Gramene News

Rice WRKY gene nomenclature

marcela — Wed, 09 May 2012 17:41:12 +0000

Recently, the Committee on Gene Symbolization, Nomenclature and Linkage of the Rice Genetics Cooperative and the authors of publications on rice WRKY gene family members identified gene nomenclature conflicts. This finding lead to the creation of the rice WRKY working group to resolve rice WRKY gene family nomenclature. The full report and findings of the group is published in the journal Rice.

Four post-doc positions at the University of Missouri

kclark — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 17:27:59 +0000

Four post-doctoral positions are available at the Soybean Genomics Laboratory at the University of Missouri. Please direct all correspondence to the following:

Dr. Henry Nguyen
National Center for Soybean Biotechnology
Division of Plant Sciences
1-31 Agriculture Building
University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211
Tel: (573) 882-5494

Post Doctoral Research Associate Position in Soybean Oil Engineering

A post-doctoral research associate position is available immediately at the Soybean Genomics and Biotechnology Laboratory at the University of Missouri. The research focus will be on the discovery and characterization of novel genes and regulators of seed oil accumulation and related metabolic pathways. The overall goal is the genetic improvement of seed oil content in soybean. Applicants should have a Ph.D. in genetics, molecular biology, or a related discipline. The candidate must have proven experience in the field of metabolic engineering. Experience in pathway engineering, seed physiology and biochemistry particularly lipid metabolism is desirable. Familiarity with various bioinformatics tools and genome data mining is a plus. Excellent oral and written communication skills and the ability to work well in a collaborative research environment are essential.

Applicants should provide a letter of interest, a complete CV, and three reference letters. Please include the following in the subject line: “PD Application for Soybean Oil Engineering” and send the above requested information to the above address.

Post-doctoral research associate in molecular biology of SCN resistance in soybean

A post-doctoral research associate position is available immediately at the Soybean Genomics and Biotechnology Laboratory at the University of Missouri. The main responsibility of this position is to identify and characterize candidate genes associated with specific mechanisms contributing to soybean cyst nematode (SCN) resistance in soybean plants. Applicants should have a Ph.D. in genetics, plant biology, or a related discipline. Experience in high throughput molecular cloning techniques, construction of multi-gene cassettes, and characterization of gene function using hairy root transformation system and analysis of transgenic plants is highly desirable. Familiarity with various bioinformatics tools and genome data mining is a plus. Excellent oral and written communication skills and the ability to work well in a collaborative research environment are essential.
Applicants should provide a letter of interest, a complete CV, and three reference letters. Please include the following in the subject line: “PD application for molecular biology of SCN resistance” and send the above requested information to:

Post-Doctoral Research Associate Position in Genomics-Assisted Breeding in Soybean
A post-doctoral research associate position is available immediately at the Soybean Genomics and Biotechnology Laboratory at the University of Missouri. The primary responsibility of this person is to develop molecular markers and perform genomics-assisted selection to combine QTLs/genes for soybean plant resistance to multiple nematodes. The successful candidate will utilize advanced high throughput genotyping technologies to support the genomics-assisted breeding program in soybean. Applicants should have a Ph.D. in genetics, plant biology, or a related discipline. Experience in next generation sequencing, genome data mining, SNP marker development, and application to a breeding program is essential. Excellent oral and written communication skills and the ability to work well in a collaborative research environment are highly desirable.

Applicants should provide a letter of interest, a complete CV, and three reference letters. Please include the following in the subject line: “PD Application for Genomics-Assisted Breeding in Soybean” and send the above requested information to the above address.

Post-Doctoral Research Associate Position in Genomics-Assisted Breeding in Soybean

A post-doctoral research associate position is available immediately at the Soybean Genomics and Biotechnology Laboratory at the University of Missouri. The primary responsibility of this person is to develop molecular markers and perform genomics-assisted selection to combine QTLs/genes for soybean plant resistance to multiple nematodes. The successful candidate will utilize advanced high throughput genotyping technologies to support the genomics-assisted breeding program in soybean. Applicants should have a Ph.D. in genetics, plant biology, or a related discipline. Experience in next generation sequencing, genome data mining, SNP marker development, and application to a breeding program is essential. Excellent oral and written communication skills and the ability to work well in a collaborative research environment are highly desirable.

Post-doctoral research associate in plant stress physiology

A post-doctoral research associate position is available immediately in the Soybean Genomics & Biotechnology Laboratory at the University of Missouri. The primary responsibility of this position will be physiological analysis of transgenic plants developed for drought tolerance and yield. The candidate will perform phenotypic evaluations under drought and well-watered conditions, including plant-soil water relations and plant growth analysis. Applicants should have a Ph.D. in plant biology or a related discipline with an excellent knowledge of experimental techniques and approaches used in whole plant stress physiology. Excellent oral and written communication skills and the ability to work well in a collaborative research environment are essential. The initial appointment will be for one year and the reappointment (multiple years) will depend upon successful performance.

Applicants should provide a letter of interest, a complete CV, and contact information for three referees. Please include the following in the subject line: “PD Application for stress physiology” and send the above requested information to the above address.

Gramene at Maize Genetics Conference

kclark — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 18:50:18 +0000

Gramene project manger Marcela Monaco is at this weekend’s Maize Genetics Conference in Portland, Oregon. She will be present at our poster (P261, Gramene: a resource for comparative plant genomic. Monaco, MK; et al. 2012. Maize Genetics Conference Abstracts. 54:P261) from 1:30-3 today and tomorrow. Project member Joshua Stein is also presenting poster P276 (The Maize Genome Project, an Update. Stein, JC; et al. 2012. Maize Genetics Conference Abstracts. 54:P276) on the maize sequencing project.

Funding opportunities for US scientists to attend ICAR 2012

marcela — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 21:34:16 +0000

Two funding opportunities for US scientists to attend the 23rd International Conference on Arabidopsis Research (ICAR) at the Hofburg Imperial Palace in Vienna, Austria on July 3-7 of 2012. The North American Arabidopsis Steering Committee (NAASC) applied for funding from the US National Science Foundation for:

Under-represented minorities, or faculty at minority-serving institutions/HBCUs (full funding)
early-career scientist travel grants ($1,000)

Application deadline: March 31, 2012.

Full funding is available for up to 7 scientists as described above (1), and up to 11 early
career scientists (2).

NAASC’s intent is to broaden participation in the Arabidopsis conference and so welcomes new members.

Notes:

Only US scientists are eligible.
Minority funding: some citizenship requirements must be met, with exceptions for faculty at MSIs/HBCUs; maximum time a person can receive this award is twice.
Awards will be made as reimbursements.
Early career travel awards for US scientists: only US citizens and permanent residents are eligible.

Summer research opportunities for undergraduates

kclark — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 20:16:17 +0000

Amit Dhingra has recently been awarded an NSF REU Site in Plant Genomics and Biotechnology to be hosted in the College of Agriculture, Human and Natural
Resource Sciences at Washington State University. Details about the research experience and online application are
accessible here.

Undergraduate students should contact Dr. Dhingra if they are looking for summer research opportunities in the following research areas:

Genomics/Bioinformatics/Biotechnology
Plant Pathology/Genomics
Computational Biology
Plant Physiology/Biochemistry
Plant Physiology/Calcium Signaling
Plant Genetics and Breeding
Food Biotechnology
Weed Biology/Biotechnology

Plant Biology 2012

kclark — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:35:48 +0000

Registration is now open for the Plant Biology 2012 meeting to be held July 22-24 in Austin, Texas.

Gramene database interim build 34b released

marcela — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 20:59:54 +0000

The Gramene team is happy to announce interim release 34b. We have now added the reference genome for Cyanidioschyzon merolae 10D, a primitive unicellular red alga, which lives in acidic hot water (like hot springs), bringing us to 23 genomes. We updated the software of our Ensembl genome browser to version 65, updated the gene models for Physcomitrella patens (moss), updated the gene and prediction tables for the Oryza glaberrima (African rice) and Glycine max (soybean) core databases, and updated the gene BioMarts. We also updated the Compara gene trees to exclude superfluous Fgenesh predictions of G. max and O. glaberrima, and added genes from the partial Oryza genomes (the chromosome 3 short arm projects of wild species of Oryza). To accommodate these, we developed an entirely distinct set of gene trees focused on the Oryza genus, which include 12 complete and partial genomes of cultivated and wild relatives, plus several outgroup species. Unfortunately we no longer provide direct access to the Pan Compara gene trees, but these can still be accessed from EnsemblPlants. We are also releasing to the community, lists of candidates for putative annotation artifacts resulted from Gramene’s screen for split gene models in gene trees, the data can be found on our ftp site. Please let us know if you have and problems or question with the new build.

2012 Maize Genetics Conference

kclark — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 17:26:36 +0000

The 54th Annual Maize Genetics Conference will be held at the Doubletree Hotel in Portland, Oregon, from March 15-18, 2012. This year’s meeting will feature four plenary speakers: Bill Tracy (Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison), Venkatesan Sundaresan (Univ. of California, Davis), Jenny Graves (Australian National University), and Thomas Dresselhaus (Univ. of Regensburg). Further details about the program, registration for meeting and housing, abstracts, and transportation are available at the meeting website. All registration deadlines are January 31, 2012.

Introduction to Bio-Ontologies, Feb. 5, 2012

kclark — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 17:23:42 +0000

On the morning of Sunday, February 5, 2012, the Plant Ontology Consortium will host a tutorial on bio-ontologies to take place at the New York Botanical Garden. Further details are available at bioontology.org.

Gramene at PAG XX

kclark — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 16:11:52 +0000

Gramene will be present at next week’s Plant and Animal Genome (PAG) XX meeting in San Diego, CA from January 14-18, 2012. On Tuesday, January 17, we will present a workshop from 3:50 PM-6:00 PM in the California Room. We will also participate in a Plant Genomics Outreach booth (#423) with other members of the plant community to answer your questions about furthering your research with our resources. Finally, we will be presenting the following posters:

P0856 Metabolic and Regulatory Networks for Cereals
P0858 MaizeCyc: Metabolic Networks in Maize
P0951 Gramene: A Resource for Phylogenomics Study of the Oryza Genus
P0952 Gramene Genetic Diversity Module: A Plant Genotype-Phenotype Association Data Repository
P0993 TASSEL 4.0: Faster, Larger Diversity Analysis: It’s All About the Bits