NATIONAL CENTER FOR SOYBEAN BIOTECHNOLOGY EXPANDS
WITH SOYBEAN GENOME MAPPING FACILITY
U.S. Senator Kit Bond explains the importance of the new Soybean Genome
Mapping Facility,
along with Dale R. Ludwig, MSA executive director/CEO;
U.S. Congressman Kenny Hulshof;
U.S. Senator Jim Talent; MU Chancellor Brady Deaton; Tom Payne, MU Vice
Chancellor
and Dean of College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources; MU President
Elson Floyd;
and Henry Nguyen, Endowed Professor for Missouri Soybean Merchandising
Council.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 2, 2006
Contact: Haley Wansing at (573) 635-3819
COLUMBIA, MO – Today the Missouri Soybean Association (MSA) applauded
the opening of the Soybean Genome Mapping Facility, an expansion of the
National Center for Soybean Biotechnology (NCSB) at the University of
Missouri (MU) in Columbia, Mo. NCSB scientists play a national leadership
role in developing improved soybean varieties to keep U.S. producers
competitive in the marketplace.
“This facility is instrumental in helping Missouri soybean producers
develop improved soybean varieties,” said Dale R. Ludwig, MSA executive
director/CEO. “Through funding supported by U.S. Senators Kit Bond
and Jim Talent, Missouri remains ahead of the class in life science research.”
Renovations supported by Bond and the MU College of Agriculture, Food
and Natural Resources gave $2 million toward the crop genomics laboratories
in the Agriculture Building. Also, a National Science Foundation grant
and matching funds program provided more than $1 million for genome mapping
equipment.
The University of Missouri-Columbia was recently designated by U.S.
Congress as the site for the NCSB. Its foundation was the Center
for Soybean Genomics and Biotechnology, previously formed at MU in support
of interdisciplinary research on the genomic structure and function of
soybean genes. The ultimate goal of the NCSB is to provide innovative
molecular approaches that can be applied toward soybean improvement.
The NCSB is a collaborative program among scientists at MU, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service Plant
Genetics Unit in Columbia and the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center
in St. Louis, Mo. There are currently more than 25 researchers working
together from diverse fields including agronomy, microbiology and plant
pathology, biochemistry, animal science, food science, molecular biology
and agricultural economics.
In addition to receiving the NCSB support, scientists working in the
center continue to be highly competitive for other funding from a variety
of sources, including the Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council, federal
agencies and private industry.
Strategically located in the heart of the nation, the NCSB aims to
foster research partnerships with institutions in the Midwestern and
Southern states, regions where soybeans are a major crop. Research
within the NCSB focuses on major problems that affect soybean production
and use. The Center also provides educational opportunities for students
and outreach services to producers, public agencies and consumers.
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