Project Number: 1907-21000-013-00
Project Type: Appropriated

Start Date: Aug 05, 2003
End Date: Aug 04, 2008

Objective:
This research will relate natural molecular variation in maize, rice, wheat, and other grasses to traits involved in food quality, development, and environmental interactions (eg. nitrogen use and aluminum tolerance). The key genes controlling these traits will be identified along with useful alleles for plant breeding.

Approach:
Linkage mapping and candidate association approaches will be used to dissect these traits. Diverse profiling and high throughput phenotyping approaches will be used to characterize these populations, and relate molecular aspects with agronomic phenotypes. This will be based on the utilization and integration of information derived from functional genomics and plant breeding which will require the design and implementation of effective bioinformatics tools, genomic and diversity databases, and other infrastructure for the collection, analysis, and public dissemination of information derived from agronomic and functional genomic analyses.