September 24, 2014
K-State professor named journal associate editor
Submitted by Communications and Marketing
Eduard Akhunov, associate professor of plant pathology, has been appointed associate editor of the journal G3: Genes|Genomes|Genetics.
Since the journal's launch in June 2011, its editorial board of academic experts has been instrumental in shaping G3 into an important forum for the publication of useful genetics findings and resources.
Akhunov received his doctorate from the Institute of Genetics in Moscow, Russia, where he focused on regulation of gene transcription in wheat. He also served as a visiting scientist at the University of California, Davis. His interests lie in understanding the genomic architecture and biology of modern wheat. This includes the development and applications of next-generation genotyping and sequencing tools, comparative genomics, population genetics, and bioinformatics to ultimately improve wheat production. He has helped develop many community resources including high-throughput SNP genotyping assays, the 110 Mb whole exome capture assay, and was part of the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium.
In addition to developing community resources, Akhunov's lab uses genome-wide association studies to map agronomically important traits, including disease resistance, stress response and yield genes. His lab did much of the work in cloning the Sr35 gene, which confers resistance to the devastating stem rust race Ug99, Saintenac et al, Science, 2013. Building on this work, his lab is interested in characterizing the functional genomics of the rust-wheat interaction.