Browsing by Author "Fang, Zhou"

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    Comparative analyses identify adaptive genetic variation in crops and crop wild relatives
    (2013-12) Fang, Zhou
    Comparative population genetic analyses provide a means of identifying adaptive genetic variation. In this dissertation, I apply population genetic approaches to identify putatively adaptive variants in the genomes of crops and crop wild relatives. These approaches have the potential to identify genetic variants that are under selection and thus potentially contributing to local adaptation. As a background to the dissertation, I present in Chapter 1 the state of research in this field at the time I started my PhD and give a brief introduction to the projects described in this dissertation. In Chapter 2, I report a ~50-Mb chromosomal inversion in the wild ancestor of maize - teosinte (Zea mays ssp. parviglumis) and characterized its distribution and abundance in natural populations using population genetic approaches. This is also the first study in plants to apply population genetic approaches to identify chromosomal structural variation. In Chapter 3, I used a population genetic approach to identify genomic regions that contain adaptive mutations resistant to Fusarium head blight in a barley experimental breeding population. The successful application of comparative population genetic approaches in this study suggests this approach can also be used to identify genomic regions that are under selection in other breeding populations. In Chapter 4, I studied the geographic differentiation in wild barley (Hordeum vulgare ssp. spontaneum). I found two genomic regions contribute disproportionately to the population structure in wild barley. These same regions, with reduced evidence of recombination, are strongly associated with environmental variables. Population genetic evidence and previous cytological and genetic studies suggest these two genomic regions may be chromosomal structural rearrangements.
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    SNP Genotyping Data from the Barley Experimental Population from "Two Genomic Regions Contribute Disproportionately to Geographic Differentiation in Wild Barley"
    (2016-07-19) Fang, Zhou; Gonzales, Ana M; Clegg, Michael T; Smith, Kevin P; Muehlbauer, Gary J; Steffenson, Brian J; Morrell, Peter L; pmorrell@umn.edu; Morrell, Peter L
    Two Barley Oligo Pool Assay chips (BOPA 1 and 2) were genotyped from the Wild Barley Diversity Collection. Due to its broad geographic distribution and ecological adaptation, this collection is a valuable source of potentially useful genes.
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    Two genomic regions contribute disproportionately to geographic differentiation in wild barley
    (Genes, Genomes, Genetics, 2014-07) Fang, Zhou; Gonzales, Ana M; Clegg, Michael T; Smith, Keven P; Muehlbauer, Gary J; Steffenson, Brian; Morrell, Peter L
    Genetic differentiation in natural populations is driven by geographic distance and by ecological or physical features within and between natural habitats that reduce migration. The primary population structure in wild barley differentiates populations east and west of the Zagros Mountains. Genetic differentiation between eastern and western populations is uneven across the genome and is greatest on linkage groups 2H and 5H. Genetic markers in these two regions demonstrate the largest difference in frequency between the primary populations and have the highest informativeness for assignment to each population. Previous cytological and genetic studies suggest there are chromosomal structural rearrangements (inversions or translocations) in these genomic regions. Environmental association analyses identified an association with both temperature and precipitation variables on 2H and with precipitation variables on 5H.