PhD candidate Hannah Jeffrey successfully defends her thesis:
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Email"Insight into the genetic control of cooking time at the transcriptomic and genomic levels" to launch the next stage of her career
In this project, Hannah 1) identified quantitative trait loci (QTL), genes, and genetic mechanisms that have been associated with cooking time in dry beans in the literature; 2) quantified gene expression patterns related to genetic variability for cooking time in beans during soaking (a common method used by home cooks to lower dry bean cooking times), identified candidate genes for fast cooking time via joining of RNA-seq and QTL data, and investigate the phenotypic effects of candidate genes via biochemical analyses such as enzyme and substrate (i.e., phytate and total nutrient) assays, and 3); studied the effects of high temperature and humidity post-harvest storage on dry beans on a transcriptomic and biochemical level; and 4) validated molecular and phenotypic markers for cooking time in multiple populations.
“Cooking time is very important in places that depend on beans for core nutrition, but might not have the resources to cook them for hours and hours,” said Hannah, who came to MSU from Michigan’s Alma College where she got interested in the story of cooking time and genetics in dry beans. Hannah went right to work on her PhD with Karen Cichy and the Food legume quality genetics lab. “In addition, fast-cooking dry beans are expected to be more appealing to modern consumers who are interested in healthy, easy-to-prepare meals," Hannah said.
Part of Hannah’s work was funded through the NRT impacts program, an NSF-funded program for training doctoral students to employ advanced computational/data science approaches to address grand challenges in plant biology. “I got good exposure to the USDA, the University, as well as industry, when I did an internship at Bayer Crop Science,” Hannah said.
Other funding came from the PBGB Plant Science Fellowship program, from the Food legume quality genetics lab, and several different departments were represented in her committee, including PSM, University of Georgia Dept of Crop and Soil Sciences (Robin Buell), and MSU Plant Biology (David Lowry), and Horticulture (Kyung-Hwan Han).
Now Hannah has a full semester in which to tidy up loose ends and pursue some side interests. “I don’t know exactly where I’ll end up but the market for plant breeders seems good. I’m optimistic and keeping my options open.”
