Kansas State University wheat researchers are leading efforts to develop a better understanding of the wheat genome.
The National Science Foundation’s Plant Genome Program awarded the researchers a three-year, $1.6 million grant to fund projects and collaborations to help train new generations to answer challenging plant genomics questions.
Jesse Poland, assistant professor of plant pathology and adjunct assistant professor of agronomy, is the principal investigator of the project “GPF-PG: Genome Structure and Diversity of Wheat and Its Wild Relatives.” The project will focus on ways to improve the current wheat genome assembly by using genetic information. Currently, the use of molecular markers in wheat breeding is limited because of their size, which is five times larger than the human genome.
More information is available here: http://www.k-state.edu/media/newsreleases/aug15/wheatgrant8415.html
