H A P P Y H O L I D A Y S !!!
Position Announcement
The Seed Biotechnology Center is seeking an Executive Director too add to its current team. The Executive Director will be responsible for providing leadership in the ongoing development and implementation of building a premier entrepreneurial research and education program. The incumbent is responsible and is accountable for the strategic planning and implementation of the overall operation and evaluation of programs and activities that support the Center's mission, goals, and partnership objectives to increase its capacity to serve as a link between academic research, education programs, and the commercialization of new agricultural technologies.
For a detailed description go to: http://hr.ucdavis.edu/emp (VL#6917). Submit curriculum vitae, a two-page letter of interest including salary expectations, and the names, addresses and contact information for a minimum of four references to: DeeDee Kitterman, Chair, Search Committee, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, 150 Mrak Hall, University of California, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616. Position is open until filled. To receive full consideration applications should be received by January 2, 2007.
Seed Biology, Production & Quality Course
On February 21 & 22, 2007 the Seed Biotechnology Center and UC Davis Extension will offer this unique two-day course for professionals in the seed industry, crop consultants and growers to expand and update their knowledge. Participants will learn the fundamentals and the most current research information on seed development, production, harvesting, conditioning, storage, enhancement, and quality assessment. Instructors include: Dr. Derek Bewley, University of Guelph, Dr. Hiro Nonogaki, Oregon State University and University of California, Davis' Dr. Kent Bradford, Dr. Robert Gilbertson and Dr. Allen Van Deynze. For more information and to register online, go to the SBC.
Editors Bradford & Nonogaki Announce New Seed Book
Seed Development, Dormancy and Germination provides a comprehensive overview of seed biology from the point of view of the developmental and regulatory processes that are involved in the transition from a developing seed through dormancy and into germination and seedling growth. It examines the complexity of the environmental, physiological, molecular and genetic interactions that occur through the life cycle of seeds, along with the concepts and approaches used to analyze seed dormancy and germination behavior. It also identifies the current challenges and remaining questions for future research. The book is directed at plant developmental biologists, geneticists, plant breeders, seed biologists and graduate students. For more information go to Blackwell Publishing.
New Grant Awarded for Pepper
Allen Van Deynze, (Seed Biotechnology Center) and Alex Kozik (Genome Center) received a $1.1 Million grant from UC Discovery and a consortium of seed companies including: Rijk Zwaan, Enza Zaden, Bayer, DeRuiter seeds, Syngenta Inc. Seminis Inc and Harris Moran/Vilmorin to develop a comprehensive Affymetrix Array to discover and genotype DNA markers, Single Feature Polymorphisms, in pepper. This 3-year project will take advantage of the current EST resources in pepper representing >30,000 unigenes to design a massively-parallel microarray to define and map the variation in pepper breeding germplasm and genetic populations. This resource will also serve as a highly redundant microarray for expression analysis in pepper. In collaboration with Dr. James Prince, Fresno State University, we will phenotypically characterize a population segregating for resistance to Phytophthora blight on pepper, one of the most serious diseases in pepper. Additional collaborators are Dr. Molly Jahn, University of Wisconsin and Dr. Shanna Moore, Cornell University. This project will enable genetic and functional studies on a whole genome scale, as well as rapidly link markers to traits and candidate genes for breeding.
Please contact Sue at: scwebster@ucdavis.edu for questions and comments.
Seed Biotechnology Center
University of California
Plant Reproductive Biology
Extension Center Drive
Davis CA 95616
phone: 530.754.7333
fax: 530.754.7222
