Jennifer Yates
Graduate Research Assistant
Soybean Breeding
M.S. University of California-Davis, 2000
B.S. University of Georgia, 1998
Center for Applied Genetic Technologies
Rm. 203
Athens, GA 30602-7272
(706)542-0915; FAX (706)542-0914
jennlynn@uga.edu
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Research
Along with corn, cotton, and wheat, soybean is a major crop cultivated in the United States. As environmental safety concerns about pesticides and the health benefits of soybean protein become more widely known, it has become increasingly important to develop soybean varieties containing both resistance genes to various pathogens and pests as well as higher seed protein content. One of my research projects therefore involves finding novel resistance genes to a common pathogen in Georgia, peanut root-knot nematode, or Meloidogyne arenaria (Ma) . This project not only identifies the soybean lines that have the resistance genes, but also determines the particular chromosomes on which the genes reside. This information results in chromosome-specific gene tags that soybean breeders can use to both transfer and select for Ma resistance genes in new soybean breeding lines. My second research project tests the effect of a gene that increases protein content in the seeds by 2 to 3% on other agronomic qualities such as yield, oil content, seed size and seed quality. I am currently growing my second year of field trials on lines that either do or do not contain the high-protein gene. These trials are set up in both Plains and in two separate fields on the Plant Sciences Experimental Farm in Athens. While the work associated with the first project occurs mainly in the greenhouse and the molecular lab, the work related to the second project is largely in the field.
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