Texas A&M AgriLife Research
6500 Amarillo Blvd W                                         Curriculum Vitae
Amarillo, TX 79106                                              View Small Grains Genetic Program
Phone: (806)677-5600                                         Publications
Fax: (806)677-5644
Email Shuyu

Experience
Professor (Sept. 2021 – Present),
Associate Professor (Sept. 2016 – Present),
Assistant Professor (Aug. 2010 – Aug. 2016),
Small Grains Genetics and Genomics, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Amarillo, TX, 2010 – Present
Adjunct professor, Dept. of Agricultural Sciences, West Texas A&M University, Canyon, TX, 2012 – Present
Research Scientist in Small Grain Breeding, Genetics and Genomics at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 2007 – 2010
Visiting Fellow in Common Bean Breeding and Molecular Genetics at Agriculture Agri-Food Canada – Harrow Research Center, 2004 – 2007

Expertise
Molecular mapping of genes/QTL associated with important traits of crops.
Identification, validation and application of SNP markers linked to traits of interest.
Molecular cloning of genes linked to important traits.
Marker-assisted breeding to develop germplasm lines and cultivars in Small Grains and Common Bean.

Research Projects and Goals
Genetic and genomic studies of important traits of wheat in Great Plains. Traits include drought and heat tolerance, resistance to diseases (leaf, stem and stripe rusts, wheat streak mosaic virus), and arthropods (greenbug, Hessian fly, and wheat curl mite) as well as good end-use quality. Both traditional and molecular breeding techniques are used to develop germplasm lines with one or more target traits. Genomic techniques including gene/QTL mapping, target molecular marker identification, validation and utilization, diagnostic and high throughput KASP SNP screening, gene cloning, gene functional analysis will be used to understand and improve those target traits.

1)    Developing germplasm lines with multiple favorable alleles for drought tolerance, insect and disease resistances.

2)    Genetic mapping and genomics studies of genes/QTL for important traits in adapted cultivars.  Study drought tolerance through RNASeq analyses of water stressed plants.

3)    Validating and applying diagnostic and high throughput KASP markers in marker-assisted breeding for target genes and major QTL controlling important traits in wheat production.

Staff
Shuhao Yu, Postdoctoral Research Associate (Jan 2021 – Present)
Ph.D student, Zhen Wang, Research Assistant (Aug. 2019 – Present)
Ph.D. student, Kyle Parker, Research Assistant (Aug. 2020 – Present)
M.S. student, Mustafa, Cerit, Research Assistant (Aug. 2019 – Present)

Part-time student workers:
Maria Zavala, May 2021 – Present
Lyanna De Leon, June 2020 – Present