Associate Professor of Plant Biology & Principal Investigator of Ecological and Agriculture Genomics Laboratory, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA

Biograph
Dr. Bao-Hua Song is an Associate Professor of Plant Biology & Principal Investigator of Ecological and Agriculture Genomics Laboratory, University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She earned her Ph.D. in Botany at the Beijing Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Research in her lab focuses on understanding molecular mechanisms and evolution of plant biotic and abiotic stress response using crop wild relatives as study systems. Her current research projects include 1) Wild soybean cyst nematode resistance; 2) Wild sweet potato salt tolerance; 2) Genetic basis of nutrient-related complex trait variation. She has published 38 peer-reviewed papers with a total impact factor of over 175 in plant ecological genomics and crop science.

Speech Title: Omics in wild soybean (Glycine soja) – insights into plant stress management

Abstract: Climate change has generated various critical challenges to agriculture sustainability and food security. These challenges may be met by the development of novel crop varieties with increased biotic or abiotic resistance that enables them to thrive in changing environments. Crop wild relatives (CWRs) harbor a much higher level of genetic diversity than cultivated crops and have the potential to meet these challenges. The wild soybean (Glycine soja), from which domesticated soybeans (Glycine max) were derived, is widely distributed throughout diverse habitats in East Asia. We use G. soja as our study system to investigate its genomic diversity, population structure, climate adaptation, and pest resistance. We integrated genome-wide association studies, RNA-seq comparisons, metabolomic comparisons, as well as molecular genetics, to dissect the genetic basis of wild soybean resistance to soybean cyst nematode (SCN), the most devastating pest of soybean. We identified some candidate genes involved in broad-spectrum resistance to multiple types of SCN. These candidate genes will not only shed light on the molecular mechanisms of plant and SCN interactions, but also will facilitate the molecular breeding and development of soybean varieties with improved SCN resistance.