| Faculty Advisor |
Clemencia Rojas
|
|---|---|
| Contact Email | crojas2@unl.edu |
| Website | |
| Advisor College: |
Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources
|
| Potential Student Tasks |
Student will assist graduate student evaluating edited lines in the laboratory and greenhouse. Specifically, student will collect plant samples for DNA extraction, PCR amplification and sequencing. Once lines are confirmed through laboratory procedures, student will assist in planting rice seeds, inoculating plants with the bacteria and evaluating if the edited lines are more resilient to BPB than non-edited lines. |
| Student Qualifications |
|
| Training, Mentoring, and Workplace Community |
Student will be part of a welcoming community including faculty mentor, postdoc, 3 graduate students, 1 undergraduate student and 1 lab coordinator. Faculty mentor will provide conceptual background to student and will define expectations, methods of communication and schedule. Student will meet with faculty mentor once a month. Student will work side-by-side with graduate student who will provide specific training on all the activities. Student will document daily activities and results. |
| Available Positions |
1
|
Rice is a staple for a large population of humans; unfortunately, rice production is threated by diseases caused by pathogens. One of those diseases in Bacterial Panicle Blight (BPB) caused by the pathogen Burkholderia glumae. This pathogen interferes with the formation of the rice grain and therefore, directly impacts rice production. BPB is becoming more devastating with high nighttime temperatures, suggesting that this disease will continue being problematic.
Research in our lab comparing responses of different varieties of rice led to the identification of genes that could be harnessed to create stress resilient rice. This project is advancing the generation of gene edited lines that could be resistant to B. glumae even at high nighttime temperatures.