Transcriptomics and metabolomics to identify drivers of seed composition in oat

This project will generate detailed information on seed composition and its genetic control in global diversity and elite North American oat panels, and develop and evaluate methods enabling breeders to leverage that information for selection decision support and to discover new mutations affecting composition. The specific objectives of the project are: i) to identify metabolites and gene transcripts that are hubs in networks of these features in a global oat diversity panel, ii) to evaluate methods to incorporate this information in genomic evaluation and determine its value in selecting improved progeny in an elite Upper-Midwest panel, and iii) to sequence an oat TILLING population at sites suggested by this analysis and characterize new mutations for their impact on seed composition.