Wubishet Bekele, Ph.D.

Research Scientist

Functional Cereal Genomics and Molecular Breeding

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Neatby Building(#20), Central Experimental Farm, 960 Carling Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario K1A0C6

Current research and/or projects

Genomics-assisted breeding research and development
Breeding oriented genomic resources and databases
Functional genomics and pre-breeding research
Pan-genomics in cultivated oat and genome evolution in the genus Avena

Research and/or project statements

Industry-led breeding, genomics and agronomy research to improve oat yield. The Canadian Field Crop Research Alliance (CFCRA) co-funded this project that aims at applying genomic tools in Ottawa and Brandon RDC oat breeding programs.
Targeted and Useful Genomics for Barley and Oat (TUGBOAT) is a management-driven project that aims at developing genomics tools and applying genomic selection in barley and oat breeding programs at Ottawa and Brandon RDCs.

Education and awards

B.Sc. Plant Sciences, Debub University, Hawassa, Ethiopia

M.Sc. Agro-biotechnology, Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany

Ph.D. Plant Breeding and Genomics, Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany

International experience and/or work

Research Scientist (Postdoctoral), Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany
Research Scientist (Doctoral student), Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany
Internship at Max-Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Cologne, Germany
Assistant Researcher, Ethiopian Agricultural Research Organization (EARO), Ethiopia

Additional links

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Wubishet_Bekele2

https://scholar.google.ca/citations?user=CP0xWG8AAAAJ&hl=en

Key publications

You FM, Xu W, Tucker JR, Khanal R, Beattie A, Brar G, Fu Y-B, Zheng C, Malti S, Shah K, Liton U, Holden S, Yao Z, Singh J, Boyle B, Belzile F, Mascher M, Tinker N, Bekele W, and Badea A. Reference-level genome assemblies and comparative analysis of five representative Canadian barley cultivars. 2024 Barley Symposium – From the Ground Up. February 26-27, Saskatoon, Canada (Oral talk)
2024 - View publication details
Agricultural Innovations (Volume V) https://collab.agr.gc.ca/br-dg/stb-dgst/Documents/Annual%20Publications/Agricultural%20Innovations%20Vol%20V.pdf
2022 - View publication details
NA
2022 - View publication details
Xu, W., Tucker, J.R., Bekele, W.A., You, F.M., Fu, Y.B., Khanal, R., Yao, Z., Singh, J., Boyle, B., Beattie, A.D., Belzile, F., Mascher, M., Tinker, N.A., Badea, A. (2021). Genome assembly of the canadian two-row malting barley cultivar AAC synergy. G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics, [online] 11(4), http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/g3journal/jkab031
2021 - View publication details
Panel Discussion #2: Innovation & Collaboration in the CFCRA Oat Project. Weikai Yan, Wubi Bekele, & Nick Tinker. CFCRA Virtual Research Summit - Innovating for the Future. Feb 2-3, 2021.
2021 - View publication details
Yan, H., Zhou, P., Peng, Y., Bekele, W.A., Ren, C., Tinker, N.A., Peng, Y. (2020). Genetic diversity and genome-wide association analysis in Chinese hulless oat germplasm. Theoretical and Applied Genetics (TAG), [online] 133(12), 3365-3380. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00122-020-03674-1
2020 - View publication details
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
Genomics-assisted breeding of oat. Nicholas Tinker, Wubishet Bekele, Weikai Yan
Asuka Itaya, Charlene Wight. Federal Government Plant Breeding Report on June 2020 Virtual Sessions
2020 - View publication details
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
Bekele, W.A., Itaya, A., Boyle, B., Yan, W., Mitchell Fetch, J., Tinker, N.A. (2020). A targeted genotyping-by-sequencing tool (Rapture) for genomics-assisted breeding in oat. Theoretical and Applied Genetics (TAG), [online] 133(2), 653-664. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00122-019-03496-w
2020 - View publication details
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
Samanfar, B., Cober, E.R., Charette, M., Tan, L.H., Bekele, W.A., Morrison, M.J., Kilian, A., Belzile, F., Molnar, S.J. (2019). Genetic Analysis of High Protein Content in ‘AC Proteus’ Related Soybean Populations Using SSR, SNP, DArT and DArTseq Markers. Scientific Reports, [online] 9(1), http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-55862-9
2019 - View publication details
Sunstrum, F.G., Bekele, W.A., Wight, C.P., Yan, W., Chen, Y., Tinker, N.A. (2019). A genetic linkage map in southern-by-spring oat identifies multiple quantitative trait loci for adaptation and rust resistance. Plant Breeding, [online] 138(1), 82-94. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/pbr.12666
2019 - View publication details
Bekele, W.A., Wight, C.P., Chao, S., Howarth, C.J., Tinker, N.A. (2018). Haplotype-based genotyping-by-sequencing in oat genome research. Plant Biotechnology Journal, [online] 16(8), 1452-1463. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/pbi.12888
2018 - View publication details
Yan, H., Bekele, W. A., Wight, C. P., Peng, Y., Langdon, T., Latta, R. G., Fu, Y.-B., Diederichsen, A., Howarth, C. J., Jellen, E. N., Boyle, B., Wei, Y., and Tinker, N. A., 2016: High-density marker profiling confirms ancestral genomes of Avena species and identifies D-genome chromosomes of hexaploid oat. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 129, 2133–2149.
2016 - View publication details
Yan, H., Martin, S.L., Bekele, W.A., Latta, R.G., Diederichsen, A., Peng, Y., Tinker, N.A. (2016). Genome size variation in the genus Avena. Genome, [online] 59(3), 209-220. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/gen-2015-0132
2016 - View publication details
Tinker, N.A., Bekele, W.A., Hattori, J. (2016). Haplotag: Software for haplotype-based genotyping-by-sequencing analysis. G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics, [online] 6(4), 857-863. http://dx.doi.org/10.1534/g3.115.024596
2016 - View publication details