Wheat Projects

Wheat Leaf Rust and Yellow Rust

Gene mapping is a process to find trait-associated genetic markers. The gene mapping process is an important step towards identifying genes responsible for phenotypic traits. In wheat, identification of effective (or polymorphic) genetic markers and gene mapping are tedious. The BSR-Seq analysis, combining RNA-Seq and bulked segregant analysis, was developed and has been successfully used to facilitate mapping and cloning many genes in species other than wheat. This project is to adapt this method to the wheat system. Currently, we are applying BSR-Seq to map several genes in wheat, including leaf rust gene Lr42 and several unknown yellow rust genes in a diploid wild relative of wheat.