By Scout Nelson
A team of University of Nebraska–Lincoln researchers has received The Plant Journal’s 2024 Outstanding Original Research Article Award for a study that successfully solves a long-standing challenge in plant biology. Their research focuses on corn genetics and offers a major step forward in understanding how individual genes affect plant traits.
For many years, scientists have tried to link corn genes to specific functions, but fewer than 2% of genes in the corn genome have been clearly tied to plant characteristics. Across many living organisms, scientists use genome-wide association studies, or GWAS, to compare DNA differences among populations and identify how genes influence important traits.
The UNL research team, led by James Schnable, Nebraska Corn presidential chair, and research assistant professor Vladimir Torres Rodriguez, tested a different approach. Instead of looking only at DNA, they measured RNA differences to see whether this method could reveal gene functions more effectively. Their findings showed that RNA-based data made it possible to assign functions to ten times more genes than traditional DNA-only techniques.
One major challenge was that DNA remains stable throughout life, but RNA changes quickly over time. To compare RNA across different plants, the team needed to collect samples from hundreds of corn plants at the exact same time.
Research technologist Jonathan Turkus solved this challenge by creating a high-speed sampling workflow using rapid prototyping tools at Nebraska Innovation Studio. Field tests showed that this process allowed a single team to collect and flash-freeze up to 2,700 leaf samples in only two hours. These tools are now used by research groups across the country.
“Wherever I've traveled for the past year, from Berkeley to Brazil, people have already read and are excited to ask me about this Nebraska project,” said Schnable. “The data from this study is helping our lab and people around the world answer fundamental questions about how corn genes work and to train AI models that could guide future crop engineering and breeding."
The award-winning project received support from the U.S. Department of Energy’s ARPA-E program, with additional ongoing support from the Nebraska Corn Board. Collaborators included Bradley Zamft, now CEO of Heritable Agriculture, and Professor Addie Thompson of Michigan State University.
Photo Credit: gettyimages-awakr10
Categories: Kansas, Crops, Corn, Education