PurdueIndustry interactions in Plant BreedingGenetics Herb Ohm Dept

Purdue-Industry interactions in Plant Breeding/Genetics Herb Ohm, Dept of Agronomy With input from faculty: plant breeding/genetics

Faculty: Plant Genetics/Breeding Research All Purdue faculty contribute to instruction and/or extension Anderson, Joe – USDA: molecular virology, wht genet Ejeta, Gebisa: Sorghum Breeding/Genetics Jackson, Scott: SB Genetics/Genomics Le. Roy, Allen: SB Breeding/Genetics Nielsen, Niels – USDA: SB molec biol – seed qual, flavor Ohm, Herb: Wheat, Oat Breeding/Genetics Scofield, Steve – USDA: Plt molec biol/path – signaling Szymanski, Dan: Genet – growth/envtl response in plt cells Vermerris, Wilfred: Maize, Sorghum Genet, Cell wall biosyn Weil, Cliff: Maize Genet/Genomics – value-added traits

Education/training BS, MS, Ph. D Graduates: industry, universities, int’l Cost for graduate student (1/2 – time assistantship): assistantship+fee remission+overhead+thesis research ≈ $50, 000/year (competitive funding) ($100, 000 – 150, 000/student-degree) Project support personnel (tech, postdoc, RA) most are supported on competitive funding (res grants)

Research Varieties, gp – Small grains, Sorghum, Soybean Mrkrs, Map’g, MAS: SB, Sorghum, Wht, Oat Genetics Corn, SB, Sorghum, Wht model crops (Arab, M trunc), Rice Across crops: >’g emphasis in basic genetics Federal competitive fund’g (USDA, NSF, DOE, USAID) Minimize duplic’n, but collaborate with industry Fed. formula funds will < and/or change (competitive) US Taxpayer: accountability Faculty salaries: Indiana and US (Hatch) taxpayers accountability

So what have/are we accomplishing/contributing/doing? Interactions with seed industry?

Purdue Soybean Breeding Program • Ongoing Program to Develop High Yielding Proprietary Varieties with Improved Disease Resistance for the Licensed Genetics Market and the Non GMO Specialty Grains Market • Use of Advanced Breeding Methods Have Shorten Variety Development Time • Crossing and Selection Since 2000 • Since 2004 Indiana Seed Companies have been able to evaluate in their own systems the best lines from the Purdue Breeding program. Ten companies in 2005.

Defensive Trait Objectives F Phytophthora Rps 1 k +3 a Resistance + Cyst. X SCN Resistance + Rps 8 Phytophthora Resistance + SDS Resistance Two New High Yielding Varieties Released for Foundation Seed Production in 2005 Purdue -> Ag Alumni -> IN Seedsmen

Soybean Variety Development Allen Le. Roy Program funding: ISB, Purdue

USB-funded projects in Jackson Lab 1. Development of physical map for sequencing of soybean genome. • • To enable gene cloning and marker development for breeding. Soybean genomics NSF (2005). 2. Molecular cytogenetic analysis of soybean genome to elucidate genome structure. • To enable gene cloning and genetic manipulation by focusing on seed related loci.

Ohm: Wheat and Oat Breeding/genetics Wheat: Indiana, Eastern US, Mid-south 34 cultivars - earliness: doublecropping - cold tolerance: Patterson, Goldfield - 1 st YDR from wheatgrass – INW 0315, INW 0316 - FHBR (INW 0304, INW 0411, INW 0412) Low incidence 1 st to pyramid res from 201 R, Gfd, Chinese (MAS) - HFR 1 st to pyramid res genes (MAS) INW 0301, INW 0303 26 gp lines plus lines in reg’l nurseries: parents for others Oats: Indiana, upper midwest, Ontario, NE - YD tol/res; Cr. R; Milling qualities, β-glucan (Quaker)

Ohm: Wheat & Oat Breeding/Genetics -FHB (var, mrkrs-mapp’g) USWBSI -Wht var (BCg, MAS) USDA-CSREES -NRI CAP (transl genomics - Snb) -Wht Qual, dis res, white wht, USDA Hamaker, slow digesting wheat starch -Wht Breeding, Ag. Al Seeds/Purdue ARP -Oat Gen/Brdg (BYDV, CR), Quaker ’ 70 s – ’ 80 s: PVI, Purdue, Quaker, Pio, Misc.

Purdue Sorghum Research Current Research Projects in support of the US Seed Industry • • Grain & Forage Quality and Bio-fuel Brown mid-rib, low lignin mutations, sweet sorghums High Digestible grains B-carotene and other micronutrients Drought Tolerance pre- and post-flowering drought tolerance stay-green trait & associations identification & validation of QTL Cold Tolerance Development of lab techniques Identification and validation of QTL Marker Assisted Introgression Disease Resistance Leaf rust, anthracnose, and grain mold Sources of resistance from cultivated and wild sorghums

Purdue Sorghum Research Non-research activities in support of the seed industry • Germplasm Conservation and Enhancement – Introduce, characterize, enhance, and conserve • Assessment of Gene Flow Among Sorghums – Pollen mediated gene flow/risk assessment • Catalyze Seed Industry Development in Africa – Part of a regional effort to develop a functional seed program. • Training of Plant Breeders

Purdue Sorghum Research Inbred Lines Released to the US Seed Industry • 40 Food Grain Seed Parents • 14 Drought Tolerant Pollinators • 7 Grain Mold Resistant Seed Parents • 6 Stay Green (Drought tolerant) Inbreds • 2 Early Maturity Drought Tolerant Inbreds • 1 Forage Quality Inbred Seed Parent

Wilfred Vermerris • Modifying lignin composition to enhance ethanol production – Funded by Consortium for Plant Biotechnology Research, Inc. and Dow Agro. Sciences – Defining cell wall properties that improve the yield of fermentable sugars from maize stover – Breeding of maize inbred lines with enhanced bio-processing characteristics • Identification and characterization of cell wall mutants by Fourier transform and near infrared spectroscopies – Funded by NSF Plant Genome Program – Identification of maize mutants with altered cell wall properties based on a high-throughput spectroscopic screen – Approxmately 50 novel mutants have been identified. No apparent visual phenotype, but altered spectral features.

Cliff Weil Agronomy Dept. Whistler Center for Carbohydrate Research • Targeting Induced Limited Lesions IN Genomes (TILLING) in maize Making, and then screening large, mutant populations for single base changes in any specified gene in the genome (NSF-funded) • The Genetics of Genetics: Genes that control meiotic recombination in maize (NSF-funded) • Corn is a model of human immune disease: Repair of DNA hairpins An unusual DNA structure is formed when the maize transposon Ac moves, ALSO forms while vertebrate animals make immune receptor genes. Key factors for repairing these structures, required in humans, are absent in plants and yeast, yet all these organisms repair DNA hairpins very effectively. We are studying how this happens. (BARD-funded, NSF and NIH to be submitted shortly) • Maize genes that control starch digestibility (joint project with the Whistler Center for Carbohydrate Research at Purdue) (PRF and ARP-funded)

Dan Szymanski Understanding how plant cells use actin filament polymerization during growth In developing cells of the seed and germinating seedling, the polymerization of the actin cytoskeleton drives organelle biogenesis during cell growth. We are studying actin-dependent processes in order to manipulate the transport, metabolism, and storage of lipids. The actin related protein (Arp) 2/3 complex is an evolutionarily conserved group of proteins that efficiently nucleate new actin filament polymers. The grants below focus on different functional aspects of the Actin-related protein (Arp) 2/3 complex using the model plant Arabidopsis. NSF -Mechanisms of plant cell morphogenesis: ARP 2/3 function and trichome distortion in Arabidopsis Objective: To determine which organelles are controlled by the Arp 2/3 complex during growth. DOE - The Arabidopsis WAVE Complex: mechanisms of localized actin polymerization and growth Objective: To understand how the plant WAVE proteins control the activity of the Arp 2/3 complex. Hughes Graduate Student Fellowship: 2003 -2007 Regulation of the lipid content of soybean Objective: To understand how post-germination phospholipid trafficking in the cotyledon is regulated

Education/Engagement BS: internships, work experiences Graduate degrees: -need to expand experiences/intns with industry Research/Engagement Res will continue to be supported by compet fundg Expand intns/collab w industry: basic→applied -strength & stability in broad base support Hire individuals who have appreciation for: agric, land-grant mission, tchg/res/engagement