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Our lab uses functional genomic approaches to dissect complex traits in maize and biofuel grasses. We exploit the natural diversity of these plant genomes to identify the individual nucleotides responsible for complex (quantitative) variation. Currently, our research focuses on developing germplasm resources for complex trait dissection, using genomics to characterize this diversity, dissect a series of traits (drought tolerance, nitrogen use, basic development, carbon metabolism, vitamin A and E content), and provide software tools for analysis. |
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Phenotype World's Largest QTL Experiment |
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"If you build it they will come..." Well, we have built it: The ultimate germplasm resource to date for localizing QTLs in maize! It is a nested association mapping (NAM) population consisting of 5000 RILs from 25 families, with 200 RILs per family, all being genotyped. The families were generated by crossing 25 diverse maize inbred lines with B73 as a common parent. Additionally, the well-known IBM mapping population is included as the 26th family. This summer we will be planting out all of these RILs in three locations (Raleigh, NC; Ithaca, NY; Champaign-Urbana, IL). The parental lines are being sequenced over the next year and a half, and these data will make it possible to analyze all populations as one unified experiment, potentially with gene-level QTL resolution. We invite interested maize researchers to score their own phenotypes of interest in one or more of these fields. Lean more at www.panzea.org. |
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