Systematic detection and analysis of gene regulatory evolution in crop plants

通过特定的杂交和选择具有良好性状的后代进行进一步繁殖的植物改良一直是人类的一项重要创新。它使更多的人能够生活在地球上，这是不可能的，它大大提高了可耕地的生产力。植物改良的基础是在植物DNA中编码的。植物品种间的性状不同是因为它们的DNA序列不同。在许多情况下，性状差异是由基因功能的改变引起的。在其他情况下，差异是由位置和基因作用水平的变化引起的。本提案的核心目标是利用计算生物学和基因组技术的最新进展来识别对精英作物品种发展做出贡献的基因。

Plant improvement by making specific crosses and selecting the progeny with favorable traits for further propagation has been a critical human innovation. It has enabled many more people to live on earth than would otherwise be possible, and it has greatly enhanced the productivity of arable land. The underlying basis for plant improvement is coded within plant DNA. Traits between plant varieties differ because of differences in their DNA sequences. In many cases, trait differences are caused by a change in a gene's function. In other cases, differences are caused by changes in the location and the level of a gene's action. The core objective of this proposal is to use recent advances in computational biology and genomic technologies to identify the genes that have contributed to the development of elite crop cultivars.