Shofiqul Islam:Genomics-assisted exploitation of heterosis in perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.)

Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) is the most important forage and turf grass species of temperate regions worldwide, and its main role is to provide feed to the livestock. The economic value of perennial ryegrass is measured by its end products such as meat and milk. As an allogamous species, breeding activities have been performed towards population improvement and synthetic varieties development. This does not fully exploit the potential of heterosis. Hybrid breeding is an alternative breeding strategy and offers opportunities to fully exploit the genetically available heterosis in perennial ryegrass for development of improved varieties.

During his PhD studies, Md. Shofiqul Islam studied the feasibility of developing novel hybrid breeding schemes based on cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) systems in perennial ryegrass. In his PhD studies, Md. Shofiqul Islam successfully completed the assembly and annotation of a male-fertile perennial ryegrass mitochondrial genome, and identified candidate genes responsible for the CMS phenotype by comparing male-fertile and male-sterile mitochondrial genomes.
Finally, his findings constitute a good basis for continuing research to produce hybrid grass varieties that will address the future needs of sustainable livestock production.

The PhD degree was completed at the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Science and Technology, Aarhus University.

Time: Friday 15 February 2013 at 13.00 
Place: Auditorium, Research Center Flakkebjerg, Aarhus University, Forsøgsvej 1, 4200 Slagelse
Title of dissertation: Genomics-assisted exploitation of heterosis in perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.)
Contact information: Md. Shofiqul Islam, e-mail: Shofiqul.Islam@agrsci.dk, Tel.: +4587154771, Mobile: +4552941484
Member of the assessment committee:
Professor Kathleen J. Newton, Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA
Associate Professor Gunter Backes, Department of Agriculture and Ecology, University of Copenhagen
Professor Just Jensen (Chair), Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University
Main supervisor:
Torben Asp, Senior Scientist, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University
Co-supervisor:
Ian Max Møller, Professor, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University
Project supervisor:
Bruno Studer, Professor for Forage Crop Genetics, ETH Zürich, Switzerland
Language: The PhD dissertation will be defended in English.

The defence is public.
The dissertation is available for reading at the Graduate School of Science and Technology/GSST, Ny Munkegade 120, building 1521, room 112, 8000 Aarhus C.