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Department of Plant Biology Plant Biology Department |
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Research
Genetics and diversity of plants
I am interested in the genetics of plant diversification in natural and agricultural environments. We use rice and its wild relatives as study systems. Cultivated rice (Oryza sativa) was domesticated approximately nine thousand years ago, and now feeds more than half of the world’s population. The genus Oryza containing 22 wild species harbors remarkable genetic and ecological diversity.
Using quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping, we are characterizing the genetic architecture of morphological and physiological differentiation between Oryza species under natural and human selections. The availability of rice genome sequences facilitates the cloning of genes underlying phenotypic evolution. A better understanding of the genetic mechanisms of plant adaptation and domestication is critical to the effective utilization of plant diversity for food, energy, and environmental security of human society.
Lorts, C.M, T. Briggeman, and T. Sang. 2008. Evolution of fruit types and seed dispersal: A phylogenetic and ecological snapshot. Journal of Systematics and Evolution 46: 396-404. [PDF]
Zou, X.-H., F.-M. Zhang, J.-G. Zhang, L.-L. Zang, L. Tang, J. Wang, T. Sang, and S. Ge. 2008. Analysis of 142 genes resolves the rapid diversification of the rice genus. Genome Biology 9:R49. [PDF]
Sang, T. and S. Ge. 2007. Genetics and phylogenetics of rice domestication. Current Opinion in Genetics & Development. 17: 533-538.[PDF]
Sang, T. and S. Ge. 2007. The puzzle of rice domestication. Journal of Integrative Plant Biology 49:760-768.[PDF]
Li, C. B., A. L. Zhou, and T. Sang. 2006. Rice domestication by reducing shattering. Science 311: 1936-1939. [PDF]
Li, C.B., A.L. Zhou, and T. Sang. 2006. Genetic analysis of rice domestication syndrome with the wild annual species, Oryza nivara. New Phytologist 170: 185-194. [PDF]
Sang. T., J. Pan, D. Zhang, D.M. Ferguson, C. Wang, K. Pan, and D.-Y. Hong. 2004. Origins of polyploids: an example from Paeonia and a model for angiosperms. Biological Journal of Linnean Society 82: 561-571. [PDF]
Sang, T. 2002. Utility of low-copy nuclear gene sequences in plant phylogenetics. Critical Reviews in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 37: 121-147. [PDF]
Ferguson, D.M. and T. Sang. 2001. Speciation through homoploid hybridization between allotetraploids in peonies (Paeonia). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 98: 3915-3919. [PDF]
Sang, T. and Y. Zhong. 2000. Testing hybridization hypotheses based on incongruent gene trees. Systematic Biology 49: 422-434. [PDF]
Wang, X.-Q., D.C. Tank, and T. Sang. 2000. Phylogeny and divergence times in the pine family: Evidence from three genomes. Molecular Biology and Evolution 17: 773-781. [PDF]
Ge, S., T. Sang, B.-R. Lu, and D.-Y. Hong. 1999. Phylogeny of rice genomes with emphasis on origins of allotetraploid species. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 96: 14400-14405. [PDF]
NSF
Teaching
PBL 218: Plants of Michigan
