Exploring the Genetic Diversity of Genes Involved in Plant Fatty Acid Elongation Across a Diverse Set of Maize Inbred Lines

Darcy Bonds

Mentors: Dr. Keting Chen, Dr. Geng Ding, Dr. Basil J Nikolau, & Dr. Marna Yandeau-Nelson  / Spring of 2023

This project explores the genetic redundancy and diversity of genes encoding the 3-ketoacyl-CoA synthase(KCS) enzyme in a diverse set of maize lines. Specifically, this project uses BLASTP and phylogenetics to investigate the relationships between known KCS genes and homologous gene sequences.