As a Professor of Genetics and Biochemistry, my research investigates evolutionary genetics of weedy and crop plants.As Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs, I lead and facilitate efforts in faculty recruitment, retention, recognition, promotion, and recognition applying principles of collaboration, diversity and inclusion, community, and participation.
Seed dormancy allows weedy rice (Oryza sp.) to persist in rice production systems. Weedy and wild... more Seed dormancy allows weedy rice (Oryza sp.) to persist in rice production systems. Weedy and wild relatives of rice (Oryza sativa L.) exhibit different levels of dormancy, which allows them to escape weed management tactics, increasing the potential for flowering synchronization, and therefore gene flow, between weedy Oryza sp. and cultivated rice. In this study, we determined the genetic diversity and divergence of representative dormant and nondormant weedy Oryza sp. groups from Arkansas. Twenty-five simple sequence repeat markers closely associated with seed dormancy were used. Four populations were included: dormant blackhull, dormant strawhull, nondormant blackhull, and nondormant strawhull. The overall gene diversity was 0.355, indicating considerable genetic variation among populations in these dormancy-related loci. Gene diversity among blackhull populations (0.398) was higher than among strawhull populations (0.245). Higher genetic diversity was also observed within and among dormant populations than in nondormant populations. Cluster analysis of 16 accessions, based on Nei’s genetic distance, showed four clusters. Clusters I, III, and IV consisted of only blackhull accessions, whereas Cluster II comprised only strawhull accessions. These four clusters did not separate cleanly into dormant and nondormant populations, indicating that not all markers were tightly linked to dormancy. The strawhull groups were most distant from blackhull weedy Oryza sp. groups. These data indicate complex genetic control of the dormancy trait, as dormant individuals exhibited higher genetic diversity than nondormant individuals. Seed-dormancy trait contributes to population structure of weedy Oryza sp., but this influence is less than that of hull color. Markers unique to the dormant populations are good candidates for follow-up studies on the control of seed dormancy in weedy Oryza sp.
... Page 3. Copyright 2003 Amy Lawton-Rauh Page 4. DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to m... more ... Page 3. Copyright 2003 Amy Lawton-Rauh Page 4. DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my favorite fans, my nieces and my nephew: Joseph and Katherine (Fairman) and Jessica, Jillian, and Courtney (Timmer). Remember to believe in ...
The phenomenon of feral crops, that is, free-living populations that have established outside cul... more The phenomenon of feral crops, that is, free-living populations that have established outside cultivation, is understudied. Some researchers focus on the negative conse- quences of domestication, whereas others assert that feral populations may serve as useful pools of genetic diversity for future crop improvement. Although research on feral crops and the process of feralization has advanced rapidly in the last two decades, generalizable insights have been limited by a lack of comparative research across crop species and other factors. To improve international coordination of research on this topic, we summarize the current state of feralization research and chart a course for future study by consolidating outstanding questions in the field. These questions, which emerged from the colloquium “Darwins' reversals: What we now know about Feralization and Crop Wild Relatives” at the BOTANY 2021 confer- ence, fall into seven categories that span both basic and applied research: (1) definitions and drivers of ferality, (2) genetic architecture and pathway, (3) evolu- tionary history and biogeography, (4) agronomy and breeding, (5) fundamental and applied ecology, (6) collecting and conservation, and (7) taxonomy and best practices. These questions serve as a basis for ferality researchers to coordinate research in these areas, potentially resulting in major contributions to food security in the face of climate change.
Flow cytometry genome sizing data for 5 genotypes that indicate significant differences in size t... more Flow cytometry genome sizing data for 5 genotypes that indicate significant differences in size that correlates with EPSPS gene copy number. (XLSX 10 kb)
A. Alignment of the EPSPS cassette to A. tuberculatus draft genome assembly; B. the draft A. hypo... more A. Alignment of the EPSPS cassette to A. tuberculatus draft genome assembly; B. the draft A. hypochondriacus assembly; and C. B. vulgaris. Alignments were restricted to 60% identity and match length of 100Â bp. (PDF 6565 kb)
SNP track (red and blue stacked glyphs) for the S and R biotypes. The inner track (red) highlight... more SNP track (red and blue stacked glyphs) for the S and R biotypes. The inner track (red) highlights SNPs that are unique and heterozygous between the S and the EPSPS reference interval. The subsequent track (blue) are SNPs that highlight unique alternate alleles (genotypes) not found in alternate biotype or reference. (PDF 10920 kb)
A. Alignment of the EPSPS cassette genes to the B. vulgaris genome that illustrates colinearity o... more A. Alignment of the EPSPS cassette genes to the B. vulgaris genome that illustrates colinearity of the reverse transcriptase, heat-shock, EPSPS, SGS3, and NAC domain containing genes. B. Alignment of the EPSPS cassette with the EPSPS containing scaffold (KI865360.1) of beta vulgaris; the exons of the EPSPS gene are highlighted in grey. (PDF 3157 kb)
Seed dormancy allows weedy rice (Oryza sp.) to persist in rice production systems. Weedy and wild... more Seed dormancy allows weedy rice (Oryza sp.) to persist in rice production systems. Weedy and wild relatives of rice (Oryza sativa L.) exhibit different levels of dormancy, which allows them to escape weed management tactics, increasing the potential for flowering synchronization, and therefore gene flow, between weedy Oryza sp. and cultivated rice. In this study, we determined the genetic diversity and divergence of representative dormant and nondormant weedy Oryza sp. groups from Arkansas. Twenty-five simple sequence repeat markers closely associated with seed dormancy were used. Four populations were included: dormant blackhull, dormant strawhull, nondormant blackhull, and nondormant strawhull. The overall gene diversity was 0.355, indicating considerable genetic variation among populations in these dormancy-related loci. Gene diversity among blackhull populations (0.398) was higher than among strawhull populations (0.245). Higher genetic diversity was also observed within and among dormant populations than in nondormant populations. Cluster analysis of 16 accessions, based on Nei’s genetic distance, showed four clusters. Clusters I, III, and IV consisted of only blackhull accessions, whereas Cluster II comprised only strawhull accessions. These four clusters did not separate cleanly into dormant and nondormant populations, indicating that not all markers were tightly linked to dormancy. The strawhull groups were most distant from blackhull weedy Oryza sp. groups. These data indicate complex genetic control of the dormancy trait, as dormant individuals exhibited higher genetic diversity than nondormant individuals. Seed-dormancy trait contributes to population structure of weedy Oryza sp., but this influence is less than that of hull color. Markers unique to the dormant populations are good candidates for follow-up studies on the control of seed dormancy in weedy Oryza sp.
... Page 3. Copyright 2003 Amy Lawton-Rauh Page 4. DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to m... more ... Page 3. Copyright 2003 Amy Lawton-Rauh Page 4. DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my favorite fans, my nieces and my nephew: Joseph and Katherine (Fairman) and Jessica, Jillian, and Courtney (Timmer). Remember to believe in ...
The phenomenon of feral crops, that is, free-living populations that have established outside cul... more The phenomenon of feral crops, that is, free-living populations that have established outside cultivation, is understudied. Some researchers focus on the negative conse- quences of domestication, whereas others assert that feral populations may serve as useful pools of genetic diversity for future crop improvement. Although research on feral crops and the process of feralization has advanced rapidly in the last two decades, generalizable insights have been limited by a lack of comparative research across crop species and other factors. To improve international coordination of research on this topic, we summarize the current state of feralization research and chart a course for future study by consolidating outstanding questions in the field. These questions, which emerged from the colloquium “Darwins' reversals: What we now know about Feralization and Crop Wild Relatives” at the BOTANY 2021 confer- ence, fall into seven categories that span both basic and applied research: (1) definitions and drivers of ferality, (2) genetic architecture and pathway, (3) evolu- tionary history and biogeography, (4) agronomy and breeding, (5) fundamental and applied ecology, (6) collecting and conservation, and (7) taxonomy and best practices. These questions serve as a basis for ferality researchers to coordinate research in these areas, potentially resulting in major contributions to food security in the face of climate change.
Flow cytometry genome sizing data for 5 genotypes that indicate significant differences in size t... more Flow cytometry genome sizing data for 5 genotypes that indicate significant differences in size that correlates with EPSPS gene copy number. (XLSX 10 kb)
A. Alignment of the EPSPS cassette to A. tuberculatus draft genome assembly; B. the draft A. hypo... more A. Alignment of the EPSPS cassette to A. tuberculatus draft genome assembly; B. the draft A. hypochondriacus assembly; and C. B. vulgaris. Alignments were restricted to 60% identity and match length of 100Â bp. (PDF 6565 kb)
SNP track (red and blue stacked glyphs) for the S and R biotypes. The inner track (red) highlight... more SNP track (red and blue stacked glyphs) for the S and R biotypes. The inner track (red) highlights SNPs that are unique and heterozygous between the S and the EPSPS reference interval. The subsequent track (blue) are SNPs that highlight unique alternate alleles (genotypes) not found in alternate biotype or reference. (PDF 10920 kb)
A. Alignment of the EPSPS cassette genes to the B. vulgaris genome that illustrates colinearity o... more A. Alignment of the EPSPS cassette genes to the B. vulgaris genome that illustrates colinearity of the reverse transcriptase, heat-shock, EPSPS, SGS3, and NAC domain containing genes. B. Alignment of the EPSPS cassette with the EPSPS containing scaffold (KI865360.1) of beta vulgaris; the exons of the EPSPS gene are highlighted in grey. (PDF 3157 kb)
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