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Ruben Rellan-Alvarez

Asst Professor

Polk Hall NA

Bio

Research Program Overview

Our research focuses on deciphering the genetic and physiological mechanisms underlying metabolism reorganization in plants during adaptation to abiotic stresses including suboptimal temperatures and nutrient concentrations. We use a combination of quantitative and population genetics together with high precision metabolic phenotyping to identify loci that have been under selection during adaptation to particular environments and that are involved in the determination of metabolic traits. We then use reverse genetics, heterologous expression to functionally characterize the allelic effects of candidate genes. In particular we are using maize glycerolipid remodelling during the process of maize adaptation to different highland environments across the Americas as our study system.  Using the approaches above together with maize landrace mapping populations grown in highland and lowland common garden fields in México, we have identified loci that explain distinct glycerolipid patterns in highland maize. We are currently functionally characterizing these loci with the goal of understanding their contribution to maize adaptation to highland conditions and transferring beneficial alleles to modern maize varieties.

Goodnight Early Career Innovator

 

Education

B.S. Environmental Sciences Autonomous University of Madrid 2002

M.S. Autonomous University of Madrid 2005

Ph.D. Aula Dei Experimental Station 2011

Post-doctoral Plant Sciences Carnegie Institution for Science (Stanford) 2015

Publications

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Grants

Date: 10/01/21 - 9/30/26
Amount: $9,999,146.00
Funding Agencies: National Science Foundation (NSF)

The Science and Technologies for Phosphorus Sustainability (STEPS) Center is a convergence research hub for addressing the fundamental challenges associated with phosphorus sustainability. The vision of STEPS is to develop new scientific and technological solutions to regulating, recovering and reusing phosphorus that can readily be adopted by society through fundamental research conducted by a broad, highly interdisciplinary team. Key outcomes include new atomic-level knowledge of phosphorus interactions with engineered and natural materials, new understanding of phosphorus mobility at industrial, farm, and landscape scales, and prioritization of best management practices and strategies drawn from diverse stakeholder perspectives. Ultimately, STEPS will provide new scientific understanding, enabling new technologies, and transformative improvements in phosphorus sustainability.

Date: 09/01/21 - 8/31/24
Amount: $59,877.00
Funding Agencies: US Dept. of Agriculture - Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA FAS)

Through the Scientific Exchanges Program, Dr. Ruben Rellan-Alvarez will host a research scholar from Peru to conduct research on climate smart agriculture. CALS International Programs will manage the fellow's logistics and provide professional development including leadership and scientific communication training. Approximately six months later, Dr. Rellan-Alvarez will conduct a reciprocal trip to Peru to maintain the research partnership.

Date: 08/01/21 - 7/31/24
Amount: $463,797.00
Funding Agencies: US Dept. of Energy (DOE)

Here we propose to leverage our a priori knowledge of the function of certain metabolic pathways in plant adaptation to environmental stresses to combine data from targeted metabolic profiling GWAS, environmental GWAS, and population genetics indexes of genetic selection. With these data, we will then design mathematical methods that incorporate pathway-level data and phenotype-genotype associations to suggest strategies to reduce the number of candidate genes. Using sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) as our model organism and the role of phosphorus metabolism in adaptation to cold and low phosphorus

Date: 03/01/23 - 2/29/24
Amount: $1,668.00
Funding Agencies: US Dept. of Agriculture - Agricultural Research Service (USDA ARS)

North Carolina State University (Cooperator) and the Agricultural Research Service desire to enter into this Agreement for the purpose of supporting research to be carried out at ARS and Cooperator facilities. ARS desires the Cooperator to provide goods and services necessary to carry out research of mutual interest within the Raleigh, NC. Specifically, the Agency Location is engaged in research addressing Genetics of Disease Resistance and Food Quality Traits in Corn.

Date: 02/01/21 - 1/31/24
Amount: $15,500.00
Funding Agencies: Corn Growers Association of NC, Inc.

Development of maie lines adapted to low phosphorus availability and early planting in North Carolina

Date: 05/01/19 - 12/14/22
Amount: $80,637.00
Funding Agencies: US Dept. of Agriculture - Agricultural Research Service (USDA ARS)

The objective of this partnership is to develop and test a genomic selection pipeline for phenologically adapting U.S.-exotic maize to temperate U.S. environments. Cooperator will test the idea of a new artificial selection strategy for adapting maize populations to U.S. environments in which they are poorly adapted in terms of flowering time. This involves the production of new germplasm and data resources and the application of statistical modeling techniques to construct environment-specific prediction models that enable the selection of plants outside of the environments to which they are being adapted.

Date: 01/01/22 - 11/30/22
Amount: $20,009.00
Funding Agencies: US Dept. of Agriculture - Agricultural Research Service (USDA ARS)

North Carolina State University and the Agricultural Research Service Plant Science Research Unit, Raleigh, NC desire to enter into this Agreement for the purpose of supporting research to be carried out at ARS and Cooperator facilities. ARS desires the Cooperator to provide goods and services necessary to carry out research of mutual interest within the Raleigh, NC. Specifically, the Agency Location is engaged in research that aims to lead research in plant genetic resources, genomics, and genetic improvement of agronomic crops by providing knowledge, technologies, and products to deliver high crop yields and product quality, reduce global food insecurity, and decrease the vulnerability of global agriculture to destructive diseases, pests, and environmental extremes. More specifically, this research will focus on genetic improvement of maize.

Date: 09/01/17 - 8/30/22
Amount: $625,206.00
Funding Agencies: US Dept. of Agriculture - Agricultural Research Service (USDA ARS)

This project is focused on maize, one of the most valuable crop species worldwide. The Genomes to Fields (G2F) Initiative focuses on leveraging and building on the publicly-funded maize genome sequencing projects to advance our understanding of the role of existent genetic variation to increase plants’ resilience to environmental influences. The Genotype by Environment (GXE) project is a multi-investigator project that is part of G2F. Since 2014, this project has evaluated more than 1,500 unique maize hybrids across more than 77 environments for a total of more than 45,000 experimental plots. This funding will contribute to continue this collaborative project into the future including support for germplasm development, data collection, and data analysis.

Date: 08/01/21 - 1/31/22
Amount: $6,053.00
Funding Agencies: US Dept. of Agriculture (USDA)

North Carolina State Univ ersity (Cooperator) and the Agricultural Research Serv ice (ARS or Agency ) desire to enter into this Agreement f or the purpose of supporting research to be carried out at ARS and Cooperator f acilities. ARS desires the Cooperator to prov ide goods and serv ices necessary to carry out research of mutual interest within the Raleigh Location. Specifically, the Agency location is engaged in research addressing Plant Genetic Resources, Genomics and Genetic Improv ement.

Date: 01/01/20 - 12/31/21
Amount: $53,961.00
Funding Agencies: US Dept. of Agriculture - Agricultural Research Service (USDA ARS)

North Carolina State University (Cooperator) and the Agricultural Research Service (ARS or Agency) desire to enter into this Agreement for the purpose of supporting research to be carried out at ARS and Cooperator facilities. ARS desires the Cooperator to provide goods and services necessary to carry out research of mutual interest within the Raleigh, North Carolina location. Specifically, the Agency location is engaged in research addressing Plant Genetic Resources, Genomics and Genetic Improvement.


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