Franco Villegas
Former Graduate
- Degree Program: M. S., Crop Science.
- Previous Degree: B.S., Biology, Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Lima, Peru.
- Advisors: Dr. Thomas G. Isleib and Dr. Susana Milla-Lewis.
Research
Early-Maturity is an urgently needed trait for peanuts (Arachis hypogaea), especially in regions of the world with short growing season and/or high probability of early frost such as NC. However, the maturity level is a quantitative trait with many genes, the environment, and interactions between genes and the environment, affecting the final value for a particular genotype. Traditional breeding strategies find it difficult to improve for such a complex trait. The objectives of my research are first to study of heritability and variance components of early maturity in A. hypogaea and then QTL mapping of the same trait using SSR markers and two populations of RILs, with the final goal of applying MAS. Other more easily assessed traits have also been measured with the hope of finding a highly heritable trait with a strong correlation to early maturity, in order to assess the possibility for an indirect selection strategy.