Dr. Aida Z. Kebede
Corn genetics and germplasm development
Current research and/or projects
Principal Investigator (PI) to the following project(s):
- ASP-002 CFCRA Corn project entitled "Development of short season, cold tolerant, disease resistant corn inbreds" project ID: J-002087, duration: April 2018 - March 2023.
Research and/or project statements
- Development and release of early maturing cold tolerant corn inbreds with emphasis on the 1800-2000 CHU market. Earlier maturing, cold tolerant corn will expand the acreage of corn production in Canada
- Development of corn inbreds with improved disease resistance to gibberella ear rot (GER), northern corn leaf blight (NCLB), Gosss wilt, common rust, and eyespot. Disease resistant plants will improve the yield and quality of the grain and knowledge gained will help corn growers to select appropriate resistant hybrids.
- Annual surveys for current and emerging diseases will be conducted to continue to guide the breeding program on which diseases to put more breeding resources into and to scout for new/emerging diseases.
Professional activities / interests
- Develop Corn inbred lines and double haploids with cold tolerance, early maturity and disease resistance
- Study the genetics of disease resistance using molecular markers, and bi-parental and association mapping populations.
- Identify candidate genes using genomic and transcriptomic approaches.
- Apply marker assisted selection to transfer disease resistance genes from a donor line to an elite inbred line.
International experience and/or work
OECD fellowship awardee May-Aug, 2019 at Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, Wales, UK
Key publications
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Kebede, A.Z., Bekele, W.A., Mitchell Fetch, J.W., Beattie, A.D., Chao, S., Tinker, N.A., Fetch, T.G., McCartney, C.A. (2020). Localization of the stem rust resistance gene Pg2 to linkage group Mrg20 in cultivated oat (Avena sativa). Phytopathology, [online] 110(10), 1721-1726. http://dx.doi.org/10.1094/PHYTO-03-20-0076-R
2020 - View publication details
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Zhao, J., Kebede, A.Z., Bekele, W.A., Menzies, J.G., Chong, J., Mitchell Fetch, J.W., Tinker, N.A., Beattie, A.D., Peng, Y.Y., McCartney, C.A. (2020). Mapping of the oat crown rust resistance gene PC39 relative to single nucleotide polymorphism markers. Plant Disease, [online] 104(5), 1507-1513. http://dx.doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-09-19-2002-RE
2020 - View publication details
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Kebede, A.Z., Admassu-Yimer, B., Bekele, W.A., Gordon, T., Bonman, J.M., Babiker, E., Jin, Y., Gale, S., Wight, C.P., Tinker, N.A., Menzies, J.G., Beattie, A.D., Mitchell Fetch, J., Fetch, T.G., Esvelt Klos, K., McCartney, C.A. (2020). Mapping of the stem rust resistance gene Pg13 in cultivated oat. Theoretical and Applied Genetics (TAG), [online] 133(1), 259-270. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00122-019-03455-5
2020 - View publication details
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Kebede, A.Z., Johnston, A., Schneiderman, D., Bosnich, W., Harris, L.J. (2018). Transcriptome profiling of two maize inbreds with distinct responses to Gibberella ear rot disease to identify candidate resistance genes. BMC Genomics, [online] 19(1), http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12864-018-4513-4
2018 - View publication details
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Kebede, A.Z., Harris, L.J.*, Johnston, A., Schneiderman, D., Bosnich, W., Woldemariam, T., Reid, L.M. Searching for candidate genes contributing to Fusarium graminearum resistance in a recombinant inbred population. 70th Northeast Corn Improvement Conference, Ottawa, ON, Feb 21-22, 2017. Oral presentation.
2017 - View publication details
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Kebede, A.Z., Johnston, A., Schneiderman, D., Bosnich, W., Reid, L.M., Harris, L.J. Combining QTL mapping with transcriptomics to identify candidate genes for Fusarium resistance in maize. Proceedings of the 8th Can. Workshop on Fusarium Head Blight, Ottawa, ON Nov. 20-22, 2016. P. 49, Poster presentation.
2016 - View publication details
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Kebede, A., Johnston, A., Schneiderman, D., Bosnich, W., Reid, L.M., Harris, L.J. Candidate gene identification for maize gibberella ear rot disease resistance using genomic and transcriptomic approaches. 5th International Conference on Quantitative Genetics, Madison, Wisconsin, June 12-17, 2016.
2016 - View publication details
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Reid, L.M., Zhu, X., Jindal, K.K., Kebede, A.Z., Wu, J., Morrison, M.J. (2016). Increasing stalk sucrose in sugarcorn (Zea mays L.): genetic analysis and preliminary breeding. Euphytica, [online] 209(2), 449-460. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10681-016-1669-3
2016 - View publication details
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Kebede, A.Z., Woldemariam, T., Reid, L.M., Harris, L.J. (2016). Quantitative trait loci mapping for Gibberella ear rot resistance and associated agronomic traits using genotyping-by-sequencing in maize. Theoretical and Applied Genetics (TAG), [online] 129(1), 17-29. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00122-015-2600-3
2016 - View publication details