National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB)
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Location : Cambridge / UK |
| Leader : Andy GREENLAND | |
| Website : www.niab.com |
Competences:
Characterising and trialling new crop varieties for National Listing and plant breeders rights, Development of molecular markers for distinctness, uniformity and stability (DUS) and value for cultivation and use (VCU). Studies relating to marker development, quantification of changes in crop diversity and biodiversity and development of germplasm for a range of food and non-food uses. Substantial investment (£2m pa for 2005-2010) are being implemented in the area of genetic resources, pre-breeding and public good activities, crop genomics, wheat synthetics, SNP discovery, association genetics, population development and allele specific expression studies in polyploid species.
Role:
Provide overall strategic direction and leadership in the areas of association genetics and population development to underpin novel gene discovery and validation. Ensure that the biological platforms are in place to rapidly translate genetic discoveries into societal value.
Staff members’ profile:
Professor Andy Greenland is the head of the Centre for Plant Genetics, Breeding and Evaluation and is developing NIAB’s pre-breeding capability. He joined NIAB in 2005 from Syngenta where he worked as a senior research manager in cereal genomics and biotechnology. At Syngenta he specialized in the discovery and delivery of novel technologies for crop improvement and had a major role working at the interface between the research groups and the cereal breeding teams. From 2004, Prof. Greenland also worked on the research committee for Graingene II, a four partner joint collaboration in Australia on wheat improvement.
Dr Ian Mackay was appointed as statistical geneticist in 2005, with responsible for development and application of association genetics and the establishment of MAGIC populations in diverse crops. Previously he ran the statistical genetics section of a biopharmaceutical company, Oxagen Ltd, for six years, carrying out linkage and association analyses of complex disease in humans. Prior to this he was a founder and the research director for nine years of the plant breeding company Lion Seeds Ltd, established following a management buy-out in 1990.
References:
- Mackay, I.J., Powell, W. (2007) The Significance and Relevance of Linkage Disequilibrium and Association Mapping in Crops. Trends Plant Sci. 12, 57-63.
- Caldwell, KS, Russell JR, Langridge P, Powell W, (2006) Extreme population-dependent linkage disequilibrium detected in an inbreeding plant species, Hordeum vulgare. Genetics 172: 557-567.
- Rauscher, G. M., Smart C. D., Simko, I., Bonierbale, M., Mayton, H., Greenland, A., Fry, W. E. (2006) Characterization and mapping of RPi-ber, a novel potato late blight resistance genefrom Solanum berthaultii. Theor App Genet, 112, 674-687
- Pettipher, R., Mangion J., Hunter, M.G., Mackay I. (2005) Identification of G-protein-coupled receptors involved in inflammatory disease by genetic association studies. Current Opinion in Pharmacology 5, 412–417
- Pardo, M., MacKay, I., Oostra, B., van Duijn, C.M., Aulchenko, Y.S. (2005) The effect of genetic drift in a young genetically isolated population. Annals of Human Genetics. 69, 288-295
- Caldwell KS, Dvorak J, Lagudah ES, Akhunov E, Luo MC, Wolters P, Powell W (2004) Sequence polymorphism in polyploid wheat and their D-genome diploid ancestor. Genetics 167: 941 947.
- Wagner, D, Wellmer, F., Dilks, K., William, D., Smith, M.R., Kumar, P. P., Riechmann, J. L.,Greenland, A. J., Meyerowitz, E. M. (2004) Floral induction in tissue culture: a system for the analysis of LEAFY-dependent gene regulation. Plant J., 39, 273-282
- Costa, L. M., Gutierrez-Marcos, J. F., Brutnell, T. P., Greenland, A. J., Dickinson, H. G. (2003) Theglobby-1 (glo-1) mutation disrupts nuclear and cell division in the developing maize seedcausing alterations in endosperm cell fate and tissue differentiation. Development, 130, 5009-5017
- Morgante M, Hanafey M, Powell W (2002) Microsatellites are preferentially associated with the non-repetitive DNA in plant genomes. Nature Genetics 30: 194-200
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This project is supported by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme
for Research and Technological Development