Projects |
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Allan Brown, a Ph.D.candidate in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences under Dr. Jack Juvik, was the first user of the Center. His research involved the molecular mapping of glucosinolate production in broccoli using SSR markers. |
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Dr. Randall Nelson from the USDA is directing a project to investigate protein concentration in soybeans. He says: "We are mapping seed protein concentration in three F3 BC2 populations. Each population has Williams 82 as the recurrent parent and three different sources of high protein as the donor parents. The original sources of high protein are PI 82.278, Sioux, and HHP. HHP was developed by Henry Hadley in Crop Sciences from an unknown G. soja line. The BC1 parental lines had protein concentrations that ranged from 48 to 51%. We will be identifying loci associated with high protein concentration and determining if there are different loci in different sources." |
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The Brian Diers lab performs molecular marker screens each year on potential parents to be used in crosses, and lines segregating for SCN resistance. The parental screening project has been done with a battery of SSR markers on selected germplasm. This screening process helps to identify those lines with the greatest dissimilarity in their marker phenotypes and helps to determine the appropriate crosses to be made in the field. This screening is done in an attempt to help our crosses generate greater amounts of genetic diversity in breeding material and is of value due to the notoriously narrow genetic base of commercial soybeans. |
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The Jon Beever lab is using the Center to conduct a genome wide scan for meat quality quantitative trait loci (QTL) in swine. This project is the largest one of it's kind being done in swine. Once identified, these markers will be used in marker assisted selection in breeding programs in an effort to improve meat quality and the consistency of meat quality in swine lines. |
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"Cooperative
breeding in
bluegill sunfish, Lepomis macrochirus: A survey of genetic
relatedness." Bluegill parental males display cooperative
breeding during spawning in large nest colonies at different
locations. I am interested in whether these parental males are
related to one another, thereby conveying a genetic benefit by doing
so. Using 6 different polymorphic loci to get a "genetic
fingerprint" from 450 bluegill, I am determining if these fish are in
fact related. Natasha Silich, Graduate Research Assistant, and
John Epifanio, INHS. |
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“Microsatellite
DNA markers are
used
to generate multi-locus genotypes for three life stages of largemouth
bass; larval, juvenile, and adult. These DNA ‘fingerprints’ are
used to determine parentage and nest origin of juvenile fish. The
goal is to investigate the degree and sources of variance in
nest-specific contribution to recruitment.” |
