass is a relatively high-yielding and environmentally sustainable biomass crop, but further genetic gains in biomass yield must be achieved to make it an economically viable bioenergy feedstock. Genomic selection (GS) is an attractive technology to generate rapid genetic gains in switchgrass, and meet the goals of a substantial displacement of petroleum use with biofuels in the near future. In this study, we empirically assessed prediction procedures for genomic selection in two different populations, consisting of 137 and 110 half-sib families of switchgrass, tested in two locations in the United States for three agronomic traits: dry matter yield, plant height, …

Root Biomass And Soil Carbon Response To Growing Perennial Grasses For Bioenergy, Leonard C. Kibet, Humberto Blanco-Canqui, Robert B. Mitchell, Walter H. Schacht

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Background: Dedicated bioenergy crops such as switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.), miscanthus [Miscanthus x giganteus (Mxg)], indiangrass [Sorghastrum nutans (L.) Nash], and big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii Vitman) can provide cellulosic feedstock for biofuel production while maintaining or improving soil and environmental quality. To better understand bioenergy crop effects on soils, we studied changes in soil properties of a Tomek silt loam under inorganic fertilization of switchgrass after 4 years and warm-season grass monocultures and mixtures after 6 years in eastern Nebraska.

Methods: The first experiment had two study factors: two switchgrass harvest dates (August and …

Alkaline Stress And Iron Deficiency Regulate Iron Uptake And Riboflavin Synthesis Gene Expression Differently In Root And Leaf Tissue: Implications For Iron Deficiency Chlorosis, En-Jung Hsieh, Brian M. Waters

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Iron (Fe) is an essential mineral that has low solubility in alkaline soils, where its deficiency results in chlorosis. Whether low Fe supply and alkaline pH stress are equivalent is unclear, as they have not been treated as separate variables in molecular physiological studies. Additionally, molecular responses to these stresses have not been studied in leaf and root tissues simultaneously. We tested how plants with the Strategy I Fe uptake system respond to Fe deficiency at mildly acidic and alkaline pH by measuring root ferric chelate reductase (FCR) activity and expression of selected Fe uptake genes and riboflavin synthesis genes. …

Multi-Phase Us Spread And Habitat Switching Of A Post-Columbian Invasive, Sorghum Halepense, U. Uzay Sezen, Jacob N. Barney, Daniel Z. Atwater, Gary A. Pederson, Jeffrey F. Pedersen, J. Mike Chandler, T. Stan Cox, Sheila Cox, Peter Dotray, David Kopec, Steven E. Smith, Jill Schroeder, Steven D. Wright, Yuannian Jiao, Wenqian Kong, Valorie Goff, Susan Auckland, Lisa K. Rainville, Gary J. Pierce, Cornelia Lemke, Rosana Compton, Christine Phillips, Alexandra Kerr, Matthew Mettler, Andrew H. Paterson

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Johnsongrass (Sorghum halepense) is a striking example of a post-Columbian founder event. This natural experiment within ecological time-scales provides a unique opportunity for understanding patterns of continent-wide genetic diversity following range expansion. Microsatellite markers were used for population genetic analyses including leaf-optimized Neighbor-Joining tree, pairwise FST, mismatch analysis, principle coordinate analysis, Tajima's D, Fu's F and Bayesian clusterings of population structure. Evidence indicates two geographically distant introductions of divergent genotypes, which spread across much of the US ingeophylogeny, gene flow patterns can be inferred to have involved five phases. Centers of genetic diversity have shifted from two introduction …

Genomic Prediction Of Single Crosses In The Early Stages Of A Maize Hybrid Breeding Pipeline, Dnyaneshwar C. Kadam, Sarah M. Potts, Martin O. Bohn, Alexander E. Lipka, Aaron J. Lorenz

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Prediction of single-cross performance has been a major goal of plant breeders since the beginning of hybrid breeding. Recently, genomic prediction has shown to be a promising approach, but only limited studies have examined the accuracy of predicting single-cross performance. Moreover, no studies have examined the potential of predicting single crosses among random inbreds derived from a series of biparental families, which resembles the structure of germplasm comprising the initial stages of a hybrid maize breeding pipeline. The main objectives of this study were to evaluate the potential of genomic prediction for identifying superior single crosses early in the hybrid …

The Draft Genome Of The C3 Panicoid Grass Species Dichanthelium Oligosanthes, Anthony J. Studer, James C. Schnable, Sarit Weissmann, Allison R. Kolbe, Michael R. Mckain, Ying Shao, Asaph B. Cousins, Elizabeth A. Kellogg, Thomas P. Brutnell

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Background: Comparisons between C₃ and C₄ grasses often utilize C₃ species from the subfamilies Ehrhartoideae or Pooideae and C₄ species from the subfamily Panicoideae, two clades that diverged over 50 million years ago. The divergence of the C₃ panicoid grass Dichanthelium oligosanthes from the independent C₄ lineages represented by Setaria viridis and Sorghum bicolor occurred approximately 15 million years ago, which is significantly more recent than members of the Bambusoideae, Ehrhartoideae, and Pooideae subfamilies. D. oligosanthes is ideally placed within the panicoid clade for comparative studies of C₃ and C₄ grasses.

Results: …

Estimating Yield Potential In Temperate High-Yielding, Direct-Seeded Us Rice Production Systems, Matthew B. Espe, Haishun Yang, Kenneth Cassman, Nicolas Guilpart, Hussain Sharifi, Bruce A. Linquist

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Accurate estimation of a crop’s yield potential (Yp) is critical to addressing long-term food security via identification of the exploitable yield gap. Due to lack of field data, efforts to quantify crop yield potential typically rely on crop models. Using the ORYZA rice crop model, we sought to estimate Yp of irrigated rice for two widely used rice varieties (M-206 and CXL745) in three major US rice-producing regions that together represent some of the highest yielding rice regions of the world. Three major issues with the crop model had to be addressed to achieve acceptable simulation of Yp; first, the …

Yield Gap Analysis Of Us Rice Production Systems Shows Opportunities For Improvement, Matthew B. Espe, Kenneth Cassman, Haishun Yang, Nicolas Guilpart, Patricio Grassini, Justin Van Wart, Merle Anders, Donn Beighley, Dustin Harrell, Steve Linscombe, Kent Mckenzie, Randall Mutters, Lloyd T. Wilson, Bruce A. Linquist

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Many assessments of crop yield gaps based on comparisons to actual yields suggest grain yields in highly intensified agricultural systems are at or near the maximum yield attainable. However, these estimates can be biased in situations where yields are below full yield potential. Rice yields in the US continue to increase annually, suggesting that rice yields are not near the potential. In the interest of directing future efforts towards areas where improvement is most easily achieved, we estimated yield potential and yield gaps in US rice production systems, which are amongst the highest yielding rice systems globally. Zones around fourteen …

Impact Of Derived Global Weather Data On Simulated Crop Yields, Justin Van Wart, Patricio Grassini, Kenneth Cassman

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Crop simulation models can be used to estimate impact of current and future climates on crop yields and food security, but require long-term historical daily weather data to obtain robust simulations. In many regions where crops are grown, daily weather data are not available. Alternatively, gridded weather databases (GWD) with complete terrestrial coverage are available, typically derived from: (i) global circulation computer models; (ii) interpolated weather station data; or (iii) remotely sensed surface data from satellites. The present study’s objective is to evaluate capacity of GWDs to simulate crop yield potential (Yp) or water-limited yield potential (Yw), which can serve …

Global Nitrogen Budgets In Cereals: A 50-Year Assessment For Maize, Rice, And Wheat Production Systems, J. K. Ladha, A. Tirol-Padre, C. K. Reddy, Kenneth Cassman, Sudhir Verma, D. S. Powlson, C. Van Kessel, Daniel De B. Richter, Debashis Chakraborty, Himanshu Pathak

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Industrially produced N-fertilizer is essential to the production of cereals that supports current and projected human populations. We constructed a top-down global N budget for maize, rice, and wheat for a 50-year period (1961 to 2010). Cereals harvested a total of 1551 Tg of N, of which 48% was supplied through fertilizer-N and 4% came from net soil depletion. An estimated 48% (737 Tg) of crop N, equal to 29, 38, and 25 kg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ for maize, rice, and wheat, respectively, is contributed by sources other than fertilizer- or soil-N. Non-symbiotic N₂ fixation appears to be …

Smokey Comes Of Age: Unmanned Aerial Systems For Fire Management, Dirac L. Twidwell Jr., Craig R. Allen, Carrick Detweiler, James Higgins, Christian Laney, Sebastian Elbaum

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

During the past century, fire management has focused on techniques both to protect human communities from catastrophic wildfire and to maintain fire-dependent ecological systems. However, despite a large and increasing allocation of resources and personnel to achieve these goals, fire management objectives at regional to global scales are not being met. Current fire management techniques are clearly inadequate for the challenges faced by fire managers, and technological innovations are needed. Advances in unmanned aerial systems (UAS) technology provide opportunities for innovation in fire management and science. In many countries, fire management organizations are beginning to explore the potential of UAS …

Identification Of Markers Linked To Genes For Sprouting Tolerance (Independent Of Grain Color) In Hard White Winter Wheat (Hwww), Juthamas Fakthongphan, Guihua Bai, Paul St. Amand, Robert A. Graybosch, P. Stephen Baenziger

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Key message Hard red wheats can donate genes to hard white wheats for tolerance to preharvest sprouting, the effects are quantitative in nature, and may be tracked with previously described DNA markers.

Abstract Pre-harvest sprouting (PHS) of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) can negatively impact end-use quality and seed viability at planting. Due to preferences for white over red wheat in international markets, white wheat with PHS tolerance has become increasingly desired for worldwide wheat production. In general, however, red wheat is more tolerant of sprouting than white wheat. The main objective of this study was the identification of PHS …

Soil Water Improvements With The Long-Term Use Of A Winter Rye Covercrop, Andrea D. Basche, Thomas C. Kaspar, Sotirios V. Archontoulis, Dan B. Jaynes, Thomas J. Sauer, Timothy B. Parkin, Fernando E. Miguez

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

The Midwestern United States, a region that produces one-third of maize and one-quarter of soybean grain globally, is projected to experience increasing rainfall variability. One approach to mitigate climate impacts is to utilize crop and soil management practices that enhance soil water storage and reduce the risks of flooding as well as drought-induced crop water stress. While some research indicates that a winter cover crop in maize-soybean rotations increases soil water availability, producers continue to be concerned that water use by cover crops will reduce water for a following cash crop. We analyzed continuous in-field soil water measurements from 2008 …

Engaging Middle School Students Through Locally Focused Environmental Science Project-Based Learning, Andrea D. Basche, Vincent Genareo, Adah Leshem, Amy Kissell, Judith Pauley

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Increasing scientific literacy through education is one way to promote awareness of current environmental challenges, and can be enhanced through project-based learning (PBL), a pedagogical approach in which students explore authentic topics and demonstrate their learning publically. The National Science Foundation–funded GK–12 program at Iowa State University partnered doctoral-level graduate students (fellows) with middle and high school science teachers. This study analyzed results from one such middle school partnership in Iowa, where a PBL approach was implemented. Classroom practices focused on local environmental case studies of energy development, water pollution, soil science, climate change, plant biology, and ecology. Results from …

Impact Of Pre-Anthesis Water Deficit On Yield And Yield Components In Barley (Hordeum Vulgare L.) Plants Grown Under Controlled Conditions, Zakaria I. Al-Ajlouni, Ayed Al-Abdallat, Abdul Latief A. Al-Ghzawi, Jamal Y. Ayad, Jamal M. Abu Elenein, Nisreen A. Al-Quraan, P. Stephen Baenziger

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Drought at pre-anthesis stages can influence barley growth and results in yield losses. Therefore, it is important to understand how drought at pre-anthesis can affect different traits associated with yield reduction in barley. The objective of this study was to understand the relevance of the genetic background of major flowering time genes in barley plants subjected to pre-anthesis drought and its impact on yield and yield components. A glasshouse experiment using a Randomized Complete Block Design was conducted to investigate the effect of drought and its timing on yield and yield components on eleven barley genotypes, which were selected to …

Predicting Long-Term Cover Crop Impacts On Soil Quality Using A Cropping Systems Model, Fernando E. Miguez, Sotirios Archontoulis, Andrea D. Basche

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Increased attention is being paid to cover crops as an option to reduce water pollution and decrease soil degradation in Iowa. More producers are experimenting with cover crops to increase soil productivity. However, when this project began there was little research to demonstrate the long-term impacts that cover crops have on crop yields. There were no estimates to quantify how much environmental benefit a cover crop could provide in terms of erosion and soil carbon changes. Such estimates are beneficial to demonstrate the long-term improvements that a cover crop affords in Iowa, particularly for corn-soybean rotations where the winter planting …

Corn Response To Nitrogen Management Under Fully-Irrigated Vs. Water-Stressed Conditions, Bijesh Maharjan, Carl J. Rosen, John A. Lamb, Rodney T. Venterea

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Characterizing corn (Zea mays L.) grain yield (GY) response to N is critical for maximizing profits, increasing N use efficiency and minimizing environmental impacts. Although a large database of GY response to N exists for highly productive soils, few data exist for less productive soils. While changes in precipitation are expected in the future, few studies have compared GY response to varying N management practices under conditions of varying water availability. We measured GY and basal stalk nitrate nitrogen (BSN) at harvest using split-applied urea at eight N rates under fully-irrigated (FI) and water-stressed (WS) conditions in a loamy …

Identification Of Evening Complex Associated Proteins In Arabidopsis By Affinity Purification And Mass Spectrometry, He Huang, Sophie Alvarez, Rebecca Bindbeutel, Zhouxin Shen, Michael J. Naldrett, Bradley S. Evans, Steven P. Briggs, Leslie M. Hicks, Steve A. Kay, Dmitri A. Nusinow

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Many species possess an endogenous circadian clock to synchronize internal physiology with an oscillating external environment. In plants, the circadian clock coordinates growth, metabolism and development over daily and seasonal time scales. Many proteins in the circadian network form oscillating complexes that temporally regulate myriad processes, including signal transduction, transcription, protein degradation and post-translational modification. In Arabidopsis thaliana, a tripartite complex composed of EARLY FLOWERING 4 (ELF4), EARLY FLOWERING 3 (ELF3), and LUX ARRHYTHMO (LUX), named the evening complex, modulates daily rhythms in gene expression and growth through transcriptional regulation. However, little is known about the physical interactions that …

Multidisciplinary Research And Extension Team Evolution: Processes, Outcomes, And Strategies, Daren Redfearn, Jay Parsons, Mary Drewnoski

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Team-based research is not an innovative concept; however, the current models of team research are based principally on self-formed teams with a defined duration. Current trends seem to point toward the development of administratively designed multidisciplinary teams. Although this seems logical, minimal guidelines exist to aid in team development or evaluate team outcomes. Critical processes in a team-based research atmosphere have not been identified, much less described, and strategies for successful implementation have not been proposed. The strength of this approach can be summarized as a unified focus during the course of problem definition and solution. Many trade-offs and obstacles …

Identification And Verification Of Qtl Associated With Frost Tolerance Using Linkage Mapping And Gwas In Winter Faba Bean, Ahmed Sallam, Mustapha Arbaoui, Mohamed El-Esawi, Nathan Abshire

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Frost stress is one of the abiotic stresses that causes a significant reduction in winter faba bean yield in Europe. The main objective of this work is to genetically improve frost tolerance in winter faba bean by identifying and validating QTL associated with frost tolerance to be used in marker-assisted selection (MAS). Two different genetic backgrounds were used: a biparental population (BPP) consisting of 101 inbred lines, and 189 genotypes from single seed descent (SSD) from the Gottingen Winter bean Population (GWBP). All experiments were conducted in a frost growth chamber under controlled conditions. Both populations were genotyped using the …

Modeling Shattercane Dynamics In Herbicide-Tolerant Grain Sorghum Cropping Systems, Rodrigo Werle, Brigitte Tenhumberg, John L. Lindquist

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Traditional breeding technology is currently being used to develop grain sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench ssp. bicolor] germplasm that will be tolerant to acetolactate synthase (ALS)-inhibiting herbicides. This technology (Inzen^TM, DuPont^TM) has the potential to improve sorghum production by allowing for the postemergence control of traditionally hard-to-control grasses. However, grain sorghum and shattercane [weedy Sorghum species; Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench ssp. drummondii (Nees ex Steud.) de Wet ex Davidse] can interbreed and introduced traits such as herbicide tolerance could increase the weediness of the weedy relative. Our objective was to develop a simulation model …

Letter To The Editor Ws-2 Introgression In A Proportion Of Arabidopsis Thaliana Col-0 Stock Seed Produces Specific Phenotypes And Highlights The Importance Of Routine Genetic Verification, Mon-Ray Shao, Vikas Shedge, Hardik Kundariya, Fredric R. Lehle, Sally Ann Mackenzie

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Arabidopsis thaliana is an important model organism with a robust network of resources that has been of enormous value to the plant science research community. The use of isogenic material as a reference point or control is critical for many types of experiments in plant molecular biology and genetics. Recently, we noticed that some seed from a common source of the widely-used Columbia-0 (Col-0) strain gave rise to plants showing features atypical for this strain. Whole genome DNA-sequencing and allele-specific PCR assays confirmed that the abnormal individuals contain multiple introgressions from the ecotype Wassilewskija-2 (Ws-2), as described below. This emphasizes …

Transcriptional Regulation Of Specialized Metabolites In Arabidopsis Thaliana And Catharanthus Roseus, Craig M. Schluttenhofer

Theses and Dissertations--Plant and Soil Sciences

For millennia humans have utilized plant specialized metabolites for health benefits, fragrances, poisons, spices, and medicine. Valued metabolites are often produced in small quantities and may command high prices. Understanding when and how the plant synthesizes these compounds is important for improving their production. Phytohormone signaling cascades, such as jasmonate (JA) activate or repress transcription factors (TF) controlling expression of metabolite biosynthetic genes. TFs regulating specialized metabolite biosynthetic genes can be manipulated to engineer plants with increased metabolite production.

WRKY transcription factor are known components of both JA signaling cascades and regulation of specialized metabolism. The presence of WRKY binding …