Merging Crop Modeling and Genetics: A Training Workshop, August 2014, Univerity of Florida.

Plant genomics projects have generated a cornucopia of data ranging from an ever increasing number of genome sequences to a vast array of gene expression data. However, one of the major challenges facing the plant biology community at this time is establishing reliable connections between a genotype and its corresponding range of potential phenotypes that can be generated under a range of environments. Gene-based crop simulation models (CSMs) are valuable tools to study gene function in the context of a crop phenotype in diverse environments, and also as a plant breeding tool. NSF funds will support a training workshop to make the research community aware of the potential benefits of incorporating genetic information into crop models. The workshop will promote interactions between crop modelers, breeders and geneticists, and will provide training of advanced graduate students and postdoctoral associates in quantitative genetics, crop modeling, phenotyping and bioinformatics.

Gene-based crop simulation models (CSMs) are dynamic tools that use mathematical expressions to represent plant growth and development under different environments; for this reason, they provide a unique opportunity to establish a bridge between the genotype domain and the more plastic phenotype domain. Calibration of CSMs yields a set of genotype specific parameters (GSPs), while genetic analysis can identify the genes associated with GSPs, and help turn the GSPs into mathematical functions of the controlling genes. This approach is being pursued by geneticist, breeders and crop-modelers at the University of Florida in collaboration with colleagues at North Dakota State University, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Puerto Rico, and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) (Colombia). The 6-day workshop will include lectures and hands-on exercises in dry- and wet-lab settings. A manual covering the different topics that will be addressed in the workshop will be made available to participants and also to the research community along with a video of the workshop through a dedicated website.