Ron Knox, Ph.D.

Research Scientist

Wheat biotechnology and pathology

Current research and/or projects

Dr. Knox is a plant pathologist and geneticist developing and applying to wheat breeding DNA markers for disease resistance and other important agronomic and grain quality traits.

Research and/or project statements

Wheat Cluster: Molecular breeding, doubled haploid production, breeding for disease resistance, marker validation and adoption.
ADF/SaskWheat/Genome Prairie/Alberta Wheat: An integrated approach for enhancing Fusarium head blight resistance in durum wheat.

Key publications

Yao, Z., You, F.M., N'Diaye, A., Knox, R.E., McCartney, C., Hiebert, C.W., Pozniak, C., Xu, W. (2020). Evaluation of variant calling tools for large plant genome re-sequencing. BMC Bioinformatics, [online] 21(1), http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12859-020-03704-1
2020 - View publication details
Stefani, F., Dupont, S., Laterrière, M., Knox, R., Ruan, Y., Hamel, C., Hijri, M. (2020). Similar Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal Communities in 31 Durum Wheat Cultivars (Triticum turgidum L. var. durum) Under Field Conditions in Eastern Canada. Frontiers in Plant Science, [online] 11 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2020.01206
2020 - View publication details
Kumar, S., Fetch, T.G., Knox, R.E., Singh, A.K., Clarke, J.M., Depauw, R.M., Cuthbert, R.D., Campbell, H.L., Singh, D., Bhavani, S., Pozniak, C.J., Meyer, B., Clarke, F.R. (2020). Mapping of Ug99 stem rust resistance in Canadian durum wheat. Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology, [online] 43(4), 599-611. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07060661.2020.1843073
2020 - View publication details
Sari, E., Cabral, A.L., Polley, B., Tan, Y., Hsueh, E., Konkin, D.J., Knox, R.E., Ruan, Y., Fobert, P.R. (2019). Weighted gene co-expression network analysis unveils gene networks associated with the Fusarium head blight resistance in tetraploid wheat. BMC Genomics, [online] 20(1), http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12864-019-6161-8
2019 - View publication details
Sari, E., Cabral, A.L., Polley, B., Tan, Y., Konkin, D.J., Hsueh, E., Nilsen, K.T., Walkowiak, S., Haile, J.K., Pozniak, C.J., Ruan, Y., Knox, R.E., and Fobert, P.R. 2019. Insight into candidate Fusarium head blight resistance genes associated with a quantitative trait locus on chromosome 1A of Triticum turgidum ssp. Carthlicum. 1st International Wheat Congress, Saskatoon, SK, Canada, July 21-26, 2019.
2019 - View publication details
Berraies, S., Cuthbert, R., Knox, R.E., Ruan, Y., Henriquez, M.A., Burt, A., Kumar, S., Pozniak, C., N’Diaye, A. 2019. Quantitative trait loci associated with resistance to fusarium head blight in a CDC hughes x AAC concord derived wheat population. 1st International Wheat Congress Saskatoon, Canada, July 21-26, 2019.
2019 - View publication details
Piché, I., Konkin, D.J., Knox, R., Menzies, J.G., Ruan, Y., Cuthbert, R., Poppy, M., Colenutt, T., and Campbell, H. 2019. Validation of exome capture sequence facilitated marker improvement for ergot resistance screening in durum wheat. 1st International Wheat Congress, Saskatoon, SK, Canada, July 21-26, 2019.
2019 - View publication details
Ruan, Y., Yu, B., Knox, R., Zhang, W., Singh, A.K., Cuthbert, R., Fobert, P., DePauw, R., Berraies, S., Sharpe, A., Fu, B.X., and Sangha, J. 2019. Mapping quantitative trait loci for grain protein concentration in Canadian durum wheat. 1st International Wheat Congress, Saskatoon, SK, Canada, July 21-26, 2019.
2019 - View publication details
Knox, R.E., Bokore, F.E., Cuthbert, R.D., Campbell, H.L., Meyer, B., Pozniak, C.J., Hiebert, C.W., McCartney, C.A., Sharpe, A., Ruan, Y., and DePauw, R.M. 2019. Identification of qtl associated with shattering in two spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) populations using high-density SNP markers. 1st International Wheat Congress, Saskatoon, SK, Canada, July 21-26, 2019.
2019 - View publication details
Zhang, W., Ruan, Y., Knox, R.E., Berraies, S., Campbell, H.L., Ragupathy, R., Boyle, K., Polley, B., Henriquez, M.A., Burt, A., Kumar, S., Cuthbert, R.D., Fobert, P.R., Buerstmayr, H., and DePauw, R. 2019. Genome wide association analysis to characterize Fusarium head blight resistance in durum wheat. 1st International Wheat Congress, Saskatoon, SK, Canada, July 21-26, 2019.
2019 - View publication details
Berraies, S., Cuthbert, R., Knox, R.E., Bokore, F., Ruan, Y., Xiao Fu, B., Henriquez, M.A., Burt, A., Kumar, S., Pozniak, C., N’Diaye, A., Sangha, J., and Meyer, B. 2019. Challenges of trait complexes in spring wheat breeding. 1st International Wheat Congress Saskatoon, Canada, July 21-26, 2019.
2019 - View publication details
Sari, E., Knox, R., Ruan, Y., Konkin, D.J., Berraies, S., Cuthbert, R., Kumar, S., Hsueh, E., Tan, Y., Fobert, P.R., Zhang, W., Cabral, A.L., Campbell, H.L., Meyer, B., and Sidebottom, C.H. 2019. High-density genetic mapping of leaf spot resistance quantitative trait loci in a durum wheat × T. Turgidum ssp. Carthlicum population. 1st International Wheat Congress, Saskatoon, SK, Canada, July 21-26, 2019.
2019 - View publication details
Zhang, W., Yu, B., Hsueh, M., Sidebottom, C., Gao, P., Polley, B., Baumann, A., Lokuruge, P., Konkin, D., Knox, R., Pozniak, C., Cuthbert, R., Ruan, Y., McCallum, B., Henriquez, M.A., K Boyle, K., Fobert, P., and Sharpe, A. 2019. Canadian wheat-nam (cannam): a powerful resource for the wheat research community. 1st International Wheat Congress, Saskatoon, SK, Canada, July 21-26, 2019.
2019 - View publication details
Sari, E., Cabral, A.L., Polley, B., Tan, Y., Konkin, D.J., Hsueh, E., Knox, R.E., Ruan, Y., and Fobert, P.R. 2019. Transcriptomic analysis unveils gene networks associated with the Fusarium head blight resistance transferred from Triticum turgidum ssp. carthlicum into durum wheat. International Society for Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions XVIII Congress, Glasgow, Scotland, July 14-18, 2019.
2019 - View publication details
Bokore, F.E., Sharpe, A.G., Sari, E., Boyle, K., Meyer, B., Piche, I., Knox, R., Ruan, Y., Cuthbert, R., and Campbell, H. 2019. Validation and discovery of genetic markers associated with loose smut resistance genes in a durum wheat (Triticum durum L.) doubled haploid population DT676/DT802. Plant Canada 2019, Guelph, ON, Canada, July 07-10, 2019.
2019 - View publication details
Berraies, S., Ruan, Y., Knox, R.E., Cuthbert, R., and Campbell, H. 2019. Estimating the effect of leaf spot disease complex on grain yield, test weight and thousand kernel weight in a durum wheat population. International Symposium on Cereal Leaf Blights. Dublin, Ireland, May 22-24, 2019.
2019 - View publication details
Knox, R.E., Bokore, F.E., Cuthbert, R.D., Berraies, S., McCallum, B.D., Henriquez, M.A., Kumar, S., Burt, A., Fetch, T., Monro, C., Bhavani, S., Piche, I., Campbell, H.L., Meyer, B., Ruan, Y., Bhadauria, V., N'diaye, A., Pozniak, C.J., A. Sharpe, A., R., and DePauw, R. 2019. Molecular Breeding Opportunities and Challenges for Complex Trait Recombination on Wheat Chromosome 4B. XXVII International Plant and Animal Genome Conference, San Diego, CA, USA, January 12-16, 2019.
2019 - View publication details
Pozniak, C., Walkowiak, S., Knox, R., Ruan, Y., Sari, E., Fobert, P., Cuthbert, R., Cattivelli, L., Byrns, B., Ens, J., Nilsen, K., Distelfeld, A., and Sharpe, A. 2019. Whole Genome Sequences of Wheat Bring a New Era of Gene Discovery and Breeding. XXVII International Plant and Animal Genome Conference, San Diego, CA, USA, January 12-16, 2019.
2019 - View publication details
Ragupathy, R., Ruan, Y., Berraies, S., Campbell, H., Meyer, B., Henriquez, M.A., Kumar, S., Burt, A., Zhang, W., Cuthbert, R.D., Fobert, P., and Knox, R.E. 2019. Genomic Selection for Fusarium Head Blight Resistance in Durum Wheat. XXVII International Plant and Animal Genome Conference, San Diego, CA, USA, January 12-16, 2019.
2019 - View publication details
Ruan, Y., Singh, A.K., Depauw, R.M., Knox, R.E., Cuthbert, R.D., McCallum, B., Fetch, T., Beres, B.L. (2019). AAC stronghold durum wheat. Canadian Journal of Plant Science, [online] 99(4), 560-567. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjps-2018-0224
2019 - View publication details