Plant Pathology associate professor, Jesse Poland and postdoctoral fellow Jared Crain received the inaugural 2020 Plant Genome Outstanding Paper Award for their publication “Combining high-throughput phenotyping and genomic information to increase prediction and selection accuracy in wheat breeding.”

The journal selects one paper per year based on the work’s advancement of knowledge in the profession, effectiveness of communication, methodology, originality, and impact.

According to Crain, “This work examines how two separate sources of information, phenotypic data like plant color measured in the field and genotypic data from the plants’ DNA, can be combined to increase plant breeders ability to select high yielding superior wheat lines. While breeders have routinely used these sources of information individually, the combination of phenotypic and genotypic data could greatly enhance crop breeding success. This work shows that the combination of phenotypic and genotypic data can be used to better understand plant growth and select high yielding lines.”