Angela Bastidas, Fatima Tenorio, Mon-Ray Shao and Jorge Venegas, Department of Agronomy and Horticulture graduate students, were named recipients of the Widaman Trust Distinguished Graduate Assistant Award.
Bastidasis is specializing in crop physiology and production. Her areas of research include exploring the practice of interseeding cover crops at different corn developmental stages and evaluating changes in the corn planting – planting date, plant population and maturity – to allow successful cover crop establishment after corn harvest. Results are expected to improve crop management recommendations for Nebraska farmers. Bastidasis is advised by Roger Elmore.
Tenorio, Shao and Venegas are all specializing in plant breeding and genetics.
Tenorio’s research has involved temperature control of soybean node appearance and initiation. She is currently using data from collected farmers’ reports as a benchmark for research in more advanced cropping systems and yield optimization. She is also involved in the Global Yield Gap & Water Productivity Atlas project. Tenorio is advised by Patricio Grassini.
Shao’s research interest is in connecting genome regulation with plant development and physiology, including from cytonuclear interactions. Currently he is focusing on a gene named MSH1, which functions in both plastids and mitochondria. Loss of this gene causes large-scale changes to a multitude of important and interconnected regulatory pathways, such as phytohormones, stress responses, and circadian rhythm, with additional changes at the level of chromatin organization, such as in DNA methylation and small RNAs. These effects are modulated by environmental conditions, and together support the idea that organelles, and especially plastids, are hubs for integrating external and intracellular signals. Manipulation of the MSH1 gene can lead to increased phenotypic variation, and ongoing studies are exploring how the epigenetic alterations may contribute to this, as well as its practical implications in crop species. He is advised by Sally Mackenzie.
Venegas is advised by P. Stephen Baenziger and Robert Graybosch. He is studying the effect of two genes (GPC-B1 and lpa-1) in the mineral composition in wheat grain. His main objective is to incorporate these two traits into Great Plains wheat germplasm, which will increase protein, iron and zinc without affecting yield. To accomplish this objective, Venegas is using genomics tools to understand the genetic basics of the traits and eventually generate specific molecular markers. He is also using phenomics technology, including hyperspectral imaging at the Nebraska Innovation Campus Advance Phenotyping facilities, to find canopy signals that will help, together with the molecular markers, to identify, select and advance wheat lines with these traits.
The Widaman Trust was established in 1975 through a generous gift provided to the University of Nebraska Foundation by Ms. Blanche Widaman. She asked that the income from the trust be used for basic research in agriculture and that the funds be used for scholarships or fellowships for graduate students conducting basic research in agriculture.