Plant Biology Associate Professor Jill Preston recently received funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to work with the Joint Genome Institute to sequence several grass genomes.
The aim of this project is to compare the genomes of annual versus perennial species, opening the door to gene discovery for the possible perennialization of annual crops, and the development of sustainable biofuel sources.
This project will complement ongoing work by Jill Preston and her collaborator Siri Fjellheim (Norwegian University of Life Sciences) examining the developmental genetic basis for repeated evolution of annuality in temperate grasses. The latter work is funded by the Norway Research Council. The third co-principal investigator on the DOE-JGI project is Madelaine Bartlett (University of Massachusetts Amherst).