NDSU researchers have been awarded a three-year, $3.1 million grant from the National Science Foundation Plant Genome Research Program. NDSU principal investigators are Shahryar Kianian, associate professor of plant sciences, and Anne Denton, assistant professor of computer science, for the proposal titled “Construction of high-resolution physical maps for large plant genomes.”

According to Kianian, NDSU is the lead institution, collaborating with Oregon State University, University of California at Davis and the USDA-Agricultural Research Service’s Western Regional Research Center in Albany, Calif.

“This project is aimed at optimizing the radiation hybrid mapping approach to generate high-resolution physical maps for the wheat D-genome,” Kianian explained. “The tools, methods and knowledge developed in this project can be applied to other crop species and will facilitate the construction of physical maps at a fraction of the cost of current methods. These maps will provide easy access to genes of scientific and agricultural importance and the development of new strategies to manipulate crop plants to better serve the needs of a growing world population.”

Kianian earned his bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from the University of California at Irvine and his doctorate in genetics from the University of California at Davis.

Denton earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Stuttgart, Germany; master’s degree in computer science from NDSU; and doctorate in physics from the University of Mainz, Germany.

“This grant is the result of some excellent research by some great students and researchers at NDSU,” Kianian said. “It demonstrates what we are capable of, and represents a great opportunity to showcase the best of NDSU research capability and compete with world class institutions.”