Jorge Dubcovsky

Education: 

• Postdoctoral training, Dept. of Agronomy and Range Science; University of California, Davis, 1992ñ1994
• Ph.D., University of Buenos Aires; Biological Sciences, 1989
• B.S., University of Buenos Aires; Biological Sciences, 1984
• Elementary teacher. Tertiary School Mariano Acosta, 1977

Research interests and expertise: 

The major goals of my program are to gain a better understanding of the effects of allelic variants of wheat genes that are relevant to agriculture and to develop the tools required for an efficient manipulation of these genes in wheat improvement. My program integrates a broad range of research projects that include whole genome studies, mapping, positional cloning, marker-assisted selection, and a traditional breeding program. This integration provides us the ability to discover and deploy new genes or gene variants into commercial wheat varieties.

Current projects: 

• Dr. Dubcovsky has lead large consortiums of wheat public breeding programs for the last 18 years
• Dubcovsky has published more than 230 peer reviewed papers that have been referred more than 24,000 times (Google Scholar profile)
• He released 19 wheat cultivars and 60 improved germplasm https://dubcovskylab.ucdavis.edu/home
• Dubcovskyís program identified the genes that control wheat flowering (Vrn1, Vrn2, Vrn3, Vrn4), frost tolerance (Fr2), stripe and stem rust resistance (Yr36, Sr35, Sr13, Sr21) and increased levels of proteins in the grain (Gpc-B1).
• Dubcovskyís program developed genomics tool that include the re-sequencing of the protein coding regions of 2700 wheat mutant lines and the identification of >10 million unique mutations. These mutations are sufficient to affect the function of >90% of the wheat genes facilitating their functional characterization. This public collection of mutant seed stocks is being used to uncover previously hidden variation due to gene duplication in wheat.

Current teaching: 

• Trained 25 Ph.D. students and 9 M.S. students
• No formal courses due to HHMI appointment

Outreach and Extension (a paragraph OR some bullet points can be included below):

• Directs the UC small grains breeding programs (wheat, barley, and oats)
• Releases public wheat and barley commercial varieties and germplasm used in California

External activities that contribute to scholarship:

• Member of the National Academy of Science
• Associate Editor, Theoretical and Applied Genetics
• Editorial Board, Integrative and Functional Genomics
• Associate Editor, PNAS

Prizes, Awards, Honors:

• UC Davis Innovator of the Year Award , 2017
• USDA-NIFA Partnership Award (as leader of the Triticeae CAP project), 2015
• Wolf World Award in Agriculture, 2014
• Howard Hughes Medical Institute GBMF Investigator (2011-2014)
• Dennis R. Hoagland Award, American Society of Plant Biologists, 2013
• Excellence in Research Award by the National Association of AAAS Fellow, 2013
• Member of the American Society of Agronomy (ASA), U.S., 2013
• Member of the Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), U.S., 2013
• Member of the National Academy of Sciences, U.S., 2013
• National Research Initiative Discovery Award, 2013
• Platinum Konex Award Argentina, Best researcher in Genetics and Genomics, 2003-2013
• U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary's honor, 2013
• U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary's Honor Award, 2011
• American Society of Plant Biology Hoagland Award for outstanding plant research in support of agriculture, 2009
• USDA-NRI Discovery Award best research program, 2007
• AAAS Fellow, 2004
• National Association of Wheat Growers Award: "Excellence in Research", 2001
• Argentine National Academy of Agronomy and Veterinary, Award: "Best Research in Bread-making Quality", 1996

Google Scholar

ORCID

Keywords:

Wheat

Breeding

Molecular breeding

Genetics

Genomics

Development

Disease resistance

Grain yield

Quality

Wheat nutritional value