Research Geneticist (Plants)
Disciplinary Areas
Alfalfa and soybean genetics and breeding
Genomics selection
Bioinformatics
Machine learning
Current Research Focus
Alfalfa germplasm screening and development for stress resistance/tolerance and yield
Alfalfa root architecture genetics and breeding for specific environments
Alfalfa genomic selection and machine learning for alfalfa digestible biomass yield
Image recognition and deep learning for alfalfa live phenotyping
Moya, Y.S., Medina, C., Herrera, B., Chamba, F., Yu, L., Xu, Z., Samac, D.A. 2023. Genetic mapping of tolerance to bacterial stem blight caused by Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.). Plants. 12(1). Article 110. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13010110.
Sandercock, A.M., Sapkota, M., Medina, C.M., Xu, Z., Yu, L., Zhao, D., Mejia-Guerra, K., Mollinari, M., Samac, D.A., Irish, B.M., Heller-Uszynska, K., Beil, C.T., Sheehan, M.J. 2024. Development of a mid-density genotyping platform for alfalfa and its application in a drought tolerance breeding program. Plant and Animal Genome Conference. San Diego, California. January 12-17, 2024.
Poudel, K., Sheaffer, C., Jungers, J., Weihs, B.J., Lamb, J., Bauder, S., Piscasso, V., Heuschele, D.J., Xu, Z. 2023. Quantifying winter survival of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.). Agronomy Journal. 116(1):170-179. https://doi.org/10.1002/agj2.21487.
Poudel, K., Curtin, S.J., Sheaffer, C., Xu, Z. 2023. Gene edited alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) for hyper phosphorus accumulation. National Association of Plant Breeders. Greenville, SC. July 16-20, 2023.
Xu, Z., Heuschele, D.J., Lamb, J., Jung, H.G., Samac, D.A. 2023. Improved forage quality in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) via selection for increased stem fiber digestibility. Agronomy. 13(3). Article 770. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13030770.
Curtin, S.J., Poudel, K., Scheaffer, C.C., Xu, Z., Samac, D.A. 2023. Alfalfa gene editing. Plant and Animal Genome Conference. January 13-18, 2023. San Diego, California.
Xu, Z., Bucciarelli, B., Cao, Y., York, L., Gamble, J.D., Lamb, J.F., Samac, D.A. 2022. What have we learned from 20 years of breeding for alfalfa root system architecture?. Meeting Abstract. November 14-17, 2022. San Diego, California.
Xu, Z., Cannon, S.B., Beavis, W.D. 2022. Apply spatial statistics analysis to ordinal data for soybean iron deficiency chlorosis. Agronomy. 12(9). Article 2095. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12092095.
Heuschele, D.J., Xu, Z., Lamb, J.F., Jung, H.G., Samac, D.A. 2022. Cell wall characteristics related to alfalfa digestibility[sbstract]. North American Alfalfa Improvement Conference. June 7-9, 2022. East Lansing, Michigan.
Xu, Z., Heuschele, D.J., Lamb, J.F., Jung, H.G., Samac, D.A. 2022. The genetic gain pattern indicates additive gene effects control alfalfa stem fiber digestibility. North American Alfalfa Improvement Conference. June 7-9, 2022. East Lansing, Michigan.
Mowers, R.P., Bucciarelli, B., Cao, Y., Samac, D.A., Xu, Z. 2022. Good statistical practices in agronomy using categorical data analysis, with alfalfa examples having poisson and binomial underlying distributions. Crops. 2(2):154-171. https://doi.org/10.3390/crops2020012.
Xu, Z., York, L.M., Seethepalli, A., Bucciarelli, B., Cheng, H., Samac, D.A. 2022. Objective phenotyping root system architecture using image augmentation and machine learning in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.). Plant Phenomics. 2022. Article 9879610. https://doi.org/10.34133/2022/9879610.
Wang, Y., Yu, L., Zhang, J., Xu, Z., Samac, D.A. 2022. Overwintering and yield responses of two late-summer seeded alfalfa cultivars to phosphate supply. Agronomy. 12(2). Article 327. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12020327.
Bucciarelli, B., Xu, Z., Ao, S., Cao, Y., Monteros, M., Topp, C., Samac, D.A. 2021. Phenotyping seedlings for selection of root system architecture in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.). Plant Methods. 7. Article 125. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13007-021-00825-3.
Xu, Z., Kurek, A., Cannon, S.B., Beavis, W.D. 2021. Predictions from algorithmic modeling result in better decisions than from data modeling for soybean iron deficiency chlorosis. PLoS ONE. 16(7). Article e0240948. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240948.
Xu, Z., Jeo, R.T., Samac, D.A., Ramos-Giraldo, P., Reberg-Horton, C., Mirsky, S.B. 2021. Real-time live phenotyping-A path to next generation breeding and farming. Forage Focus. (March 2021):14-15.
Expanding Resiliency and Utility of Alfalfa in Agroecosystems In-House Appropriated (D) Accession Number:445054 Screening Alfalfa Cultivars for Value-Added Biochemical Characteristics Reimbursable Cooperative Agreement (R) Accession Number:443164 Applying Multi-Model UAV Imaging System for Winter Survival and Biomass Breeding in Alfalfa Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement (S) Accession Number:441900 Enhancing Winter Survival and Forage Yield in Alfalfa Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement (S) Accession Number:442572
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