Using Brachypodium as a Model for Drought Tolerance in Monocots

Student Name: Lucy Cui

UCD Department: Plant Sciences

UCD Mentor: Dr. Eduardo Blumwald

Lucy Cui is working with Professor Eduardo Blumwald in the Plants Science Department to genetically engineer crops to be more drought and salt tolerant.  A model plant, Brachypodium, is used in place of wheat, rice, corn, barley, oats, and other monocots, to determine which genes to turn on in order to prolong crop life and produce greater yields with less water.  Another model plant, Arabidopsis, is used to understand the effect of genes that control pH in dicots, or flowering plants, on plant development. With the growing human population and loss of quality agricultural land, it is important to create these crops in order to continually feed the demanding population despite the harsh, arid conditions and to efficiently use the limited amount of agricultural land.