Advanced Genetic Technologies

The aim of this proposal is to bring to the College of Agriculture the capabilities for, and track record in, modern high-throughput genetic technologies, and to introduce these technologies into the. college research and educational programs. These technologies include DNA sequencing and vanous methods to construct saturated maps of genomes, as well as large-scale analysis of plant, animal and microbial populations. The availability of the facility, and the results of the pilot projects will enhance the competitiveness of faculty in the College to obtain extramural grant support in these important areas of agriculture. Objective 1: Train and provide expert support for high-throughput molecular genetic analysis methods. A professional computer programer and a laboratory technician will be employed in support of the operations of the facility. The technician will be trained to carry samples through the entire process of high-throughput plasmid DNA isolation and DNA sequencing, thus facilitating data acquisition in genomics research projects. The computer programmer will help streamline the data flow, implement sample tracking and data collation using bar-coding technology, and instruct users on use of software for bioinformatic analysis. Objective 2: Increase capacity for DNA sequencing and molecular genetic analysis. The capacity of the facility will be increased by 33% through the acquisition of another DNA sequence analysis instrument. Objective 3: Conduct new pilot projects analyzing genome structures and functional genomics of agriculturally relevant plants, animals, fungi, bacteria, and viruses. Genome sequencing projects to be conducted are: (1) Fungal endophytes of forage and turf grasses. Such endophytes provide biological protection to the grasses, but can also be toxic to livestock. (2) The bacterium Streptococcus zooepidemicus, an opportunistic pathogen of a wide range of domestic animals, also capable of infecting humans. Functional genomic (gene expression) studies will be conduced on: (3) Beef cattle treated with lipolytic versus anabolic stimulants; (4) Neospora hughesi, a protozoan pathogen of horses; and (5) Seed development and germination. Finally the functional diversity and mutability of two groups of viruses are to be investigated: (6) Bean pod mottle virus, which causes a major losses in soybean; and (7) the fungal virus Hv190SV, which provides a natural biological control of a plant pathogenic fungus.