Phylogeny and Development of the Panicoid Grasses

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9815392 Kellogg The world's food supply depends primarily on three crops: rice, corn (maize), and wheat. These are all classified as members of the grass family and have many genetic and developmental similarities. Because they are so closely related, it means that studying any one of them helps understand all the others. It also means that study of any other non-crop grasses can provide basic data that will ultimately be used for crop research. This project studies the grasses most closely related to maize, a group that includes sugar cane, sorghum, foxtail millet, pearl millet, and common millet, and approximately 2000 other species. We will determine which plants are most closely related to the crops by comparing their DNA sequences. We will also study how the plants develop to determine how their flowers and seeds form. The 2000 species of panicoid grasses undoubtedly contain genes that will be of use for crop improvement. This project will produce the "road map", a diagram of relationships and description of developmental change, that will guide the search for and understanding of those genes.