My professional research interests are in weed biology and center on elucidating mechanisms that regulate dormancy in seeds and the growth and development of root buds on perennial weeds.
Wild oat is serious weed world wide and in the Northern Plains of the United States and Canada.
Wild oat and other weeds persist in agroecosystems and natural environments despite our efforts to control them because dormant and long-living seeds in the soil are a source of reinfestation year after year. Wild oat has been used as a model system to investigated the physiological, biochemical, molecular, and genetic basis for dormancy. We are currently investigating genotype by environmental interactions as they relate to germinability and seeking molecular markers for germinability QTL in wild oat. Cloning genes that regulate germinability is critical to understand mechanisms for dormancy and preharvest sprouting in cereal grain crops. In contrast, rice is well suited for cloning genes.