WHAT'S NEW

2009

Ni J, Pujar A, Youens-Clark K, Yap I, Jaiswal P, Tecle I, Tung C-W, Ren L, Spooner W, Wei X, Avraham S, Ware D, Stein L, McCouch S (2009) Gramene QTL database: development, content and applications. Database: J Biol Databases Curation:bap005 http://database.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/2009/0/bap005

Fitzgerald MA, McCouch SR, Hall RD (2009) Not just a grain of rice: the quest for quality. Trends Plant Sci 14: 133-139 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6TD1-4VMWXRP-2/2/469c227d8d61c1d7156e49c43a8254f3

Lopez-Gartner G, Cortina H, McCouch S, Moncada DPM (2009) Analysis of genetic structure in a sample of coffee (Coffea arabica L.) using fluorescent SSR markers. Tree Genet Genom DOI 10.1007/s11295-008-0197-2. http://www.springerlink.com/content/j0q51761753810um/fulltext.html

Thomson M, Polato NR, Prasetiyono J, Trijatmiko KR, Silitonga TS, McCouch S (2009) Genetic diversity of isolated populations of Indonesian landraces of rice (Oryza sativa L.) collected in East Kalimantan on the island of Borneo. Rice J 114:559-568.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12284-009-9023-1

Xu Y, This D, Pausch R, Vonhof W, Coburn J, Comstock J, McCouch S (2009) Leaf-level water use efficiency determined by carbon isotope discrimination in rice seedlings: genetic variation associated with population structure and QTL mapping. Theor Appl Genet 118: 1065-1081. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00122-009-0963-z

2008

• Susan McCouch teaching PLBR 201 "Plants, Genes, and Global Food Production this Fall semester: Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:10-11:30 PM in Plant Sci Rm G37. Adam Famoso is her TA.
• McCouch & CGSNL (Committee on Gene Symbolization, Nomenclature and Linkage, Rice Genetics Cooperative) (2008) Gene Nomenclature System for Rice. Rice J: DOI 10.1007/s12284-008-9004-9. (OPEN ACCESS)
• Phillips R, Magor N, Shires D, Leung H, McCouch S, Macintosh D (2008) Student Opportunity: Short-Term Exposure to International Agriculture. Rice J: DOI 10.1007/s12284-008-9003-x (URL) NOTE: Brief communication
• Avraham S, Tung C-W, Ilic K, Jaiswal P, Kellogg EA, McCouch S, Pujar A, Reiser L, Rhee SY, Sachs MM, Schaeffer M, Stein L, Stevens P, Vincent L, Zapata F, Ware D (2008) The Plant Ontology Database: A Community Resource for Plant Structure and Developmental Stages, Controlled Vocabulary and Annotations. Nucleic Acids Research 36: D449-D454 (open access)
• Liang C, Jaiswal P, Hebbard C, Avraham S, Buckler ES, Casstevens T, Hurwitz B, McCouch S, Ni J, Pujar A, Ravenscroft D, Ren L, Spooner W, Tecle I, Thomason J, Tung C-w, Wei X, Yap I, Youens-Clark K, Ware D, Stein L (2008) Gramene: a growing plant comparative genomics resource. Nucleic Acids Research 36: D947-953 (LINK) (URL)
• Xie X, Jin F, Song M-H, Suh J-P, Hwang H-G, Kim Y-G, McCouch S, Ahn S-N (2008) Fine mapping of a yield-enhancing QTL cluster associated with transgressive variation in an Oryza sativa  X  O. rufipogon cross. TAG Theoretical and Applied Genetics 116: 613-622 (LINK) (URL)

• Rice: Research to Production Course: June 2008 in the Philippines.
• The improved 'public' web-face to our NSF Trangressive Variation in Rice Grant (click Rice Diversity Website, left sidebar.)
• Woo M-O, Ham T-H, Ji H-S, Choi M-S, Jiang W, Chu S-H, Piao R, Chin J-H, Kim J-A, Park BS, Seo HS, Jwa N-S, McCouch S, Koh H-J (2008) Inactivation of the UGPase1 gene causes genic male sterility and endosperm chalkiness in rice (Oryza sativa L.). The Plant Journal 54:190-204 LINK URL
• Kovach M and McCouch S (2008) Leveraging natural diversity: back through the bottleneck. 5. Curr Opin Pl Biol 11:193-200 LINK URL (go to: http://dx.doi.org and paste in: doi:10.1016/j.pbi.2007.12.006)
• Iyer-Pascuzzi AS, Jiang H, Huang J, McCouch S (2008) Genetic and functional characterization of the rice bacterial blight disease resistance gene xa5. Phytopathology 98:289-295 LINK URL

2007

• CALs Fall 2007 Magazine article entitled "Supergenomics: Molecular Genetics in the Age of the Supercomputer" by Jeannie Griffith PDF
• Nov. 5, 2007: Dr. Susan McCouch wins a Golden Sickle Award in Bangkok, Thailand, presented by HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn.
• Kovach M, Sweeney M, McCouch S (2007) New insights into the history of rice domestication. Trends Genet 23:579-587 LINK URL
• McCouch SR, Sweeney M, Li J, Jiang H, Thomson M, Septiningsih E, Moncada P, Xiao J, Coburn J, Fraker E, Garris A, Tai T, Martinez C, Tohme J, Sugiono M, McClung A, Yuan LP, Ahn S-N (2005) Identification and transfer of trait-enhancing alleles from wild species. In: Brar DS, Mackill DJ, Hardy B (eds) Rice Genetics V: Proceedings of the Fifth International Rice Genetics Symposium, 19-23 November 2005. World Scientific Publishing and International Rice Research Institute, Manila, Philippines, pp 209-232 (not available online)
• Caicedo AL, Williamson SH, Hernandez RD, Boyko A, Fledel-Alon A, York TL, Polato NR, Olsen KM, Nielsen R, McCouch SR, Bustamante CD, Purugganan MD (2007) Genome-Wide Patterns of Nucleotide Polymorphism in Domesticated Rice. PLoS Genetics 3:e163 LINK
• Today's white rice is mutation spread by early farmers, researchers say. 16 Aug 2007 Cornell University Chronicle Online
  
• Red or White? Nature "Research Highlights", vol 448 23 Aug 2007, pg 843
  
• Global Dissemination of a Single Mutation Conferring White Pericarp in rice. PLoS Genetics 3: e133 (2007)
  

WELCOME to the MCCOUCH LAB WebPage

Here you will find information regarding the research interests of the group, recent publications, current and former lab members, and a calendar with upcoming events.

The McCouch group investigates natural variation in the genus Oryza, focusing on how it evolved, how it is distributed in both domesticated and wild Oryza species, how it conditions complex phenotypes and how it can be efficiently utilized in rice improvement.

We have pioneered studies demonstrating that low-yielding wild and exotic Oryza species harbor genes and quantitative trait loci (QTL) that can be used to enhance the performance of modern, high-yielding rice cultivars. This work is done in collaboration with scientists and breeders in Asia, Africa, North and South America.

In collaboration with colleagues at Cold Spring Harbor Lab, we develop and curate Gramene, a large, publicly available comparative plant genome database (www.gramene.org) that integrates knowledge from many different disciplines. Gramene allows students and researchers to link molecular genetic information in the grasses with knowledge about the way plants grow and develop in diverse environments.