Two University of Maine researchers are part of a team of plant geneticists and breeders working to develop tools that will help Maine scientists and farmers become more efficient in breeding new cultivars and bringing novel, improved potato varieties to market.
Greg Porter, professor of crop ecology and management in the School of Food and Agriculture, and E. Han Tan, assistant professor of plant genetics with the School of Biology and Ecology, have partnered with a team of national and international researchers to develop and test genomics-assisted tools intended to advance the breeding of economically important polyploid food crops such as potatoes and sweet potatoes, ornamentals such as roses, and aesthetic grasses, including turfgrass.
Faculty at Texas A&M University (TAMU) are leading the project, which is funded with a $4.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture
