Plant Breeding and Genetics Commons^™

Stephen Baenziger, Unl Agronomy & Horticulture, Breeding New Wheat Varieties, Mark Griep, P. Stephen Baenziger

UNL ORCA Interview Series

Stephen Baenziger awarded the ORCA in 2011. He was born in 1951 in Toronto, Canada. When he was an infant, his family immigrated to the U.S., where he grew up in Des Plaines, Illinois. He earned a bachelor's in biological chemistry magna cum laude from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Next, he earned a master's and doctorate in plant breeding and genetics at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. Over the next decade, he worked for the USDA at Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in Maryland and then at the Monsanto Corporation in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1986, he joined the …

Can Generative Ai Make Farming Decisions? Current Status And Future Pathways: A Case Study In Row Crop Production With Chatgpt, Nipuna Chamara, Yufeng Ge, Joe Luck, Yu Pan, Saleh Taghvaeian, Cory Walters, Christopher Proctor, Daran Rudnick, Daren Redfearn

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

The agricultural decision-making process is experience-based, knowledge-dependent, time-sensitive, complex, and driven by historical data. Planting, fertilization, irrigation, and chemigation are key categories in farm decision-making, and currently there is no one-shot decision-support tool that covers all these activities. Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) models are more advanced than traditional machine learning and deep learning models. These models have been trained on vast amounts of data from the internet, allowing them to accept unstructured data in various forms and generate human-like text, solutions to problems, and scenario predictions. Given this capability, we became interested in exploring the potential of generative AI in …

Use Of High-Throughput Phenomics With And Without Fungicide As A Wheat Breeding Tool, Gerardo Ivan Rivera Collazo

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Wheat (Triticum aestivum) is an important food staple for many countries around the world and current consumption and production data demonstrate a production deficit. Breeders are challenged to help close this gap in production by selecting better cultivars with improved yields. Several methods aim to accelerate the breeding process to reduce the time required for releasing an elite variety. One of the main breeding bottlenecks is the lack of fast and reliable phenotypic data acquisition that could dissect physiological and morphological plant data. High-throughput remote sensing could have the potential to reduce this bottleneck by streamlining data acquisition, …

Integrating High Throughput Phenotyping Approaches To Characterize Plant Traits And Support Nutrient Management Research, Katie J. Bathke

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Over the past decade, considerable research has addressed the social, economic, and agronomic challenges posed by imbalanced nutrient applications, particularly nitrogen and, more recently, sulfur. In response, high throughput plant phenotyping, as one of the latest approaches, has contributed to the development of innovative techniques for assessing key plant phenotypes under stress over time in both field and greenhouse environments. However, there is a limited number of studies applying these techniques for nutrient management, particularly in scenarios where two abiotic stressors coexist, such as the combination of water stress and nitrogen deficiency, or concurrent nitrogen and sulfur deficiencies.

In chapter …

Integrating Genomic And Phenomic Breeding Tools For Wheat Stem Sawfly Resistance In Hard Winter Wheat, Sydney E. Graham

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

The wheat stem sawfly (WSS; Cephus cinctus) is an insect pest that affects wheat (Triticum aestivum) in the Northern Great Plains. This pest causes stem cutting that makes the plants susceptible to lodging and results in up to 30% yield loss. The primary management strategy for producers is utilizing host plant resistance, for which the main trait is stem solidness. This trait increases the pith thickness and provides resistance to the WSS by increasing larval mortality and reducing stem cutting. While stem solidness is largely controlled by a known major gene (SSt1), the phenotypic expression is also …

Leveraging Historical Data For Estimating Genetic Gain And Implementing Genomic Selection In A Student Led Barley Breeding Program, Sydney Graham

Department of Statistics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In Nebraska, winter feed barley presents an emerging market for producers and an opportunity to diversify cropping systems. The University of Nebraska Barley Breeding Program aims to develop high-yielding, winter-hardy varieties. A unique aspect of this program is that doctoral students serve as barley breeders and are responsible for crossing, data collection, and advancement decisions. While this provides hands-on experience for the students, the impact of student leadership has not been examined.

This study used a historical data set to evaluate the realized genetic gain of the breeding program, and as a training population for genomic selection. The dataset consisted …

Post-Translational Regulation Of A Bidomain Glycerol-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Catalyzing Glycerol Synthesis Under Salinity Stress In Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii, Itzela Cruz-Powell, Binita Subedi, Yeongho Kim, Daniela Morales-Sánchez, Heriberto D. Cerutti

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

Core chlorophytes possess glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenases (GPDs) with an unusual bidomain structure, consisting of a glycerol-3-phosphate phosphatase (GPP) domain fused to canonical GPD domains. These plastid-localized enzymes have been implicated in stress responses, being required for the synthesis of glycerol under high salinity and triacylglycerols under nutrient deprivation. However, their regulation under varying environmental conditions is poorly understood. C. reinhardtii transgenic strains expressing constitutively bidomain GPD2 did not accumulate glycerol or triacylglycerols in the absence of any environmental stress. Although the glycerol contents of both wild type and transgenic strains increased significantly upon exposure to high salinity, cycloheximide, an inhibitor of …

Genomes Of Multicellular Algal Sisters To Land Plants Illuminate Signaling Network Evolution, Xuehuan Feng, Jinfang Zheng, Iker Irisarri, Huihui Yu, Bo Zheng, Zahin Ali, Sophie De Vries, Jean Keller, Janine M. R. Fürst-Jansen, Armin Dadras, Jaccoline M. S. Zegers, Tim P. Rieseberg, Amra Dhabalia Ashok, Tatyana Darienko, Maaike J. Bierenbroodspot, Lydia Gramzow, Romy Petroll, Fabian B. Haas, Noe Fernandez-Pozo, Orestis Nousias, Tang Li, Elisabeth Fitzek, W. Scott Grayburn, Nina Rittmeier, Charlotte Permann, Florian Rümpler, John M. Archibald, Günter Theißen, Jeffrey P. Mower, Maike Lorenz16, Henrik Buschmann, Klaus Von Schwartzenberg, Lori Boston, Richard D. Hayes, Chris Daum, Kerrie Barry, Igor V. Grigoriev, Xiyin Wang, Fay-Wei Li, Stefan A. Rensing, Julius Ben Ari, Noa Keren, Assaf Mosquna, Andreas Holzinger, Pierre-Marc Delaux, Chi Zhang, Jinling Huang, Marek Mutwil6,, Jan De Vries, Yanbin Yin

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

Zygnematophyceae are the algal sisters of land plants. Here we sequenced four genomes of filamentous Zygnematophyceae, including chromosome-scale assemblies for three strains of Zygnema circumcarinatum. We inferred traits in the ancestor of Zygnematophyceae and land plants that might have ushered in the conquest of land by plants: expanded genes for signaling cascades, environmental response, and multicellular growth. Zygnematophyceae and land plants share all the major enzymes for cell wall synthesis and remodifications, and gene gains shaped this toolkit. Co-expression network analyses uncover gene cohorts that unite environmental signaling with multicellular developmental programs. Our data shed light on a molecular …

Up-Regulation Of Non-Photochemical Quenching Improves Water Use Efficiency And Reduces Whole-Plant Water Consumption Under Drought In Nicotiana Tabacum, Benjamin Turc, Seema Sahay, Jared Haupt, Talles De Oliveira Santos, Geng Bai, Katarzyna Glowacka

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

Water supply limitations will likely impose increasing restrictions on future crop production, underlining a need for crops that use less water per mass of yield. Water use efficiency (WUE) therefore becomes a key consideration in developing resilient and productive crops. In this study, we hypothesized that it is possible to improve WUE under drought conditions via modulation of chloroplast signals for stomatal opening by up-regulation of non-photochemical quenching (NPQ). Nicotiana tabacum plants with strong overexpression of the PsbS gene encoding PHOTOSYSTEM II SUBUNIT S, a key protein in NPQ, were grown under differing levels of drought. The PsbS-overexpressing lines lost …

The Emerging Role Of Non-Coding Rnas (Ncrnas) In Plant Growth, Development, And Stress Response Signaling, Amit Yadav, Jyotirmaya Mathan, Arvind Kumar Dubey, Anuradha Singh

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

Plant species utilize a variety of regulatory mechanisms to ensure sustainable productivity. Within this intricate framework, numerous non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) play a crucial regulatory role in plant biology, surpassing the essential functions of RNA molecules as messengers, ribosomal, and transfer RNAs. ncRNAs represent an emerging class of regulators, operating directly in the form of small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), microRNAs (miRNAs), long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), and circular RNAs (circRNAs). These ncRNAs exert control at various levels, including transcription, posttranscription, translation, and epigenetic. Furthermore, they interact with each other, contributing to a variety of biological processes and mechanisms associated with stress resilience. …

Mycorrhizal Feedbacks Influence Global Forest Structure And Diversity, Camille S. Delavaux, Joseph A. Lamanna, Jonathan A. Myers, Richard P. Phillips, Salomón Aguilar, David Allen, Alfonso Alonso, Kristina J. Anderson-Teixeira, Matthew E. Baker, Jennifer L. Baltzer, Pulchérie Bissiengou, Mariana Bonfim, Norman A. Bourg, Warren Y. Brockelman, David F.R.P. Burslem, Li Wan Chang, Yang Chen, Jyh Min Chiang, Chengjin Chu, Keith Clay, Susan Cordell, Mary Cortese, Jan Den Ouden, Christopher Dick, Sisira Ediriweera, Erle C. Ellis, Anna Feistner, Amy L. Freestone, Thomas Giambelluca, Christian P. Giardina, Gregory S. Gilbert, Fangliang He, Jan Holík, Robert W. Howe, Walter Huaraca Huasca, Stephen P. Hubbell, Faith Inman, Patrick A. Jansen, Daniel J. Johnson, Kamil Kral, Sabrina E. Russo, Et Al.

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

One mechanism proposed to explain high species diversity in tropical systems is strong negative conspecific density dependence (CDD), which reduces recruitment of juveniles in proximity to conspecific adult plants. Although evidence shows that plant-specific soil pathogens can drive negative CDD, trees also form key mutualisms with mycorrhizal fungi, which may counteract these effects. Across 43 large-scale forest plots worldwide, we tested whether ectomycorrhizal tree species exhibit weaker negative CDD than arbuscular mycorrhizal tree species. We further tested for conmycorrhizal density dependence (CMDD) to test for benefit from shared mutualists. We found that the strength of CDD varies systematically with mycorrhizal …

Evaluation Of Vegetative Indices To Determine Canopy Ground Cover For Winter Survival And Hybrid Necrosis In Winter Wheat, Micheal Young

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The benefit of unmanned aircraft systems and image processing methods in agronomic research across numerous crops has been well documented as has the importance of wheat, Triticum aestivum L., on the global food supply. Hence there is great interest in digital solutions applied to aspects of wheat breeding. A major trait of importance to winter wheat breeders in higher latitudes is winter survival, which can result in poor yield and performance if lines do not survive extreme cold. Scoring winter survival is most commonly based on visual score of 0% to 100% with the higher percentage conveying higher winter survival …

Janus , A Spliceosome-Associated Protein, Promotes Mirna Biogenesis In Arabidopsis, Mu Li, Huihui Yu, Bangjun Zhou, Lu Gan, Shengjun Li, Chi Zhang, Bin Yu

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

MicroRNAs ( miRNAs ) are important regulators of genes expression. Their levels are precisely controlled through modulating the activity of the microprocesser complex ( MC ) . Here, we report that JANUS, a homology of the conserved U2 snRNP assembly factor in yeast and human, is required for miRNA accumulation. JANUS associates with MC components Dicer-like 1 ( DCL1 ) and SERRATE ( SE ) and directly binds the stem- loop of pri-miRNAs. In a hypomorphic janus mutant, the activity of DCL1, the numbers of MC, and the interaction of primary miRNA transcript ( pri-miRNAs ) with MC are reduced. …

Overcoming Genetic Paucity Of Camelina Sativa: Possibilities For Interspecific Hybridization Conditioned By The Genus Evolution Pathway, Rostyslav Y. Blume, Ruslan Kalendar, Liang Guo, Edgar B. Cahoon, Yaroslav B. Blume

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

Camelina or false flax (Camelina sativa) is an emerging oilseed crop and a feedstock for biofuel production. This species is believed to originate from Western Asian and Eastern European regions, where the center of diversity of the Camelina genus is located. Cultivated Camelina species arose via a series of polyploidization events, serving as bottlenecks narrowing genetic diversity of the species. The genetic paucity of C. sativa is foreseen as the most crucial limitation for successful breeding and improvement of this crop. A potential solution to this challenge could be gene introgression from Camelina wild species or from …

A Facile Agrobacterium‑Mediated Transformation Method For The Model Unicellular Green Algae Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii, Truyen N. Quach, Shirley J. Sato, Mark R. Behrens, Paul N. Black, Concetta C. Dirusso, Heriberto D. Cerutti, Tom Elmo Clemente

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

A reliable and simple Agrobacterium-mediated transformation system for the unicellular green algae model organism Chlamydomonas reinhardtii has been developed. The protocol has been successfully employed with both neomycin phosphotransferase II (nptII) and the phleomycin resistance (bleI) genes coupled with the selective agents paromomycin and zeocin, respectively. A set of binary vectors were assembled that carry the selectable marker cassettes under control either of the Rbcs2 alone or fused to the HSP270A leader sequence, PsaD, or ß-tubulin2 promoters. The corresponding T-DNA elements also harbored a cassette with a codon-optimized version of yellow fluorescence protein (YFP) under …

Genetic Improvement Of Tocotrienol Content Enhances The Oxidative Stability Of Canola Oil, Min Deng, Hao Chen, Wei Zhang, Edgar B. Cahoon, Yongming Zhou, Chunyu Zhang

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

Background: Tocotrienols and tocopherols, which are synthesized in plastids of plant cells with similar functionalities, comprise vitamin E to serve as a potent lipid-soluble antioxidant in plants. The synthesis of tocopherols involves the condensation of homogentisic acid (HGA) and phytyl diphosphate (PDP) under the catalysis of homogentisate phytyltransferase (HPT). Tocotrienol synthesis is initiated by the condensation of HGA and geranylgeranyl diphosphate (GGDP) mediated by homogentisate geranylgeranyl transferase (HGGT). As one of the most important oil crops, canola seed is regarded as an ideal plant to efficiently improve the production of vitamin E tocochromanols through genetic engineering approaches. However, only …

Exploring The Potential Of Heterosis To Improve Nitrogen Use Efficiency In Popcorn Plants, Talles De Oliveira Santos, Antônio Teixeira Do Amaral Junior, Rosimeire Barboza Bispo, Wallace De Paula Bernado, Bruna Rohem Simão, Valter Jário De Lima, Marta Simone Mendonça Freitas, Freddy Mora-Poblete, Roberto Dos Santos Trindade, Samuel Henrique Kamphorst, Weverton Pereira Rodrigues, Eliemar Campostrini, Flávia Nicácio Viana, Cosme Damião Cruz

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

Nitrogen is crucial for plant growth and development, and improving nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) is a viable strategy for reducing dependence on nitrogen inputs and promoting sustainability. While the benefits of heterosis in corn are well known, the physiological mechanisms underlying this phenomenon in popcorn are less understood. We aimed to investigate the effects of heterosis on growth and physiological traits in four popcorn lines and their hybrids under two contrasting nitrogen conditions. We evaluated morpho-agronomic and physiological traits such as leaf pigments, the maximum photochemical efficiency of PSII, and leaf gas exchange. Components associated with NUE were also evaluated. …

Protease Inhibitor Asp Enhances Freezing Tolerance By Inhibiting Protein Degradation In Kumquat, Hua Yang, Ke-Wei Qiao, Jin-Jing Teng, Jia-Bei Chen, Ying-Li Zhong, Li-Qun Rao, Xing-Yao Xiong, Huang Li

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

Cold acclimation is a complex biological process leading to the development of freezing tolerance in plants. In this study, we demonstrated that cold-induced expression of protease inhibitor FmASP in a Citrus-relative species kumquat [Fortunella margarita (Lour.) Swingle] contributes to its freezing tolerance by minimizing protein degradation. Firstly, we found that only cold-acclimated kumquat plants, despite extensive leaf cellular damage during freezing, were able to resume their normal growth upon stress relief. To dissect the impact of cold acclimation on this anti-freezing performance, we conducted protein abundance assays and quantitative proteomic analysis of kumquat leaves subjected to cold acclimation …

Characterization Of Physical And Biochemical Traits In Wheat And Corn Plants Using High Throughput Image Analysis, Kantilata Thapa

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Plant phenotyping has been recognized as a rapidly growing field of research due to the labor-intensive, destructive, and time-consuming nature of traditional phenotyping methods. These phenotyping bottlenecks can be addressed by advancements in image-based phenotyping like RGB and hyperspectral imaging for the assessment of plant traits important for breeding purposes. This study aims (1) to characterize the physical and biochemical traits of wheat and corn plants using RGB and hyperspectral imaging in the greenhouse, and (2) to estimate leaf nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) content using hyperspectral imaging and an analytical spectral device (ASD spectrometer) and compare the …

Mechanism Of Sphingolipid Homeostasis Revealed By Structural Analysis Of Arabidopsis Spt-Orm1 Complex, Peng Liu, Tian Xie, Xinyue Wu, Gongshe Han, Sita D. Gupta, Zike Zhang, Jian Yue, Feitong Dong, Kenneth Gable, Somashekarappa Niranjanakumari, Wanyuan Li, Lin Wang, Wenchen Liu, Ruifeng Yao, Edgar B. Cahoon, Teresa M. Dunn, Xin Gong

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

The serine palmitoyltransferase (SPT) complex catalyzes the first and rate-limiting step in sphingolipid biosynthesis in all eukaryotes. ORM/ORMDL proteins are negative regulators of SPT that respond to cellular sphingolipid levels. However, the molecular basis underlying ORM/ORMDL-dependent homeostatic regulation of SPT is not well understood.We determined the cryo–electron microscopy structure of Arabidopsis SPT-ORM1 complex, composed of LCB1, LCB2a, SPTssa, and ORM1, in an inhibited state. A ceramide molecule is sandwiched between ORM1 and LCB2a in the cytosolic membrane leaflet. Ceramide binding is critical for the ORM1-dependent SPT repression, and dihydroceramides and phytoceramides differentially affect this repression. A hybrid β sheet, formed …

A Role For Heritable Transcriptomic Variation In Maize Adaptation To Temperate Environments, Guangchao Sun, Huihui Yu, Peng Wang, Martha Lopez‑Guerrero, Ravi V. Mural, Olivier N. Mizero, Marcin Grzybowski, Baoxing Song, Karin V. Van Dijk, Daniel P. Schachtman, Chi Zhang, James C. Schnable

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

Background: Transcription bridges genetic information and phenotypes. Here, we evaluated how changes in transcriptional regulation enable maize (Zea mays), a crop originally domesticated in the tropics, to adapt to temperate environments.

Result: We generated 572 unique RNA-seq datasets from the roots of 340 maize genotypes. Genes involved in core processes such as cell division, chromosome organization and cytoskeleton organization showed lower heritability of gene expression, while genes involved in anti-oxidation activity exhibited higher expression heritability. An expression genome-wide association study (eGWAS) identified 19,602 expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) associated with the expression of 11,444 genes. A GWAS …

Soybean GmSaul1, A Bona Fide U-Box E3 Ligase, Negatively Regulates Immunity Likely Through Repressing The Activation Of GmMpk3, Jun-Mei Li, Mei-Yan Ye, Chaofeng Wang, Xiao-Han Ma, Ni-Ni Wu, Chen-Li Zhong, Yanjun Zhang, Ninghui Cheng, Paul A. Nakata, Lirong Zeng, Jian-Zhong Liu

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

E3 ubiquitin ligases play important roles in plant immunity, but their role in soybean has not been investigated previously. Here, we used Bean pod mottle virus (BPMV)-mediated virusinduced gene silencing (VIGS) to investigate the function of GmSAUL1 (Senescence-Associated E3 Ubiquitin Ligase 1) homologs in soybean. When two closely related SAUL1 homologs were silenced simultaneously, the soybean plants displayed autoimmune phenotypes, which were significantly alleviated by high temperature, suggesting that GmSAUL1a/1b might be guarded by an R protein. Interestingly, silencing GmSAUL1a/1b resulted in the decreased activation of GmMPK6, but increased activation of GmMPK3 in response to flg22, …

Genome Assembly Of The Brassicaceae Diploid Orychophragmus Violaceus Reveals Complex Whole-Genome Duplication And Evolution Of Dihydroxy Fatty Acid Metabolism, Fan Huang, Peng Chen, Xinyu Tang, Ting Zhong, Taihua Yang, Chinedu Charles Nwafor, Chao Yang, Xianhong Ge, Hong An, Zaiyun Li, Edgar B. Cahoon, Chunyu Zhang

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

Orychophragmus violaceus is a Brassicaceae species widely cultivated in China, particularly as a winter cover crop in northern China because of its low-temperature tolerance and low water demand. Recently, O. violaceus has also been cultivated as a potential industrial oilseed crop because of its abundant 24- carbon dihydroxy fatty acids (diOH-FAs), which contribute to superior high-temperature lubricant properties. In this study, we performed de novo assembly of the O. violaceus genome. Whole-genome synteny analysis of the genomes of its relatives demonstrated that O. violaceus is a diploid that has undergone an extra whole-genome duplication (WGD) after the Brassicaceae-specific α-WGD event, …

Plant Breeding Advancements With “Crispr-Cas” Genome Editing Technologies Will Assist Future Food Security, M. Ahmad

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

Genome editing techniques are being used to modify plant breeding, which might increase food production sustainably by 2050. A product made feasible by genome editing is becoming better known, because of looser regulation and widespread acceptance. The world’s population and food supply would never have increased proportionally under current farming practices. The development of plants and food production has been greatly impacted by global warming and climate change. Therefore, minimizing these effects is crucial for agricultural production that is sustainable. Crops are becoming more resilient to abiotic stress because of sophisticated agricultural practices and a better understanding of the abiotic …

Sphingolipid Long-Chain Base Signaling In Compatible And Non-Compatible Plant–Pathogen Interactions In Arabidopsis, Mariana Saucedo-García, Ariadna González-Solís, Priscila Rodríguez-Mejía, Guadalupe Lozano-Rosas, Teresa De Jesús Olivera-Flores, Laura Carmona-Salazar, A. Arturo Guevara-García, Edgar B. Cahoon, Marina Gavilanes-Ruíz

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

The chemical diversity of sphingolipids in plants allows the assignment of specific roles to special molecular species. These roles include NaCl receptors for glycosylinositolphosphoceramides or second messengers for long-chain bases (LCBs), free or in their acylated forms. Such signaling function has been associated with plant immunity, with an apparent connection to mitogen-activated protein kinase 6 (MPK6) and reactive oxygen species (ROS). This work used in planta assays with mutants and fumonisin B1 (FB1) to generate varying levels of endogenous sphingolipids. This was complemented with in planta pathogenicity tests using virulent and avirulent Pseudomonas syringae strains. Our results indicate that the …

Genomics And Transcriptomics To Protect Rice (Oryza Sativa L.) From Abiotic Stressors: -Pathways To Achieving Zero Hunger, Mushtaq Ahmad

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

More over half of the world’s population depends on rice as a major food crop. Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is vulnerable to abiotic challenges including drought, cold, and salinity since it grown in semi-aquatic, tropical, or subtropical settings. Abiotic stress resistance has bred into rice plants since the earliest rice cultivation techniques. Prior to the discovery of the genome, abiotic stressrelated genes were identified using forward genetic methods, and abiotic stress-tolerant lines have developed using traditional breeding methods. Dynamic transcriptome expression represents the degree of gene expression in a specific cell, tissue, or organ of an individual organism at …

Variation In Morpho‑Physiological And Metabolic Responses To Low Nitrogen Stress Across The Sorghum Association Panel, Marcin Grzybowski, Mackenzie Zwiener, Mackenzie Zwiener, Hongyu Jin, Nuwan K. Wijewardane, Abbas Atefi, Michael J. Naldrett, Sophie Alvarez, Yufeng Ge, James C. Schnable

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

Background: Access to biologically available nitrogen is a key constraint on plant growth in both natural and agricultural settings. Variation in tolerance to nitrogen deficit stress and productivity in nitrogen limited conditions exists both within and between plant species. However, our understanding of changes in different phenotypes under long term low nitrogen stress and their impact on important agronomic traits, such as yield, is still limited.

Results: Here we quantified variation in the metabolic, physiological, and morphological responses of a sorghum association panel assembled to represent global genetic diversity to long term, nitrogen deficit stress and the relationship …

Genetic And Biochemical Investigation Of Seed Fatty Acid Accumulation In Arabidopsis, Chinedu Charles Nwafor, Delin Li, Ping Qin, Long Li, Wei Zhang, Yuanwei Zhou, Jingjing Xu, Yongtai Yin, Jianbo Cao, Limin He, Fu Xiang, Chao Liu, Liang Guo, Yongming Zhou, Edgar B. Cahoon, Chunyu Zhang

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

As a vegetable oil, consisting principally of triacylglycerols, is the major storage form of photosynthetically-fixed carbon in oilseeds which are of significant agricultural and industrial value. Photosynthesis in chlorophyll-containing green seeds, along with photosynthesis in leaves and other green organs, generates ATP and reductant (NADPH and NADH) needed for seed fatty acid production. However, contribution of seed photosynthesis to fatty acid accumulation in seeds have not been well-defined. Here, we report the contribution of seed-photosynthesis to fatty acid production by probing segregating green (photosynthetically-competent) and non-green or yellow (photosynthetically-non-competent) seeds in siliques of an Arabidopsis chlorophyll synthase mutant. Using this …

Insect Pest Management With Sex Pheromone Precursors From Engineered Oilseed Plants, Hong-Lei Wang, Bao-Jian Ding, Jian-Qing Dai, Tara J. Nazarenus, Rafael Borges, Agenor Mafra-Neto, Edgar B. Cahoon, Per Hofvander, Sten Stymne, Christer Löfstedt

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

Pheromones have become an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional insecticides for pest control. Most current pheromone-based pest control products target lepidopteran pests of high-value crops, as today’s manufacturing processes cannot yet produce pheromones at low enough costs to enable their use for lower-value crops, especially commodity crops. Camelina sativa seeds genetically modified to express (Z)-11-hexadecenoic acid, a sex pheromone precursor of several moth species, provided the oil from which the precursor was isolated, purified and transformed into the final pheromone. Trap lures containing this pheromone were then assessed for their capacity to manage moth pests in the field. Plant-derived pheromone …

The Pho1;2a'-M1.1 Allele Of Phosphate1 Conditions Misregulation Of The Phosphorus Starvation Response In Maize (Zea Mays Ssp. Mays L.), Ana Laura Alonso-Nieves, M. Nancy Salazar-Vidal, J. Vladimir Torres-Rodríguez, Leonardo M. Pérez-Vázquez, Julio A. Massange-Sánchez, C. Stewart Gillmor, Ruairidh J. H. Sawers

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

Plant PHO1 proteins play a central role in the translocation and sensing of inorganic phosphate. The maize (Zea mays ssp. mays) genome encodes two co-orthologs of the Arabidopsis PHO1 gene, designated ZmPho1;2a and ZmPho1;2b. Here, we report the characterization of the transposon footprint allele Zmpho1;2a'-m1.1, which we refer to hereafter as pho1;2a. The pho1;2a allele is a stable derivative formed by excision of an Activator transposable element from the ZmPho1;2a gene. The pho1;2a allele contains an 8-bp insertion at the point of transposon excision that disrupts the reading frame and is predicted to …