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Cooperative Extension Service Communications and Technology Department 3354 1000 E. University Ave. Laramie, WY 82071 (307) 766-6342 • fax (307) 766-3998 • www.uwyo.edu |
For Immediate Release
Contact: Steven L. Miller, Senior Editor, or Robert Waggener, Editor
Phone: (307) 766-6342 or (307) 766-3571
E-mail: slmiller@uwyo.edu or robertw@uwyo.edu
Archived News Site www.uwyo.edu/agadmin/news/news.htm
Date: June 1, 2006
UW hosts regional plant genome research conference
Plant genome researchers from across the country will converge on the University of Wyoming for a conference Friday and Saturday, June 2-3, at the Animal Science/Molecular Biology Building.
“Collaborative Plant Biology in the Rocky Mountain/Midwest Region: Impacts and Future Prospects for Plant Genomics” features nearly 20 presentations and a panel discussion by plant genome researchers.
The researchers identify DNA present in plants and the gene sequences that confer certain traits to those plants.
Genes conferring useful agricultural traits can be identified quickly by genomic methods and then bred or engineered into crop plants to improve their performances and yields. Genes that confer drought tolerance or improve nitrogen fixation are examples of such genes.
“Improving drought tolerance, disease resistance or nitrogen fixing ability by moving genes and traits between plants is potentially of great value,” said Stephen Herbert, associate professor in the UW Department of Botany who is helping organize the conference.
“Once the genes conferring these traits are identified through genomic methods, they can be combined by traditional breeding or genetic modification to make cultivars that need less water, need less fertilizer and can produce new or better products.”
Alfalfa genomics, particularly important to Wyoming, is the subject of the first presentation Friday at 8:10 a.m. by plant pathology Professor Doug Cook of the University of California-Davis.
“Dr. Cook is a national figure in alfalfa genomics. It is very special to have him and some of the other leading figures in plant genomics come here,” Herbert said.
Other presentations will discuss the impact of genomics research on understanding global climate change and its effects on agriculture.
Speakers come from institutions across the United States, including UW, Yale University, the University of Illinois, Colorado State University, the University of Colorado, the University of North Dakota, North Dakota State University, Little Big Horn College in Crow Agency, Mont., and Kansas State University.
Several of Friday’s presenters are from UW. They include:
* Alex Buerkle, assistant professor in the Department of Botany, College of Arts and Sciences, “Quantitative Analysis of Admixture and the Consequences of Introgression,” 11:10 a.m.;
* Associate Professor Robin Groose, interim department head and Professor Fred Gray, and Professor James Krall, Department of Plant Sciences, College of Agriculture, “Potential for Improvement of Legume Crops in Wyoming via Genomics: The Plant Breeder’s Perspective,” 12:10 p.m.
* Associate Professor Anne Sylvester, Department of Botany, corn genomics, 4 p.m.
The conference goals are to foster collaborative plant genomics research among universities in the Rocky Mountain region and to identify how such research can increase the value and sustainability of agriculture in the participating states.
Participants in the conference include those who work in the field and those who work in laboratories generating the fundamental scientific information.
“We want to bridge the remaining gap between fundamental research and the actual needs of growers in Wyoming and other states in the Rocky Mountains,” Herbert said.
The symposium is jointly sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the Wyoming EPSCoR (Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) program directed by Professor Randy Lewis of the UW Department of Molecular Biology.
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