Two Hudsenalifa scientists awarded USDA-NIFA Fellowships
Le and Robinson will use genomics to improve economically important crops in the United States
October 15, 2024
From: Sarah Sherman, PhD
Genetic technologies are a game changer for the agricultural industry, which allows farmers and breeders to produce more productive and sustainable agricultural system better crops. We need a permanent flow of young scientists ready to deal with tomorrow’s problems in the field of genetics.
at all Hudsenalifa Institute for biotechnologyScientists’ next generation of training is essential for the mission of using genomics to improve life. In addition to national -level educational programming by the Educational Outreach Team, faculty investigators trained high school students, undergraduate and graduate students, and post doctoral colleagues in their labs.
Hudsnalifa’s two post downtown colleagues were recently awarded the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) with a $ 225,000 post documentary fellowship. National Institutes of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). Kendel Lee, PhD, Post Documentary Associate in the Faculty Investigator Lab Lab Josh Cloner, Ph.D.And Julie Robinson, PhD, Post Documentary Associate in the Lab of Faculty Investigators Alex Harks, PhD. The purpose of both projects is to use genomics to improve economically important crops in the United States.
Pannomics to improve blondery enhancement programs
Kendel Lee is a two -time graduate of Georgia University (UGA), holding both bachelor and doctorate degree there. Its family farms, plants and agriculture have long been fond of lee.
“After receiving a bachelor’s degree in animal science, I decided to know about the fodder growth,” says Lee. “He made me go on the path of plant growth and genetics, and I quickly realized that I liked to work on the plants.”
The purpose of Lee’s life is to stay on his family farm while the plant is still the leader of the genomics research. She plans to fulfill this goal thanks to the flexibility of computational biology.
“Competitive Biology is still seeing such rapid growth,” says Lee. Since there are no requirements in the lab for computational biology, this carrier will allow me to do effective research from my family’s farm. ”
Lee’s USDA-NIFA-fired project will help improve its technical and mutual skills, which will make it a more effective computer biology. In conjunction with the Blueberry Breeding Program in the UGA, Lee’s project aims to apply modern genomic tools manufactured in Hudsnalifa to discover the genetic markers associated with agriculturally important features in the Blueberries.
Blueberries contain polyproid genome, which means that their cells have more than two sets of chromosome. Polypalide genomes have a wide range of large DNA rehabilitation, called structural variations, which are often associated with agricultural significance in crop plants. Traditional genome analysis can often lose these important structural changes. Lee plans to use a new form of genomic analysis to look at structural variations in Lee Bluerrees: pengnomes.
“Pengoma is powerful tools that represent the entire reservoir of genetic information within a species, not an individual like traditional reference genome,” says Lee. “My project will generate pengomic resources for the Blueberry Breeding community to improve important traits such as production, fruit quality and stress tolerance.”
More than a thousand Blueberry selection has been established in its research form located in Alphaha, GA, at the UGA Blueberry Breeding Program. Lee will use DNA from Lee Bluer types to make reference. She will then use the UGA from the Panjinom Reference and Phenotyping Data (observing features) to identify basic genes for late flowers, fruit growth time and berry size.
“The southeastern growing region provides specific challenges to the Bluer, namely, the lack of reliable time for the first frost and repeated heat and humidity,” says Lee. “The use of genomic informed breeding breeds to shorten the time between the maturity of the complete blum and fruit in the blonde is expected to help the farmers avoid the losses due to the weather conditions.”
Once Lee identifies genes associated with important traits, he will produce a genetic marker that breeders can use for genomic selection in their programs.
Engineering sex chromosome in soybean to improve hybrid enhancement
While Lee Blueberry is developing a new computational tool to improve the growth, Julie Robinson will use genomic and molecular technologies to top the soybean. Plants like Robinson, the University of Tennessee, Knox Will graduate, Lee have no background. Instead, he used a fiancée yeast to study the main cellular process at a graduate school. However, working in the Plant Genetics Lab for its post documentary training was not a random choice.
“My favorite part of being a scientist is to communicate in my searches,” says Robinson. “Working in a plant lab and developing a novel molecular system to improve crop growth will help enhance my basis, which will give me a great deal of experience from my future career as a professional science communication.
“My favorite part of being a scientist is to communicate my consequences. Working in a plant lab to improve crop growth and developing a novel molecular system will help enhance the foundation of my knowledge, which will make me a wider experience to get from my future career as a professional science communication.
Robinson will cooperate with the people of the US, industry and government, in their entire US-based financing project, and will help promote its meaningful skills as a science communicator. Scientifically, Robinson’s plan suggests the use of genomics and molecular organisms to improve the growth of hybrid soybeans.
The United States is the main producer of soybean worldwide, but that does not mean that soybean growth and farming is easy. In a soybean, a flower contains both male and female reproductive organs, causing them both jirgas and seeds. He is also a cleansagmus, which means that their flowers do not open. These traits themselves create perfect storms for jirga, which restricts genetic diversity in soybean offspring.
“To make better soybean lines, breeders need to cross genetically unique people,” says Robinson. “However, it is difficult to make a hybrid cross in soybean because it is capable of palletting itself. Davies, a system that has only male or female reproductive organs in individual plants, promote genetic diversity because plants are forced to cross the jirga and more genetically unique children.”
Many genes affect the sexual development of organisms. Sometimes, such as in humans, these genes are cluster on sexual chromosomes, which are inherited by offspring in different combinations, which develops different sexes. However, most flower plants, such as soybeans, do not have sex chromosomes and do not produce themselves as jirgas.
Robinson Engineering will introduce Dosi from soybean through sex chromosome. To meet it, they will use genetic engineering and molecular biology techniques to enter the gene in soybeans that affect the development of men and women’s sexual properties so that both anthogis and carpels in individual plants can be prevented.
At the same time, Robinson will design and enforce an inducible gene expression platform in soybean that uses light to turn on and off the expression of gene. In this type of system, called Optogentics, the greenhouse controls the gene expressing the genes by shining a certain wavelength of light on plants. This method can produce soybean plants that are men, women, or hemorrhoids, depends on which wavelengths of lighting on a plant, which give farmers and seed producers new control over the preparation of hybrid soybeans.
This work will not only improve the production of hybrid soybean, but will also show that opt -ogenitics can be implemented and other crop plants can be benefited.
The National Science Foundation is supported under the Grant No. 2225832 to maintain, promote interest and diversity through guidance experiences in STEM (Bridges).
