** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** THE PROJECTMECHANISMS OF COLD STRESS TOLERANCE RESPONSES IN RICE BY PROGRAM DIRECTOR (PD) MICHAEL SCHLÄPPI FROM MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY AND CO-PDS GEORGIA EIZENGA & JEREMY EDWARDS FROM USDA-ARS FITS THE A1152 PROGRAM AREA PRIORITY MECHANISMS OF PLANT RESPONSES TO ABIOTIC STRESSES. RICE YIELD WOULD BE ENHANCED IF GROWERS COULD PLANT TWO WEEKS EARLIER IN THE SEASON TO BETTER UTILIZE THE SPRING RAIN AND AVOID HIGH NIGHTTIME TEMPERATURES OF SUMMER, WHICH DECREASE GRAIN QUALITY AND YIELD. OUR OBJECTIVE IS TO USE THE WELL-CHARACTERIZED RICE DIVERSITY PANEL 1 (RDP1) COLLECTION OF 424 ACCESSIONS AND FOUR SUBPOPULATION-SPECIFIC RECOMBINANT INBRED LINE AND NEAR ISOGENIC LINE POPULATIONS SPECIFICALLY GENERATED FOR THIS PROJECT TO PROVIDE A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE BASIC GENETIC MECHANISMS RESPONSIBLE FOR TOLERANCE TO COLD TEMPERATURES AT THE EARLY GROWTH STAGES IN RICE. TO ACCOMPLISH THIS, WE WILL (I) USE DIFFERENT RECOMBINANT INBRED LINES TO DETERMINE GENETIC MECHANISMS OF RICE COLD TOLERANCE RESPONSES BY IDENTIFYING COLD-TOLERANT-PARENT-SPECIFIC GENE CO-EXPRESSION MODULES AND THEIR CENTRAL HUB (CONTROL) GENES; (II) ASSOCIATE MODULES AND HUB GENES TO PREVIOUSLY MAPPED QUANTITATIVE TRAIT LOCI (QTL) FOR COLD TOLERANCE; (III) FINE-MAP QTL FOR COLD TOLERANCE WE PREVIOUSLY IDENTIFIED USING THE RDP1 AND FOUR RICE INBRED POPULATIONS TO NARROW DOWN COLD TOLERANCE CANDIDATE GENES; (IV) IDENTIFY CANDIDATE GENES WITHIN THE MAPPED QTL FOR COLD TOLERANCE; AND (V) VALIDATE SELECTED CANDIDATE GENES IN TRANSGENIC PLANTS WITH THE CRISPR GENE KNOCKOUT AND STRONG PROMOTER OVEREXPRESSION SYSTEMS. THIS INFORMATION WILL BE THE BASIS FOR GENE DISCOVERY AND IDENTIFICATION OF COLD-ASSOCIATED DNA MARKERS, AND ULTIMATELY RICE GERMPLASM WITH IMPROVED SEEDLING VIGOR FOR USE IN CULTIVAR DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS.

Marquette University, Milwaukee WI

Investigators