Recommended Citation
August 1, 2013.
Abstract
Standard irrigation practices promote salt and boron accumulation in soils on the Westside of Central California. The build-up of these inorganic salts leads to the degradation of arable land and reduction of crop production. Different clones of poplar trees have been shown to grow in salt- and boron-contaminated soils, and in doing so, gradually remove significant amounts of these inorganic salts from the soil. In an effort to identify molecular markers linked with salt and boron tolerance in poplars, 31 PCR primer pairs have been designed based on candidate genes identified from the literature, and an additional 31 PCR primer pairs have been designed based on proteomics work by Dr Danika LeDuc at CSU East Bay. Her research has provided us with a list of proteins that are differentially expressed in poplar based on the presence or absence of salt and boron in the soil, and primers were designed based on the corresponding DNA sequences from the Populus trichocarpa genome. Primers will be tested via PCR on genomic DNA extracted from a set of 9 poplar tree clones: 3 tolerant and 6 sensitive to salt and boron. After PCR, the samples will be run on an agarose gel, and if a size polymorphism is not detected, the bands will be sent out for sequencing for the detection of polymorphism. If a strong correlation between salt tolerance and a particular DNA marker is found, then a molecular marker potentially useful in tagging salt- and boron-tolerance in poplar will have been identified.
Disciplines
Biology | Genetics | Plant Breeding and Genetics
Mentor
James P. Prince
Lab site
California State University, Fresno (CSU Fresno)
Funding Acknowledgement
This material is based upon work supported by the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation and by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0952013. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation or the National Science Foundation. This project has also been made possible with support of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation. The STAR program is administered by the Cal Poly Center for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Education (CESaME) on behalf of the California State University (CSU).
URL: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/star/215