Cristobal Uauy is a Ph.D. student working to improve the nutritional value of wheat by incorporating genetic diversity from its wild relatives. His focus is on a quantitative trait locus (QTL) he identified which increases the protein, zinc, and iron content in wheat by 10-15%. This has allowed him to begin understanding the genetic mechanisms responsible for nutrient remobilization and at the same time to use marker assisted selection (MAS) to move this allele, along with a linked gene for stripe rust resistance, into Californian cultivated varieties. See the results of his Ph.D. thesis in the November 2006 issue of Science. Advisor: Jorge Dubcovsky. Plant Sciences Department, Genetics Graduate Group.

Uauy, C., J.C. Brevis, X. Chen, I.A. Khan, L. Jackson, O. Chicaiza, A. Distelfeld, T. Fahima, and J. Dubcovsky . 2005. High-temperature adult plant (HTAP) stripe rust resistance gene Yr36 from Triticum turgidum ssp. dicoccoides is closely linked to the grain protein content locus Gpc-B1. Theor Appl. Genet. 112: 97-105.
 
Uauy C., J.C. Brevis, and J. Dubcovsky. 2006. The high grain protein content gene Gpc-B1 accelerates senescence and has pleiotropic effects on protein content in wheat. Journal of Experimental Botany. 57:
2785-2794.

Uauy C., A. Distelfeld, T. Fahima, A. Blechl, J. Dubcovsky. 2006. A NAC gene regulating senescence improves grain protein, Zn, and Fe content in wheat. Science. November 24.

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