Roger T. Chetelat
Director, C.M. Rick Tomato Genetics Resource Center
trchetelat@ucdavis.edu
Plant Science
Office
104 Asmundson Hall
(530) 752-6726
Lab
Annex 9, Asmundson Hall
754-6059
Lab
151 Asmundson Hall
754-8647
Lab
151 Asmundson Hall
754-8647
Degrees:
1994
PhD
University of California, Davis
Genetics
1983
MS
University of California, Davis
Plant Physiology
1979
BS
Santa Clara University
Biology
Research Contribution to Society:
The C.M. Rick Tomato Genetics Resource Center is a national and international genebank of tomato wild species and genetic stocks, many of which are irreplaceable and available nowhere else. Our Center distributes seed of these stocks to interested researchers, breeders and educators around the world. Each year, approx. 100 publications that mention TGRC stocks appear in the literature. Our research on reproductive barriers is revealing how plants in nature control pollination, both to avoid inbreeding and excessive outcrossing. We are using this information to accelerate the transfer of novel traits from wild relatives to improve the tomato crop.
Research Interests:
Recombination in Wide Crosses
We also study meiotic recombination in wide crosses and the role of genes in the DNA mismatch repair system. Cultivated tomato and its wild relatives -- 17 species, many of which are intercrossable -- provide an excellent system in which to study recombination between homeologous (partially homologous) genomes.
Genetic Resources
We are transferring the genome of Solanum sitiens, a species native to the Atacama Desert of Chile, into the genetic background of cultivated tomato. The goal is to synthesize a complete library of introgression lines, each containing single recombinant chromosome segments that together represent the entire genome. These are expected to be useful for studies of drought and salinity tolerance, fruit ripening, etc.
Interspecific Reproductive Barriers
My lab studies prezygotic interspecific reproductive barriers, using cultivated tomato and related Solanum species as a model. Our focus is on the pollen factors that are important in unilateral interspecific incompatibility, and their genetic/biochemical role in self-incompatibility. We recently isolated the ui6.1 gene, which encodes a Cullin1 protein that interacts with a factor encoded by the S-locus. Our goal is to understand how these two genes function in inter- and intraspecific pollen rejection, and to isolate the other pollen factors that are important in these processes.
http://irbtomato.org
Department and Center Affiliations:
Department of Plant Sciences
Professional Societies:
American Association for the Advancement of Science
CBS Graduate Group Affiliations:
Genetics
Specialties / Focus:
Genetics
Chromosome Biology
Plant Breeding
Graduate Groups not Housed in CBS:
Horticulture and Agronomy
Publications:
Last updated 2/4/2011
Li, W, and RT Chetelat (2010) A pollen factor linking Inter- and Intraspecific Pollen Rejection in Tomato. Science 330: 1827-1830.
Li, W, S Royer, and RT Chetelat (2010) Fine mapping of ui6.1, a gametophytic factor controlling pollen-side unilateral incompatibility in interspecific Solanum hybrids. Genetics 185: 1069-1080.
Bedinger, PA, R Chetelat, B McClure, LC Moyle, JKC Rose, S Stack, E van der Knaap, Y Baek, G Lopez Casado, PA Covey, A Kumar, W Li, R Nunez, F Cruz-Garcia, and S Royer (2010) Interspecific reproductive barriers in the tomato clade: opportunities to decipher mechanisms of reproductive isolation. Sex. Plant Reprod. (online DOI 10.1007/s00497-010-0155-7).
Albrecht, E, M Escobar, and RT Chetelat (2010) Genetic diversity and population structure in the tomato-like nightshades Solanum lycopersicoides and Solanum sitiens. Ann. Bot. 105: 535-554.
Tam, SM, S Samipak, A Britt, and RT Chetelat (2009) Characterization and comparative sequence analysis of the DNA mismatch repair MSH2 and MSH7 genes from tomato. Genetica 137: 341-354.
Chetelat, RT, RA Pertuze, L Faundez, EB Graham, and CM Jones (2009) Distribution, ecology and reproductive biology of wild tomatoes and related nightshades from the Atacama Desert region of northern Chile. Euphytica 167: 77-93.
Albrecht, E, and RT Chetelat (2009) Comparative genetic linkage map of Solanum sect. Juglandifolia : evidence of chromosomal rearrangements and overall synteny with the tomatoes and related nightshades. Theor. Appl. Genet. 118: 831-847.
Jones, CM, CM Rick, D Adams, J Jernstedt, and RT Chetelat (2007) Genealogy and fine mapping of obscuravenosa, a gene affecting the distribution of chloroplasts in leaf veins, and evidence of selection during breeding of tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum; Solanaceae). Amer. J. Bot. 94: 935-947.
Canady, MA, Y Ji, and RT Chetelat (2006) Homeologous recombination in Solanum lycopersicodes introgression lines of cultivated tomato. Genetics 174: 1775-1778.
Canady, MA, V Meglic, RT Chetelat (2005) A library of Solanum lycopersicoides introgression lines in cultivated tomato. Genome 48: 685-697.
Ji, Y, RA Pertuze, RT Chetelat (2004) Genome differentiation by GISH in interspecific and intergeneric hybrids of tomato and related nightshades. Chrom. Res. 12: 107-116.
Pertuze, RA, Y Ji, and RT Chetelat (2003) Transmission and recombination of homeologous S. sitiens chromosomes in tomato. Theor. Appl. Genet. 107: 1391-1401.
Ji, Y, and RT Chetelat (2003) Homoeologous pairing and recombination in Solanum lycopersicoides monosomic addition and substitution lines of tomato. Theor. Appl. Genet. 106: 979-989.
Pertuze, RA, Y Ji, and RT Chetelat (2002) Comparative linkage map of the Solanum lycopersicoides and S. sitiens genomes and their differentiation from tomato. Genome 45: 1003-1012.
Laboratory Personnel:
151 Asmundson Hall
Wentao Li, Amanda Mathews
C.M. Rick Tomato Genetics Resource Center/ Annex 9, Asmundson Hall
http://tgrc.ucdavis.edu
Peter March, Alison Gerken, Tom Starbuck
Field Sites:
Vegetable Crops Fieldhouse / greenhouse facilities
Courses:
GGG
291
History of Genetics
Fall
ENH
150
Plant Conservation Genetics
Spring