Publications by authors named "Aaron K Jackson"

Due to global climate change resulting in extreme temperature fluctuations, it becomes increasingly necessary to explore the natural genetic variation in model crops such as rice to facilitate the breeding of climate-resilient cultivars. To uncover genomic regions in rice involved in managing cold stress tolerance responses and to identify associated cold tolerance genes, two inbred line populations developed from crosses between cold-tolerant and cold-sensitive parents were used for quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping of two traits: degree of membrane damage after 1 week of cold exposure quantified as percent electrolyte leakage (EL) and percent low-temperature seedling survivability (LTSS) after 1 week of recovery growth. This revealed four EL QTL and 12 LTSS QTL, all overlapping with larger QTL regions previously uncovered by genome-wide association study (GWAS) mapping approaches.

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The pigmented flavonoids, anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins, have health promoting properties. Previous work determined that the genes Pb and Rc turn on and off the biosynthesis of anthocyanins (purple) and proanthocyanidins (red), respectively. Not yet known is how the concentrations of these pigmented flavonoids are regulated in grain pericarps.

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Background: Sheath blight (ShB) disease caused by Rhizoctonia solani Kühn, is one of the most economically damaging rice (Oryza sativa L.) diseases worldwide. There are no known major resistance genes, leaving only partial resistance from small-effect QTL to deploy for cultivar improvement.

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Article Synopsis
  • Global concerns about arsenic in rice trigger efforts to breed varieties that limit arsenic accumulation to ensure consumer safety, as well as tackle plant toxicity issues like straighthead disorder (StHD).
  • Genetic variation in resistance to StHD suggests that some rice plants may have developed natural mechanisms to reduce arsenic toxicity, possibly leading to co-located genetic markers for both reduced arsenic and StHD susceptibility.
  • Using advanced machine-learning methods and a comprehensive genome-wide analysis, researchers identified numerous quantitative trait loci (QTL) related to both arsenic content and StHD, providing valuable insights for future breeding strategies and genetic research in rice.
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Salt stress is a major constraint to rice acreage and production worldwide. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the natural genetic variation available in the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) rice mini-core collection (URMC) for early vigor traits under salt stress and identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for seedling-stage salt tolerance via a genome-wide association study (GWAS). Using a hydroponic system, the seedlings of 162 accessions were subjected to electrical conductivity (EC) 6.

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The Rice Diversity Panel 1 (RDP1) was developed for genome-wide association (GWA) studies to explore five rice ( L.) subpopulations (, , , , and ). The RDP1 was evaluated for over 30 traits, including agronomic, panicle architecture, seed, and disease traits and genotyped with 700,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs).

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Rice ( L.) end-use cooking quality is vital for producers and billions of consumers worldwide. Grain quality is a complex trait with interacting genetic and environmental factors.

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Rice ( L.) is often exposed to cool temperatures during spring planting in temperate climates. A better understanding of genetic pathways regulating chilling tolerance will enable breeders to develop varieties with improved tolerance during germination and young seedling stages.

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  • Rising CO2 levels from the early 20th century to mid-21st century have been shown to increase outcrossing rates between genetically modified rice and wild, weedy relatives, suggesting potential gene flow.
  • The outcrossing rate increased significantly from 0.22% to 0.71% as CO2 levels rose, driven by changes in plant height and reproduction rates in wild rice compared to cultivated rice.
  • These changes could lead to increased rice dedomestication and a rise in herbicide-resistant hybrid progeny, indicating that higher CO2 levels may enhance gene transfer and the success of feral plant species in agricultural settings.
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Rhizoctonia solani is a necrotrophic fungal pathogen that causes disease on many crop-plant species. Anastomosis group 1-IA is the causal agent of sheath blight of rice (Oryza sativa L.), one of the most important rice diseases worldwide.

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The Rc locus regulates pigmentation of the rice bran layer, and selection for the rc allele (white pericarp) occurred during domestication of the crop. White bran is now ubiquitous among cultivated varieties throughout rice growing regions of the world. We identified a new allele that arose by natural mutation within the rc pseudogene of the cultivar 'Wells'.

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