- Soybean cultivar development – Integrate traditional breeding with genomic technology to develop soybean varieties with high yield, enhanced quality, disease and pest resistance, and herbicide tolerance
- Increasing soybean yield with exotic germplasm – Identify and utilize soybean genetic diversity for germplasm enhancement
- Drought, heat, and flood tolerant varieties for the Midwest and South – Building on success: Map QTL for drought tolerance and breeding soybean cultivars for drought tolerance
- High oleic soybean breeding – Develop soybean cultivars with high oleic and low linolenic acid contents and competitive yield
- Development of high yielding soybean cultivars and germplasm with higher seed protein content and improved amino acid composition
- Identification and utilization of resistance to soybean diseases, including frogeye leaf spot, stem canker and soybean rust
- Discovery of novel nematode resistance genes and development of productive soybeans with multiple-nematode resistance
- Soybean insect resistance – Identify and determine the function of insect-resistance genes in soybean, and deploy them in elite soybean varieties
- Genome-wide association studies to discover the QTLs/genes for economically important traits in soybean
- Genomic prediction for optimal cross combinations and genomic selection for improving soybean yield and other economically important traits
- High throughput / precision phenotyping (HTPP) for gene discovery and breeding selection
Teaching
PBGG (CRSS) 8880, Plant Quantitative Genetics and Molecular Breeding, Spring Semester, Even Years
Course description: This course is designed to achieve three main objectives: 1) equip students with a foundational comprehension of quantitative genetic theories, methodologies, and their practical applications in plant breeding; 2) empower students to design, analyze, and interpret results from quantitative genetic experiments, enabling the development of effective breeding strategies to maximize genetic gains; 3) foster students’ proficiency in utilizing genomic tools such as marker-assisted selection, marker-assisted backcrossing, and genomic selection within practical breeding programs. The course encompasses topics on plant quantitative genetics and its connection to plant breeding. It delves into genetic and environmental variations and their influence on selection methods, explores predictive plant breeding, and addresses areas such as QTL discovery, molecular breeding, and genomic selection within an applied breeding program.
Prerequisite: PBGG (CRSS) (HORT) 6140/4140 and STAT 6210 /or STAT 6220 or equivalent