This action funds a National Plant Genome Initiative Postdoctoral Research Fellowship for FY 2012. The fellowship supports a research and training plan in a host laboratory for the Fellow to focus their studies in plant genomics with an emphasis on quantitative genetics, modern breeding approaches, and bioinformatics. The title of the research and training plan for this fellowship to Shelby L. Repinski is "Genome-wide Association Study of Domestication Traits in Carrot (Daucus carota L.) Inbred Lines". The host institution for the fellowship is the University of Wisconsin - Madison and the sponsoring scientists are Drs. Philipp Simon, Patrick Krysan and Brian Yandell.
Carrots are among the top-ten most economically important vegetable crops in the world and have many health-promoting characteristics such as being the richest source of provitamin A carotenoids in the U.S. diet. Though the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway has been unveiled, many of the underlying genetic components are still unknown. Several other key agronomic traits in carrot such as lateral root prominence, storage root sugar type, and ease of flowering also lack a known genetic control. This project will generate molecular markers to facilitate rapid screening for agronomic traits in carrot. Specifically, the project will employ next generation sequencing technologies and a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population to begin to identify quantitative trait loci for sugar, carotenoids, and root prominence as a first step to identifying gene(s) for carrot improvement.
Training objectives include bioinformatics, quantitative genetics, biochemistry and plant genomics. Broader impacts include capacity-building and advanced training for students from the United States to engage in interdisciplinary research in plant improvement and associated sciences such as physiology, quantitative genetics, and computational biology.
