Dr. Michael Schläppi

Cold tolerance and flowering time regulation in plants. Cold Stress Tolerance Response Mechanisms in Rice (Oryza sativa L.) - We have molecular and genetic projects to investigate cold stress tolerance response mechanisms in the model plant rice (Oryza sativa L.). We are focusing on exploring the natural variation that exists in rice to map new quantitative trait loci (QTL) for various cold tolerance traits and to identify QTL associated genes. Toward this goal, we are using a sophisticated method to screen the US Department of Agriculture rice mini-core (RMC) collection and the Rice Diversity Panel 1 (RDP1), both of which represent the diversity and complexity of the world's germplasms. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that mechanisms of cold stress tolerance responses measured in various ways are under complex genetic control. Our long-term goals are to field-test our laboratory results, to introgress large-effect QTL into elite rice lines, to fine-map interesting QTL, and to validate cold tolerance candidate genes associated with them. We are currently mapping differentially expressed genes and hub genes controlling gene co-expression modules to various QTL and use overexpression and CRISPR/Cas9 mediated knockout approaches for candidate gene assessments. In addition to these research projects, we are translating research outcomes into "real world" applications by cultivating cold tolerant rice varieties on two acres of land in the cold climate of Wisconsin (redstonerice.com).

Maghboli Balasjin N, Maki JS, Schläppi MR*, Marshall CW* (2022) Plant growth-promoting activity of bacteria isolated from Asian rice (Oryza sativa L.) depends on rice genotype. Micobiol Spectr 10:e0278721. (*co-corresponding authors)