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ARS Home Midwest Area St. Paul, Minnesota Plant Science Research People





- Shaun Curtin
- Josh Gamble
- D. Jo Heuschele
- Deborah Samac
- Daniel Schlatter
- Zhanyou Xu

Zhanyou  Xu    Research Geneticist (Plants) /ARSUserFiles/50621000/Zhanyou.png
 Zhanyou XuResearch GeneticistOffice Phone: (612) 625-3709 **Personal Background** **Publications**
 **Disciplinary Areas** Alfalfa and soybean genetics and breedingGenomics selectionBioinformaticsMachine learning
 **Current Research Focus** Alfalfa germplasm screening and development for stress resistance/tolerance and yieldAlfalfa root architecture genetics and breeding for specific environmentsAlfalfa genomic selection and machine learning for alfalfa digestible biomass yieldImage recognition and deep learning for alfalfa live phenotyping
 Publications(Clicking on the reprint iconReprint Icon  will take you to the publication reprint.)Genetic mapping of tolerance to bacterial stem blight caused by Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.)-(Peer Reviewed Journal) Moya, Y.S., Medina, C., Herrera, B., Chamba, F., Yu, L., Xu, Z., Samac, D.A. 2023. Genetic mapping of tolerance to bacterial stem blight caused by Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.). Plants. 12(1). Article 110. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13010110.Editorial: Machine vision and machine learning for plant phenotyping and precision agriculture-(Review Article)Development of a mid-density genotyping platform for alfalfa and its application in a drought tolerance breeding program-(Abstract Only) Sandercock, A.M., Sapkota, M., Medina, C.M., Xu, Z., Yu, L., Zhao, D., Mejia-Guerra, K., Mollinari, M., Samac, D.A., Irish, B.M., Heller-Uszynska, K., Beil, C.T., Sheehan, M.J. 2024. Development of a mid-density genotyping platform for alfalfa and its application in a drought tolerance breeding program. Plant and Animal Genome Conference. San Diego, California. January 12-17, 2024.Quantifying winter survival of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.)-(Peer Reviewed Journal) Poudel, K., Sheaffer, C., Jungers, J., Weihs, B.J., Lamb, J., Bauder, S., Piscasso, V., Heuschele, D.J., Xu, Z. 2023. Quantifying winter survival of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.). Agronomy Journal. 116(1):170-179. https://doi.org/10.1002/agj2.21487.Gene edited alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.)  for hyper phosphorus accumulation-(Abstract Only) Poudel, K., Curtin, S.J., Sheaffer, C., Xu, Z. 2023. Gene edited alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.)  for hyper phosphorus accumulation. National Association of Plant Breeders. Greenville, SC. July 16-20, 2023.Improved forage quality in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) via selection for increased stem fiber digestibility-(Peer Reviewed Journal) Xu, Z., Heuschele, D.J., Lamb, J., Jung, H.G., Samac, D.A. 2023. Improved forage quality in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) via selection for increased stem fiber digestibility. Agronomy. 13(3). Article 770. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13030770.Alfalfa gene editing-(Abstract Only) Curtin, S.J., Poudel, K., Scheaffer, C.C., Xu, Z., Samac, D.A. 2023. Alfalfa gene editing. Plant and Animal Genome Conference. January 13-18, 2023. San Diego, California.What have we learned from 20 years of breeding for alfalfa root system architecture?-(Abstract Only) Xu, Z., Bucciarelli, B., Cao, Y., York, L., Gamble, J.D., Lamb, J.F., Samac, D.A. 2022. What have we learned from 20 years of breeding for alfalfa root system architecture?. Meeting Abstract. November 14-17, 2022. San Diego, California.Apply spatial statistics analysis to ordinal data for soybean iron deficiency chlorosis-(Peer Reviewed Journal) Xu, Z., Cannon, S.B., Beavis, W.D. 2022. Apply spatial statistics analysis to ordinal data for soybean iron deficiency chlorosis. Agronomy. 12(9). Article 2095. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12092095.Cell wall characteristics related to alfalfa digestibility-(Abstract Only) Heuschele, D.J., Xu, Z., Lamb, J.F., Jung, H.G., Samac, D.A. 2022. Cell wall characteristics related to alfalfa digestibility[sbstract]. North American Alfalfa Improvement Conference. June 7-9, 2022. East Lansing, Michigan.The genetic gain pattern indicates additive gene effects control alfalfa stem fiber digestibility-(Abstract Only) Xu, Z., Heuschele, D.J., Lamb, J.F., Jung, H.G., Samac, D.A. 2022. The genetic gain pattern indicates additive gene effects control alfalfa stem fiber digestibility. North American Alfalfa Improvement Conference. June 7-9, 2022. East Lansing, Michigan.Good statistical practices in agronomy using categorical data analysis, with alfalfa examples having poisson and binomial underlying distributions-(Peer Reviewed Journal) Mowers, R.P., Bucciarelli, B., Cao, Y., Samac, D.A., Xu, Z. 2022. Good statistical practices in agronomy using categorical data analysis, with alfalfa examples having poisson and binomial underlying distributions. Crops. 2(2):154-171. https://doi.org/10.3390/crops2020012.Objective phenotyping root system architecture using image augmentation and machine learning in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.)-(Peer Reviewed Journal) Xu, Z., York, L.M., Seethepalli, A., Bucciarelli, B., Cheng, H., Samac, D.A. 2022. Objective phenotyping root system architecture using image augmentation and machine learning in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.). Plant Phenomics. 2022. Article 9879610. https://doi.org/10.34133/2022/9879610.Overwintering and yield responses of two late-summer seeded alfalfa cultivars to phosphate supply-(Peer Reviewed Journal) Wang, Y., Yu, L., Zhang, J., Xu, Z., Samac, D.A. 2022. Overwintering and yield responses of two late-summer seeded alfalfa cultivars to phosphate supply. Agronomy. 12(2). Article 327. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12020327.Phenotyping seedlings for selection of root system architecture in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.)-(Peer Reviewed Journal) Bucciarelli, B., Xu, Z., Ao, S., Cao, Y., Monteros, M., Topp, C., Samac, D.A. 2021. Phenotyping seedlings for selection of root system architecture in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.). Plant Methods. 7. Article 125. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13007-021-00825-3.Divergent selection in wild rice for resistance and susceptibility to foliar diseases to decrease reliance on foliar fungicides-(Abstract Only)Predictions from algorithmic modeling result in better decisions than from data modeling for soybean iron deficiency chlorosis-(Peer Reviewed Journal) Xu, Z., Kurek, A., Cannon, S.B., Beavis, W.D. 2021. Predictions from algorithmic modeling result in better decisions than from data modeling for soybean iron deficiency chlorosis. PLoS ONE. 16(7). Article e0240948. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240948.Real-time live phenotyping-A path to next generation breeding and farming-(Trade Journal) Xu, Z., Jeo, R.T., Samac, D.A., Ramos-Giraldo, P., Reberg-Horton, C., Mirsky, S.B. 2021. Real-time live phenotyping-A path to next generation breeding and farming. Forage Focus. (March 2021):14-15.ProjectsExpanding Resiliency and Utility of Alfalfa in AgroecosystemsIn-House Appropriated (D)Accession Number:445054Screening Alfalfa Cultivars for Value-Added Biochemical CharacteristicsReimbursable Cooperative Agreement (R)Accession Number:443164Applying Multi-Model UAV Imaging System for Winter Survival and Biomass Breeding in AlfalfaNon-Assistance Cooperative Agreement (S)Accession Number:441900Enhancing Winter Survival and Forage Yield in AlfalfaNon-Assistance Cooperative Agreement (S)Accession Number:442572ARS News ArticlesNo news articles listed for this employee.


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