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The KSA Native Genome Project

Project

Project Details

Program
Plant Science
Field of Study
Genomics, Plant biology, Bioinformatics, Molecular Biology
Division
Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering
Faculty Lab Link
https://www.kaust.edu.sa/en/study/faculty/rod-a-wing
Center Affiliation
Center for Desert Agriculture

Project Description

Environmental protection via the conservation of biological diversity is a central theme of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s (KSA) Vision 2030. Biologically characterizing ecosystems that are relevant to the mission of MEWA’s National Center for the Development of Vegetation Cover & Combating Desertification (NCDVC&CD) would provide essential data as to how and why a particular ecosystem operates in a particular environment. This information can then, in turn, be used to engineer large-scale ecosystems that are sustainable, will positively influence vegetation cover, and will fight against desertification across the KSA. In partnership with the NCDVC&CD, the CDA are studying many common and endangered plant species of cultural, religious, medicinal and pastoral significance. This project will establish a robust pipeline/infrastructure to characterize 100s-1000s of different ecosystems across the Kingdom, both terrestrial and aquatic, as part of a broader initiative entitled the KSA Native Genome Project (KSA-NGP) under development. Furthermore, it will produce a new cohort of scientists trained in the study of ecosystem biology and its application to environmental protection and conservation.

About the Researcher

Rod Wing
Professor, Plant Science Director
Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering Division

Affiliations

Education Profile

  • 1980 B.A. Biochemistry, University of California, Berkeley
  • 1987 Ph.D. Genetics, University of California, Davis
  • 1987-1988 Postdoctoral Research Associate, Plant Gene Expression Center, U.C. Berkeley-USDA/ARS
  • 1988-1990 USDA/ARS Terry Kinney Postdoctoral Fellow, Plant Gene Expression Center, U.C. Berkeley-USDA/ARS
  • 1990-1991 Research Associate, Cornell University, NSF Plant Science Center, Ithaca, NY

Research Interests

Professor Wing's lab focuses on the discovery and utilization of natural variation in the genus Oryza to help solve the 10-billion people question: i.e. ""How we feed our world without destroying our world by 2050"". At present, the Wing lab is focusing on the generation of Platinum Standard Reference Genomes for cultivated rice and its wild relatives to create a pan-Oryza genome that will serve as a template to create a digital genebank (DGB) for rice. This DGB will be interrogated to discover and analyze essentially all SNP and structural variation that exists across the genus. Such data will be linked with high-throughput phenotyping data derived from a global rice array composed of ~3000 diverse rice accessions planted in multiple locations around the world, over multiple seasons. Such data can then be used to accelerate the breeding of ""Green Super Rice"" varieties that are adapted to different environmental conditions, including the desert environments of the Middle East.

Selected Publications

  • Twelve Platinum-Standard Reference Genomes Sequences (PSRefSeq) that complete the full range of genetic diversity of Asian rice, Zhou, Y., D. Chebotarov, D. Kudrna, V. Llaca, S. Lee, S. Rajasekar, N. Mohammed, N. Al-Bader, C. Sobel-Sorenson, P. Parakkal, L.J. Arbelaez, N. Franco, N. Alexandrov, N.R.S. Hamilton, H. Leung, R. Mauleon, M. Lorieux, A. Zuccolo, K. McNally, J. Zhang, R.A. Wing, BioRxiv, 2019. Accepted (2020) in Scientific Data.
  • The Genomics of Oryza Species Provides Insights into Rice Domestication and Heterosis, Chen, E., X. Huang, Z. Tian, R.A. Wing* & B. Han* (*Co-corresponding authors), Annual Review of Plant Biology, 2019, 70:639-665.
  • Rapid evolution of protein diversity by de novo origination in Oryza, Zhang, Li, C. Zhang, Y. Ren, T. Yang, G. Li, A.R. Gschwend, Y. Yu, G. Hou, J. Zi, R. Zhou, B. Wen, J. Zhang, K. Chougule, M. Wang, D. Copetti, G. Jin, J. Chen, Z. Peng, Y. Ouyang, R.A. Wing*, S. Liu*, M. Long* (*Co-corresponding authors), Nature Ecology & Evolution, 2019, 3:679-690.
  • The rice genome revolution: from an ancient grain to Green Super Rice, Wing, R.A, M.D. Purugganan & Q. Zhang, Nature Reviews Genetics, 2018, 19:505-517.
  • Harnessing natural variation across 3,000 rice genomes: SNP discovery, population structure and genome diversity, Wang, W. et. al., Nature, 2018, 557:43-49.

Desired Project Deliverables

- Generate high-quality genomic resources for all native plants under study, and associated microbial species in the KSA - Investigate their ecosystems with respect to metabolomes, root development/architecture, and microbiomes

Recommended Student Background

Plant science
Biology
Genomics
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