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Steven D. Tanksley

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Steven Tanksley
Tanksley in 2011
Born
Steven Dale Tanksley

(1954-04-07) April 7, 1954 (age 70)
NationalityAmerican
Alma materColorado State University (BA)
University of California, Davis (PhD)
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsPlant Breeding
Genetics
InstitutionsCornell University
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
ThesisInheritance, developmental expression, and polymorphism of three glycolytic enzymes in species of Lycopersicon (1979)
Doctoral studentsSusan McCouch
Websiteplbrgen.cals.cornell.edu/people/steven-d-tanksley/ Edit this at Wikidata

Steven Dale Tanksley (born April 7, 1954) is the Chief Technology Officer of Nature Source Improved Plants. Prior to founding Nature Source Improved Plants, Tanksley served as the Liberty Hyde Bailey professor of plant breeding and biometry and chair of the Genomics Initiative Task Force at Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. He is currently[when?] a Professor Emeritus at Cornell University.

Education

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Tanksley received a bachelor's degree in agronomy from Colorado State University in 1976 and a doctorate in genetics from the University of California, Davis in 1979.

Career and research

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Tanksley joined the faculty at Cornell in 1985 as an associate professor of plant breeding, and became full professor in 1994. He led the development of the first molecular maps of tomato [1] and rice.[2] In 1993, Tanksley was the head of a Cornell research group that isolated and subsequently cloned a disease-resistance gene in tomato plants. The research is believed to be the first successful DNA map-based cloning in a major crop plant.[3]

Much of Tanksley's work focused on identifying alleles from wild relatives of crops that could be useful in improving cultivated varieties, for example fruit size and shape in tomato,[4] using the technology Marker-assisted selection (MAS). He led work developing the advanced backcross Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) method, facilitating the introgression of new alleles into cultivated breeding lines.[5] His team also spearheaded using genetic markers in comparative mapping among Solanaceae species[6] and others.[7][8]

Tanksley has co-authored more than 200 scientific publications[citation needed] and has mentored dozens of graduate students[citation needed] including Susan McCouch.

In 2006, Tanksley co-founded Nature Source Genetics, a company based in Ithaca, NY, conceived to work on creating new computer algorithms to improve the efficiency of using natural genetic diversity in crop improvement. In 2016, Nature Source Genetics merged with the In Vitro division of Agromod, a Mexican company specializing in plant propagation, to form Nature Source Improved Plants, LLC,[9] a US-based company dedicated to the genetic improvement, propagation, and sales of high performing plant materials.[10] The company has one division in Ithaca, NY and one in Tapachula, Mexico.

Awards and honors

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Tanksley was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in 1995.[11] He has received the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Award,[12] the Martin Gibbs Medal of the American Society of Plant Biologists,[13] and the Wolf Prize in Agriculture.[14] Tanksley was also awarded the Kumho International Science Award in 2005 for his work in molecular genetics.[15] In 2016, he won the Japan Prize.[16] He was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) of London in 2009.[17]

References

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  1. ^ Tanksley SD, Ganal MW, Prince JP, de Vicente MC, Bonierbale MW, Broun P, Fulton TM, Giovannoni JJ, Grandillo S, Martin GB, Messeguer R, Miller JC, Paterson AH, Pineda O, Roder MS, Wing RA, Wu W, and Young ND (1992). "High Density Molecular Linkage Maps of the Tomato and Potato Genomes". Genetics. 132 (4): 1141–1160. doi:10.1093/genetics/132.4.1141. PMC 1205235. PMID 1360934.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ Tanksley, S., M. Causse, T. Fulton, N. Ahn, Z. Wang, K. Wu, J. Xiao, P. Ronald, Z. Yu, G. Second, and S. McCouch (1992). "A high density molecular map of the rice genome". Rice Genetics Newsletter. 9.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ Fisher, Lawrence M. (1993). "Tomato Gene That Resists Disease Is Cloned". The New York Times. p. A25.
  4. ^ Tanksley, S. D. (2004). "The Genetic, Developmental, and Molecular Bases of Fruit Size and Shape Variation in Tomato". The Plant Cell Online. 16 (suppl_1): S181–S189. doi:10.1105/tpc.018119. JSTOR 3872310. PMC 2643388. PMID 15131251.
  5. ^ Tanksley, S.D. and J.C. Nelson (1996). "Advanced backcross QTL analysis: a method for the simultaneous discovery and transfer of valuable QTLs from unadapted germplasm into elite breeding lines". Theor. Appl. Genet. 92 (2): 191–203. doi:10.1007/BF00223376. PMID 24166168. S2CID 24001863.
  6. ^ Doganlar, S., A. Frary, M-C. Daunay, R. N. Lester, and S. D. Tanksley (2002). "A comparative genetic linkage map of eggplant (Solanum melongena) and its implications for genome evolution in the solanaceae". Genetics. 161 (4): 1697–711. doi:10.1093/genetics/161.4.1697. PMC 1462225. PMID 12196412.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ Fulton, T. M., R. van der Hoeven, N.T. Eannetta, S.D. Tanksley (2002). "Identification, Analysis and Utilization of Conserved Ortholog Set (COS) Markers for Comparative Genomics in Higher Plants". The Plant Cell Online. 14 (7): 1457–1467. doi:10.1105/tpc.010479. PMC 150699. PMID 12119367.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ Ahn, S. and S.D. Tanksley (1993). "Comparative linkage maps of rice and maize genomes". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 90 (17): 7980–7984. Bibcode:1993PNAS...90.7980A. doi:10.1073/pnas.90.17.7980. PMC 47271. PMID 8103599.
  9. ^ "Nature Source Improved Plants | Home". nsiplants.com.
  10. ^ "Nature Source Genetics LLC and Agromod's In Vitro Division have merged to form Nature Source Improved Plants LLC" (PDF).
  11. ^ "Steven D. Tanksley". National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  12. ^ Friedlander, Blaine (October 24, 1998). "Cornell's Tanksley wins prestigious 1998 Humboldt Award for his 'significant contribution' to agriculture". Cornell University. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  13. ^ "Steven Tanksley – Lecture Series Biography". Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  14. ^ Lang, Susan S. (January 22, 2004). "Cornell plant breeder Steven Tanksley is a co-recipient of the international Wolf Foundation Prize in Agriculture". Cornell Chronicle. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  15. ^ "Cornell geneticist to be honored by foundation". Korea JoongAng Daily. May 29, 2005. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  16. ^ Steven D. Tanksley, Ph.D. japanprize.jp. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  17. ^ "Steven Tanksley | Royal Society". royalsociety.org.
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