Recognizing Plant Physiology first authors: Jugpreet Singh

Jugpreet Singh, co-first author of Developmental Pleiotropy Shaped the Roots of the Domesticated Common Bean, Phaseolus vulgaris, L

Current Position: Postdoctoral researcher, Plant Pathology & Plant-Microbe Biology Section, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.

Education: PhD in Horticulture, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL; M.Sc. in Vegetable Breeding, Punjab Agricultural University, Punjab, India; B.Sc. Agri. (Hons.), Punjab Agricultural University, Punjab, India

Non-scientific Interests: Travelling, Running, Sports

Brief bio: I got interested in Plant Genetics during my M.Sc. research at Punjab Agricultural University, Punjab, India. It leads me to pursue doctoral research at University of Florida to study an interesting aspect of crop domestication, whether selection during domestication alters the root system architecture? During my Ph.D. research, I developed strong interests in bioinformatics, genomics and quantitative genetics to answer different questions related to root biology, crop domestication, and related plant science research in general. We showed that several genomic regions controlling root system architecture were under selection during domestication in common bean. Moreover, our research highlights some unexplored aspects of inadvertent selection during the process of crop domestication. Currently, I work as a postdoctoral associate in Cornell University and using genomics and quantitative genetics tools to study genetics of various diseases in apples.