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An assistant professor of biology at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (UWSP) is collaborating with other scientists as part of a global research effort to develop drought resistant wheat varieties that would increase yields throughout semi-arid regions of Earth.
Devinder Sandhu is co-principle investigator with Kulvinder Gill of Washington State University for a three-year $1.5 million National Science Foundation (NSF) Basic Research to Enable Agricultural Development (BREAD) competitive grant. Other collaborators are Purdue University, Pioneer International, COMSTATS University in Pakistan and Punjab Agricultural University in India, where Sandhu received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees.
According to Sandhu, he, along with his fellow scientists, is working on creating drought-resistant wheat and other cereal grains with improved seedling emergence, abiotic stress tolerance, root characteristics and nutrient uptake.
“If we can solve this problem then many arid regions of the globe may have new genetically-enhanced crop opportunities with higher yields for a growing population,” said Sandhu. “My students will be deeply involved in this multi-year project while having opportunities to visit collaborating research laboratories.”
Six UWSP undergraduate students are assisting Sandhu’s research, including Alina Ott of Mount Horeb, a senior majoring in biology; Jaydeep Raval of Neenah, a junior majoring in biology; Jordan Baumbach of Wausau, a senior majoring in biology; Eric Wermedal of West Salem, a junior majoring in biology; Joshua Rogers of Conover, a junior majoring in biology; and Jon-Paul Ciszewski of Green Bay, a sophomore majoring in biology.
This isn’t the first time students have assisted in Sandhu’s research. In January 2010, the prestigious scientific journal Nature published a piece co-authored by Sandhu, “Genome sequence of the paleopolyploid soybean.” As with his ongoing wheat research, a cadre of biology students worked with Sandhu include Ott, Raval, and Baumbach.
Sandhu’s Ph.D. in plant genetics at the University of Nebraska focused on understanding genome organization of wheat and other cereal species.
