Upland cotton: an improved sequence will advance fiber, fuel and food applications
April 11, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire: A consortium led by Z. Jeffrey Chen of The University of Texas at Austin and Jane Grimwood and Jeremy Schmutz of the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology has made publicly available a significantly improved high-quality genome sequence of Upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum). This sequence of the species making up greater than 90% of the world’s spinnable cotton fiber builds upon previous genome sequences published in the past five years. The data is downloadable at DOE JGI Phytozome. Read full story.
April 20, 2015
A University of Texas at Austin scientist, working with an international research team, has developed the most precise sequence map yet of U.S. cotton and will soon create an even more detailed map for navigating the complex cotton genome. Read Full Story. The research in the USA team is supported by NSF and Cotton Incorporated. Read more
June 3, 2013
In 2008, Jeff Chen caused a stir in the world of plant biology when he identified a key mechanism of “hybrid vigor” in the common experimental plant, Arabidopsis. Now, thanks to NSF…he and his colleagues are expanding their investigation of hybrid vigor to corn, which is the biggest crop in the United States. Advances in understanding hybrid vigor in corn could lead to big increases in yield. Read Full Story.
September 16, 2012
Congratulations to Danny Ng, who is now an Assistant Professor of Biology at Hong Kong Baptist University.
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April 11, 2012
Seed size is controlled by small RNA molecules inherited from a plant’s mother, a discovery from scientists at the University of Texas at Austin that has implications for agriculture and understanding plant evolution. NSF News from the Field and
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December 20, 2011
Jeff Chen is elected as a Fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). In November 2011, the AAAS Council elected 539 members as AAAS Fellows. These individuals will be recognized for their contributions to science and technology at the Fellows
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November 9, 2010
Fulbright Scholar at Cambridge – Plant geneticist Z. Jeff Chen has been awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to work at the University of
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September 15, 2010
Cotton Fiber Genomics – Dr. Z. Jeffrey Chen and his colleagues will use next-generation DNA sequencing technologies to study the genomics of fiber production in cotton, the largest source of natural and renewable fiber in the world, with a $3.8 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Read full story.
May 22-23, 2009
Misook Ha doctoral convocation was held on May 23, proceeded by Vikram Agarwal undergraduate convocation on May 22. Misook will work on computational and statistical analysis of gene expression and chromatin data in polyploids. Vikram graduated with several prestigious awards, including a predoctoral fellowship award from the NSF. He will attend the graduate school at MIT in Fall 2009. Congratulations!
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January 27, 2009
Misook Ha published a first-author paper, entitled “Duplicate genes increase expression diversity in closely related species and allopolyploids” in the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences of the USA (PNAS). Congratulations!
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January 15, 2009
Dr. Zhongfu Ni, a former postdoctoral fellow and visiting scientist from China Agricultural University, Beijing, and Eun-Deok Kim, a current Ph.D. student in Plant Biology, were co-first authors of a recent discovery in the Chen Laboratory that reveals how plants grow bigger and more vigorously through changes in their internal clocks. The work was published in the journal Nature. Nature highlighted the work in the subtitle of the cover (Hybrid Vigour – Plants seize the day) and featured the research in the Authors page Abstractions and in the Podcast (Big Plants). Nature Review Genetics featured the Research Highlight “Plant Development: Growing with Time”. BBC World Service aired a segment on 5-7 December 2008.
December 19, 2008
The third-floor lunch party attracted over 40 students, postdocs, and staff members from the Chen lab, Pierce-Shimomura lab, Sullivan lab, Trent lab, and Whiteley lab, all housed in the third floor of the Neural and Molecular Sciences (NMS) Building.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
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December 4, 2008
Misook Ha graduated in December 2009 with a Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Biology (Bioinformatics and Computational Biology track). She will work as a postdoctoral fellow in Computational Biology on elucidating the mechanisms for expression evolution in Arabidopsis
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November 24, 2008
Circadian Rhythms and Hybrid Vigor – Hybrid plants, like corn, grow bigger and better than their parents because many of their genes for photosynthesis and starch metabolism are more active during the day, report researchers from The University of Texas at Austin in a new
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November 21, 2008
The annual Cotton Fiber Genomics project meeting was held in Austin. The project was funded by the National Science Foundation and focused on “Genetic and Functional Genomic Analysis of Early Events in Cotton Fiber Development”. The attendees of the meeting include:
PI: Chen Lab (David Pang, Yuki Guan, Misook Ha, Vikram Agarwal, UT-Austin)
Co-PI: Triplett Lab (He Jim Kim, Doug Hinchliffe, USDA-ARS/UNO)
Co-PI: David Stelly (Shivapriya Manchali, Texas A&M)
Co-PI: Peggy Thaxton (Mississippi
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