Thursday, November 11, 2021
3:00 – 4:30 p.m.
On Zoom
Passcode: 446008
Avena Magna Ssp. Domestica: a Path to Food Security through Rapid Domestication of a Wild Species
By Dr. Eric Jackson, The co-founder of 25:2 solutions
Abstract
Protein is an essential part of the human diet and crops containing a complete amino acid profile are scarce. Common cultivated cereal grains, a staple food source in most of the countries of the world, are primarily rich in starch and fiber (soluble and insoluble). Unfortunately, these grains have modest levels of grain protein (~10%) and few contain all the amino acids required in the human diet.
Common cultivated oat (Avena sativa) has long been a healthy food and animal fodder primarily due to favorable levels of grain beta glucan (soluble fiber), antioxidants and a beneficial fatty acid profile. Attempts have been made to increase the protein levels in cultivated oat to make oat-based food products a premium amino acid source. However, little gain has been made in this endeavor only increasing levels of grain protein from 15% to ~20%. In the early 1970’s Dr. Gideon Ladizinski and Dr. Mike Leggett discovered Avena magna, a wild relative of cultivated oat, and found that it was a promising source of protein. After several decades of work to domesticate the species with limited success using traditional cross-species genetics, work using induced variation followed by machine assisted breeding was deployed.
The result was a new subspecies named A. magna spp. domestica which had favorable agronomic characters and a balanced macronutrient grain content with double the protein of common oat. A. magna spp. domestica has since been used to develop high protein products in three countries including Uncle Toby’s Oatmeal, premium Moroccan Couscous, and Ethiopian Injera. In addition, three new varieties have been registered in Morocco and Ethiopia and additional varieties are in the final stages of testing in Nigeria. This seminar will tell the story of how A. magna spp. domestica was developed and the path that was forged to provide vital nutrition where it is need most.
About the speaker
Dr. Eric Jackson is the co-founder of 25:2 Solutions with his wife Mrs. Kimberly Jackson and serves as the chief technical officer (CTO). Dr. Jackson has a background in quantitative and statistical genomics, neural network analyses, predictive analytics, plant pathology, and molecular biology. Over his 20 years of professional experience, he has published over 100 peer reviewed articles and holds several patents. Dr. Jackson has led global research groups and successfully domesticated Avena magna spp domestica (high protein oat species) and delivered it to market.
- Bachelor’s in environmental biology (Missouri Southern State University)
- Master’s in plant pathology (University of Arkansas)
- Doctorate in plant sciences, emphasis in quantitative genetics and statistics (University of Arkansas)
- Post Doctorate in statistical genomics and molecular plant pathology (USDA and Texas A & M University)
- Research Geneticist USDA ARS (eight years)
- Development partner with SAS Institute, JMP developing JMP Genomics program (10 years)
- Senior Principal Scientist Genetics and Machine Learning for Crop and Product development at General Mills Inc. (five years)
Brought to you by the Center for Desert Agriculture