McCouch Rice Lab

Susan McCouch is a Professor of Plant Breeding and Genetics and of Plant Biology at Cornell University. She received her PhD from Cornell in 1990 and spent 5 years with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines before joining the Cornell faculty in 1995. Her research focuses on rice and includes publication of the first molecular map of the rice genome in 1988, early QTL studies on disease resistance, drought tolerance, maturity and yield, development of the essential repertoire of SSR markers now used globally as a genomic resource in rice genetics and breeding, and cloning of genes underlying critical traits for rice improvement. Her current work focuses on the identification and characterization of genes and quantitative trait loci (QTL) from low-yielding wild and exotic Oryza species that enhance the performance of modern rice cultivars. She has trained scores of young scientists throughout the world and was recently elected a fellow of the AAAS and has received numerous teaching and faculty awards.

"My current work focuses on both forward and reverse genetics approaches to the identification, functional characterization and evolutionary history of genes and quantitative trait loci (QTL) of interest for plant improvement. I am particularly interested in identifying genes from low-yielding wild and exotic Oryza species that enhance the performance of modern rice cultivars and in understanding the genetic basis of transgressive variation. I am interested in the evolutionary history of rice as the basis for understanding how diversity is partitioned genetically and distributed geographically.

In collaboration with scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Lab, my group also develops and curates a large, publicly available comparative plant genome database (www.gramene.org) that integrates knowledge from many different disciplines and allows students and researchers to link molecular genetic information with knowledge about the way plants grow and develop in diverse environments. This offers plant breeders an opportunity to better utilize the vast amounts of information from the New Life Sciences to develop improved varieties of plants to meet the need for food, fuel and fiber of the growing human population.

I co-teach BioPl483.1: Concepts and Techniques in Plant, Cell and Molecular Biology (PCMB). This is a rapidly-paced, graduate course that is intended to cover the broad spectrum of current techniques and concepts in plant molecular biology & molecular genetics. It is required for all graduate students in the PCMB program and is based on reading and discussion of original research papers in the field. Lectures emphasize critical experimental techniques, approaches, designs and underlying hypotheses that form the basis of Plant Genomics and Plant Biology today.

I also teach PlBr201: Plants, Genes and Human Civilization (3 credits). This undergraduate course is designed to provide students with a basic understanding of the concepts and methods behind genetic improvement of crop plants. Both traditional and biotechnological approaches are discussed. The social and economic context of plant breeding is emphasized and the impact of the field on society is illustrated with specific examples. Students are required to understand the ways in which genes are inherited and recombined in nature and the ways in which genes are being manipulated using recombinant DNA technology. Topics include plant domestication from wild ancestors, biodiversity and germplasm collections, the Green Revolution and global food production, pest and disease resistance, sustainable agriculture, and industrial uses of plants based on biotechnology. The course is introductory and broad-based. It offers a blend of biology and social science, and encourages students to synthesize ideas across the traditional boundaries of academic disciplines."