This action funds an NSF Minority Postdoctoral Research Fellowship for FY 2009 and is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). The fellowship supports a research and training plan in a host laboratory for the Fellow who also presents a plan to broaden participation in biology. The title of the research and training plan for this fellowship to Hugo E. Cuevas is "The development of nearly isogenic lines and the fate of the duplicated genome regions in Brassica oleracea." The host institution for this research is the Plant Genome Mapping Laboratory at University of Georgia-Athens and the sponsoring scientist is Dr. Andrew H. Paterson.
Most differences among individuals are inherited in a quantitative manner indicating that many genes are involved in these traits. However, only few such genes have been identified, therefore, understanding of the inheritance of such "quantitative traits" is incomplete. Nearly isogenic lines, which are plants differing by only a single well-defined chromosomal region, allow one to measure the effects of gene differences in such a single chromosomal region. This research is focusing on developing a panel of nearly isogenic lines which collectively cover the entire genome of Brassica oleracea. This species is an outstanding model to study quantitative traits due to its extraordinary range of morphological variation (from cabbage to cauliflower); and to its complex genome, with some chromosomal regions duplicated and others triplicated.
Training objectives include improving previous genetic knowledge and skills as well as learning new molecular techniques. Broader impacts include increasing the number of Hispanics in graduate biological science as well as scientific and educational impacts. The resulting nearly isogenic lines will be a research resource for the scientific community and applicable to a wide range of biological questions. They will be publicly-accessible and a valuable educational tool for high school and college students interested in the biology and genetics of plants.
