| Affiliations: | |
| Project Leader: | Ian MacLachlan ianmaclachlan@tamu.edu Ecology and Conservation Biology |
| Faculty Mentor: | Dr. Carol Loopstra, Ph.D. |
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Meeting Times:
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TBC |
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Team Size:
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2
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| Open Spots: | 0 |
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Special Opportunities:
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Depending on student interest and motivation, possible opportunities include experimental data analysis, molecular population genetics, quantitative trait data analyses in relation to climate, and co-authorship on future publications is also possible. All analyses will be conducted in R with supervision where necessary. Final-year research projects can also be discussed.
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Team Needs:
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Team members could be undergraduate or post-graduate and should have/be: – An interest or knowledge in plant biology or genetics in relation to environment. – Interest and curiosity to ask questions of data and conduct relevant analyses. – Completed level 3 or 4 courses in statistics relating to biology, experimental design, or statistical computing. – Patient, careful and willing to undertake tedious, repetitive lab work while maintaining a good attitude (we’re planning for this work to be completed in the 2020 fall semester, leading to data analysis during the 2021 spring semester). – Able to find, review and summarise relevant literature. |
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Description:
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Students will be working on a small USDA-funded forest genetics project called PineRAD (Pine Resistance and Adaptation to Drought). PineRAD is gathering and analysing data on loblolly pine traits and provenance climate in relation to genome-wide molecular markers. The objective of this research is to identify drought tolerance-related molecular markers that can be incorporated in to loblolly pine breeding programs run by our industry collaborators in the western gulf region. Identifying molecular markers that can inform the selection of trees with resistantce to drought is pertinent to loblolly pine breeding programs. The western gulf region is at the most south-western tip of the loblolly pine species’ range which is the most vulnerable area to negative effects of climate warming and future drought that are likely to reduce loblolly pine productivity. Selecting and breeding drought-resistant trees is one way to mitigate these impacts. Ideally, students should have an interest in plant population genetics, trait variation among populations, and/or adaptation in relation to climate. Opportunities available to students would be relevant to future careers in plant/forest genetic resource management, or further related research at the post-graduate level. |