By Stephanie Schupska
University of
Georgia
Andrew Paterson’s skills in research gained him the 2005 D.W.
Brooks Award for Excellence in Research Oct. 3 in Athens, Ga.
The award, which includes a framed certificate and $5,000, is
given in honor of D.W. Brooks. Founder of Gold Kist Inc. and
Cotton States Mutual Insurance Companies, Brooks was an advisor
on agriculture and trade issues to seven U.S. presidents.
A highly creative, productive scientist and internationally
recognized plant genomics authority, Paterson holds joint
appointments in the department of crop and soil sciences and
the department of genetics.
Paterson is director of the Plant Genome Mapping Laboratory,
which comprises about 40 UGA research scientists. He also
directs the National Science Foundation Comparative Grass
Genomics Center and the USDA-IFAFS Center on Reducing the
Genetic Vulnerability of Cotton and codirects the Genes for
Georgia Initiative.
He has received more than $22,000,000 in grants to support his
research. He is most widely recognized for his expertise in
applying modern technologies to genome mapping and QTL
localization. His work addresses the fundamental questions on
the structure and organization of crop genomes.
Using his knowledge, Paterson has improved crop germ plasm
important to Georgia farmers. His unusual combination of
training in classical crop improvement approaches and molecular
biology and genomics experience has positioned him to be a
pioneer in revealing the inherent genetic potential of many
major crops.
His laboratory has built the world’s leading genetic maps for a
long list of major crops, including cotton, peanut, Bermuda
grass, sugarcane and sorghum.
Crop plants are widely recognized as being genetically complex,
in some cases with much larger quantities of DNA and larger
numbers of genes than the human genome. The unifying theme on
which Paterson’s research has focused is developing and
applying methods to simplify such large genomes into their
component parts.
In the peanut genome, Paterson has identified more than 100
genetic loci that confer resistance to a range of pests and
diseases. He has shown that genes conferring perenniality and
rapid spread are shared by a wide range of grasses. This
discovery is highly promising for advancing the productivity
and quality of turf and forage grasses.
Paterson has also identified genes that preserve the quality
and productivity of several crops under drought, promising
improved cultivars that can make a high-quality crop with less
water.
Paterson has authored or co-authored more than 150 publications
and two books. He serves on many national and international
scientific committees, including advisory boards for Sao Paulo
State, Brazil, and the Rockefeller Foundation. In 1992,
Paterson was named a distinguished research professor.
Besides his research accomplishments, Paterson has advised or
co-advised 41 master’s and doctoral students and mentored 39
postdoctoral associates, 74 undergraduate students and four
Young Scholar Program students.
Other 2005 D.W. Brooks honorees were Karl Espelie, teaching;
Phillip Roberts, extension and Mary White, public service
extension.
Accompanying the awards was the annual lecture given this year
by Judith Stern, a University of California, Davis professor of
nutrition and internal medicine. She discussed “Can We Fight
Obesity without Fighting the Obese?”
(Stephanie Schupska is a news editor with the University of
Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.)
