Breeding/Genetics/Genomics

• Faculty (12 scientists) – Roger Boerma (Athens) – soybean breeding/genetics – Bill Branch (Tifton) – peanut breeding/genetics – Charlie Brummer (Athens) – forage breeding/genomics – Peng Chee (Tifton) – cotton breeding/genomics – Zhen Bang Chen (Griffin) – cereal/turf genomics – Katrien Devos (Athens) – cereal comparative genomics – Wayne Hanna (Tifton) – turfgrass/millet breeding – Jerry Johnson (Griffin) – cereal breeding/genetics – Steve Knapp (Athens) – sunflower/specialty oils genomics – Wayne Parrott (Athens) – legume transgenics – Andrew Paterson (Athens) - crop genomics – Paul Raymer (Griffin) – turfgrass/canola breeding

University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences • Department of Crop and Soil Sciences

www.cropsoil.uga.edu

Breeding/Genetics/Genomics • Areas of research

– Cultivar and germplasm development • cotton, forage grasses, forage legumes, novel oil crops, peanut, pearl millet, small grains, soybean, sunflower, turfgrasses – Crop genetics • cotton, forage grasses, forage legumes, novel oil crops, peanut, pearl millet, small grains, soybean, sunflower, turfgrasses – Crop genomics • Comparative grass and sunflower genomics, cotton genomics, peanut genomics, soybean genomics and transgenics, forage legume genomics, legume transgenics, crop genomics

University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences • Department of Crop and Soil Sciences

www.cropsoil.uga.edu

Breeding/Genetics/Genomics • Identified strengths

– Breeding of warm-season and cool-season turfgrasses and forage grasses, peanut, wheat, and soybean – Molecular breeding of cotton, soybean, and sunflower – Transgenic improvement of legume crops – Comparative genomics of a wide range of dicot and cereal crops – Structural and functional genomics of cotton, peanut, and sunflower

University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences • Department of Crop and Soil Sciences

www.cropsoil.uga.edu

Breeding/Genetics/Genomics • Evidence of effectiveness

– Germplasms: 20 registered in

Crop Science

– Mapping populations: 1 registered in

Crop Science

– Cultivars: 11 wheat, 2 oat, 2 canola, 7 peanut, 4 seashore paspalum, 4 tall fescue, 7 soybean – Cultivar royalty income: $3.5 to 4.5 million/year • ~$375,000/year in originating breeding program • ~$375,000/year in CRSS • ~$750,000/year in support of above breeding programs – Recognitions: 3 CSSA/ASA Fellows, 3 national-level research awards, 2 regional-level research awards, 4 University-level research awards

University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences • Department of Crop and Soil Sciences

www.cropsoil.uga.edu

Breeding/Genetics/Genomics

• Impact on profession, industry, state, region, nation, and other constituents – UGA turf and forage bermudagrasses, seashore pasphalum, turf centipedegrass, and forage pearl millet cultivars are grown worldwide – UGA cotton germplasm lines are used to expand genetic diversity of commercial cultivars – Cereal genomics research has provided resources for comparative mapping of major grass crops – UGA wheat cultivars have achieved a major market share in Southeast and Midsouth – UGA glyphosate-tolerant sobyean cultivars have achieved over a 60% market share in MG VII and VIII areas – UGA peanut cultivars have achieved over a 90% market share in Georgia and surrounding states – UGA-developed DNA marker technology used in a national program to enhance oleic acid content of soybean seed – UGA coordination of sequencing sorghum, the first C4 photosynthetic cereal, provides the model for improvement and research on a wide range of crops www.cropsoil.uga.edu

University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences • Department of Crop and Soil Sciences

Breeding/Genetics/Genomics

• Weaknesses and plan for improvement – Faculty position in warn-season turfgrass breeding (working to create an endowed chair) – Faculty position in molecular genetics of turf and wheat – Faculty position in cotton breeding – Need for strategic plan to direct resource allocation and future faculty hires – The stature and accomplishments of UGA (primarily CRSS and HORT, but also USDA-ARS) plant breeding and applied genetics programs are not recognized at the University and national level (probably due to commodity structure; working to create a graduate-level Plant Breeding/ Genetics/ Genomics major and a Plant Breeding/Genetics/Genomics Institute) www.cropsoil.uga.edu

University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences • Department of Crop and Soil Sciences