Genomics

A WSU researcher is part of a large team that announced the genome sequence for switchgrass, a major bioenergy crop.

PULLMAN, Wash. – A pandemic is destroying orange groves in Florida. The disease, called citrus greening, is also spreading to citrus groves in Texas and California, threatening a more than $3 billion per year industry. If left unaddressed, the entire U.S. citrus industry could be wiped out and, as Florida Sen. Bill Nelson said, “We’ll end […]

I have an elderly aunt who was diagnosed with breast cancer many years ago. She was treated and remained cancer-free for years. But I also had a next-door neighbor who got the same diagnosis. She was treated, but succumbed to the disease not too long after. My experience is not unique. Those of us who […]

Tiny Differences Help Scientists Take Giant Steps Forward Genetics has something in common with linguistics. If I say “po-tay-toe” and you say “po-tah-toe,” a linguist can begin to tell which part of the country each of us is from. To a linguist, a tiny difference in the pronunciation of a vowel acts as a kind […]

PULLMAN, Wash. — Each summer, eight undergraduate students from throughout the nation will have the opportunity to study plant biology in cutting-edge labs at Washington State University. Horticultural genomics Professor Amit Dhingra, the leader of a new Research Experience for Undergraduates site funded by the National Science Foundation, said the program is accepting applications from […]

PULLMAN, Wash. – Unlocking the genetic and biochemical secrets of plants used for medicinal purposes could be easier in the future, thanks to new online databases funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences through the American Recovery and Re-investment Act. The three-year projects were funded as part of a $10 million initiative from […]

High-throughput Technologies Get Fruit Breeders’ Juices Flowing Scientists in Washington State University’s horticultural genomics program are the first to routinely provide DNA information to their colleagues in tree fruit breeding programs to assist with the development of new apple varieties. The genes associated with desirable traits have traditionally been comparable to needles in a haystack, […]

Realizing a decade-long dream, an international team of scientists today publicly released the peach genome sequence, the first genome completed for crops in the Rosaceae family. The data that comprises the peach genome is housed at Washington State University on the U.S. Department of Agriculture-funded Genome Database for Rosaceae (www.rosaceae.org).

PULLMAN, Wash — Zhihua Jiang, associate professor of animal sciences at Washington State University, has received a three-year $60,000 grant from the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service and U.S.-Egypt Joint Science and Technology Board to study the genome of water buffalo. “The bovine genome has been sequenced,” Jiang said, “but there’s not much information on water […]

PROSSER, Wash. – Nnadozie Oraguzie, a senior scientist at New Zealand’s state-owned horticulture research institution, has assumed duties as stone fruit breeder-geneticist at the Washington State University Prosser Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center. He will focus on development of new sweet cherry varieties suited for production in the Pacific Northwest. “Dr. Oraguzie has an […]