Exposing Students and Teachers to Plant Molecular Genetics with Short-Term Barley Gene Mapping Projects

Abstract

Many universities sponsor science research programs during the summer to provide hands-on laboratory experience to high school students and teachers. Our objective was to design a project that exposes the students to the full range of research, from developing and testing a hypothesis through presenting research results. The project goal is to demonstrate mapping of morphological traits using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Students learn how to evaluate plants for morphological marker traits, extract DNA, conduct PCR (polymerase chain reaction) and gel electrophoresis, evaluate results, and conduct linkage analysis between traits and markers. Mapping data are presented for five of the barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) traits analyzed since 1997. The genes bracteatum (bra-a.001) and short awn (lks.o) were located on the short arm of chromosome 7H, the glossy phenotype conferred by cer-zv.268 was located near the centromere of chromosome 4H, fragile stem (fst2.b) was located near the centromere of chromosome 1H, and intermedium spike (int-h.42) was located on the short arm of chromosome 5H. The high school teachers have used their experiences to help teach genetics and molecular biology, and several have included the projects in their portfolio for an advanced degree. Many students have used their projects for science fairs and their experience to help obtain part-time jobs during their undergraduate studies. These experiments provide the necessary components of a successful research project for short-term programs and provide meaningful data to advance our ongoing projects, benefitting both the students and our laboratory.