Crop Germplasm Identification and Discovery

Team Name: Crop Germplasm Identification and Discovery

Research Focus: Building a multi-disciplinary crop germplasm accurate phenotyping identification platform and high-throughput genotyping identification platform, and developing key technologies for important trait identification and evaluation; carrying out precise identification of high yield, disease and insect resistance, stress tolerance, nutrient use efficiency and other related traits of different important crops base germplasm in genebank, and screening excellent germplasm with prominent target traits; carrying out high-throughput genotyping identification for selected representative germplasm to analyze their genetic diversity and discover genotypes of critical breeding values; and building a data integration and analysis platform.

Research objectives: To focus on the much-needed traits in current breeding and future needs in seed industry, build a multidisciplinary crop germplasm identification and discovery innovation system, carry out large-scale accurate phenotypic and genotypic identification of representative germplasm, and discover the new materials and genetic resources that can meet current breeding requirements or have forward-looking utilization values.

Team Chief Scientist: Dr. WANG Tian-yu

Majoring in plant genetics, Dr. Wang graduated from the University of Bourgogne inFranceand got a Ph.D. degree in September 1996. He has been working at Institute of Crop Sciences of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) since October 1998 and serves as a vice chairman of the Maize Science Committee under the Crop Academic Society of China.

Dr. Wang is mainly engaged in the research on the evaluation, innovation and utilization of maize and millet germplasm and has undertaken more than 30 national, provincial, ministerial research projects and international cooperation projects. Dedicated to building the crop germplasm identification and discovery platform, Wang, funded by national key technology support programs and basic research projects and working together with colleagues, manages to build a maize germplasm evaluation technique system with Chinese characteristics. Aside from completing the identification and evaluation of more than 2,000 pieces of maize germplasm, he also undertakes “Racial classification and characterization of maize landraces inChina” and “Phenotypic analysis and molecular identification of drought tolerant maize germplasm,” etc. QTL analysis is also carried out to analyze drought resistance and yield-related traits for more than 10 pieces of excellent maize materials. In addition, through south reproduction and north selection, he succeeds discovering 860 pieces of excellent materials such as CN178 and applies them widely to domestic maize breeding. His achievements have been widely recognized by international counterparts and his team becomes a partner of theUnited States’ “North American Maize Germplasm Improvement Program” and integrates into the international cooperation team in a real sense. In terms of millet germplasm identification, evaluation and utilization, he has for the first time identified herbicide-resistant millet germplasm for practical use and improved a number of approaches to integrated utilization, which makes remarkable achievements in herbicide-resistant millet breeding and maintains the internationally advanced level. Currently, more than 30 new herbicide-resistant millet varieties have been cultivated nationwide by using herbicide-resistant millet germplasm, playing an important role in promoting the country’s millet scientific and technological progress.

He has won 12 national, provincial and ministerial scientific and technological awards, published 220 papers in different scientific journals and guided 36 postgraduates, doctoral and postdoctoral students. He has been honored CAAS Century Academic Leader and Outstanding Talent, Young Expert With Outstanding Contributions by Ministry of Agriculture, New Century Talents Project Candidate and Chinese Outstanding Postdoctor, enjoys special allowances of the State Council, and wins the first Top Ten “China Outstanding Postdoctoral Award”.

Team Members: WANG Xiao-ming, ZONG Xu-xiao, ZhANG Hui, REN Gui-xing, ZhU Zhen-dong, LI Xiang-hua, GUO Gang-gang, LIU San-cai, YAO Yang, JIANG Qi-yan