University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Department of Crop and Soil Sciences Breeding/Genetics/Genomics

University of GeorgiaCollege of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences • Department of Crop and Soil Sciences

www.cropsoil.uga.edu

Breeding/Genetics/Genomics

• Faculty (12 scientists)– Roger Boerma (Athens) – soybean breeding/genetics– Bill Branch (Tifton) – peanut breeding/genetics– Charlie Brummer (Athens) – forage breeding/genomics– Peng Chee (Tifton) – cotton breeding/genomics– Zhen Bang Chen (Griffin) – cereal/turf genomics– Katrien Devos (Athens) – cereal comparative genomics– Wayne Hanna (Tifton) – turfgrass/millet breeding– Jerry Johnson (Griffin) – cereal breeding/genetics– Steve Knapp (Athens) – sunflower/specialty oils genomics– Wayne Parrott (Athens) – legume transgenics– Andrew Paterson (Athens) - crop genomics– Paul Raymer (Griffin) – turfgrass/canola breeding




• Areas of research– Cultivar and germplasm development

• cotton, forage grasses, forage legumes, novel oil crops, peanut, pearl millet, small grains, soybean, sunflower, turfgrasses

– Crop genetics• cotton, forage grasses, forage legumes, novel oil crops,

peanut, pearl millet, small grains, soybean, sunflower, turfgrasses

– Crop genomics• Comparative grass and sunflower genomics, cotton

genomics, peanut genomics, soybean genomics and transgenics, forage legume genomics, legume transgenics, crop genomics




• Identified strengths– Breeding of warm-season and cool-season

turfgrasses and forage grasses, peanut, wheat, and soybean

– Molecular breeding of cotton, soybean, and sunflower– Transgenic improvement of legume crops– Comparative genomics of a wide range of dicot and

cereal crops– Structural and functional genomics of cotton, peanut,

and sunflower




• Evidence of effectiveness– Germplasms: 20 registered in Crop Science– Mapping populations: 1 registered in Crop Science– Cultivars: 11 wheat, 2 oat, 2 canola, 7 peanut, 4

seashore paspalum, 4 tall fescue, 7 soybean– Cultivar royalty income: $3.5 to 4.5 million/year

• ~$375,000/year in originating breeding program• ~$375,000/year in CRSS• ~$750,000/year in support of above breeding programs

– Recognitions: 3 CSSA/ASA Fellows, 3 national-level research awards, 2 regional-level research awards, 4 University-level research awards




• Impact on profession, industry, state, region, nation, and other constituents

– UGA turf and forage bermudagrasses, seashore pasphalum, turf centipedegrass, and forage pearl millet cultivars are grown worldwide

– UGA cotton germplasm lines are used to expand genetic diversity of commercial cultivars

– Cereal genomics research has provided resources for comparative mapping of major grass crops

– UGA wheat cultivars have achieved a major market share in Southeast and Midsouth

– UGA glyphosate-tolerant sobyean cultivars have achieved over a 60% market share in MG VII and VIII areas

– UGA peanut cultivars have achieved over a 90% market share in Georgia and surrounding states

– UGA-developed DNA marker technology used in a national program to enhance oleic acid content of soybean seed

– UGA coordination of sequencing sorghum, the first C4 photosynthetic cereal, provides the model for improvement and research on a wide range of crops




• Weaknesses and plan for improvement– Faculty position in warn-season turfgrass breeding (working to

create an endowed chair)– Faculty position in molecular genetics of turf and wheat– Faculty position in cotton breeding– Need for strategic plan to direct resource allocation and future

faculty hires– The stature and accomplishments of UGA (primarily CRSS and

HORT, but also USDA-ARS) plant breeding and applied genetics programs are not recognized at the University and national level (probably due to commodity structure; working to create a graduate-level Plant Breeding/ Genetics/ Genomics major and a Plant Breeding/Genetics/Genomics Institute)

Documents

University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Department of Crop and Soil Sciences Breeding/Genetics/Genomics