Education
Ph.D.: University of Wisconsin (1997)
Year Appointed: 1998
Rank: Professor
Areas of Interest
Breeding and Genetics of Barley, Oat, and Silphium
Teaching
Agro 1661 Engaging Plant Science
Research
Our research is aimed at (1) understanding the genetics of traits that will make barley profitable and sustainable in the Midwest and (2) applying that genetic understanding to develop improved varieties through breeding. Our breeding program develops spring-sown and fall-sown (winter) barley varieties. Our spring breeding program has been in place since the early 1920’s and has been focused on varieties suited to the malting and brewing industries. As such, the primary traits of interest our yield, malting quality traits, and disease resistance, in particular Fusarium head blight. Our winter breeding program started in 2009 and the major emphasis is to improve winter hardiness, yield, and malting quality. Introducing winter barley in Minnesota cropping systems could help increase crop diversity, improve ecosystem services such as improved soil conservation, nutrient cycling, and weed suppression in addition to increasing yield and facilitating earlier harvest.
To accomplish our breeding goals we are actively involved in implementing and evaluating a variety of breeding methodologies. We use genetic markers in our program including those that are identified through bi-parental QTL mapping and genome-wide association studies (GWAS). This has lead to the use of marker assisted selection (MAS) to select for desirable alleles as well as a genomic selection (GS) approach that uses genome-wide markers to make predictions about important traits that can be used in selection.
Select Publications
- Fisk, S., A. Cuesta-Marcos, L. Cistue, J. Russell, K.P. Smith, P. Baenziger, Z. Bedo, A. Corey, T. Filichkin, I. Karsai, R. Waugh, P. Hayes. 2012. FR-H3: A new QTL to assist in the development of fall-sown barley with superior low temperature tolerance. Theor. Appl. Genet. COI 10.1007/s00122-012-1982-8.
- Smith, K.P., A. Budde, R. Dill-Macky, D.C. Rasmusson, E. Schiefelbein, J.J. Wiersma, J.V. Wiersma, B.J. Steffenson. 2013. Registration of ‘Quest’ spring malting barley with improved resistance to Fusarium Head Blight. J. Plant Reg. 7: 125-129.
- Huang, Y., B. Millet, K. Beaubien, S. Dahl, B. Steffenson, K. Smith, G. Muehlbauer. 2013. Haplotype diversity and population structure in cultivated and wild barley evaluated for Fusarium head blight responses. Theor. Appl. Genet. 126: 619-636. DOI: 10.1007/s00122-012-2006-4.
- Blake, V.C., J.G. Kling, P.M. Hayes, J. Jannink, S.R. Jillella, J. Lee, D.E. Matthews, S. Chao, T.J. Close, G.J. Muehlbauer, D.P. Smith, R.P. Wise, and J.A. Dickerson. 2012. The hordeum toolbox: The barley coordinated agricultural project genotype and phenotype resource. The Plant Genome 5:81-91.
- Locatelli, A., A. Cuesta-Marcos, L. Gutierrez, P.M. Hayes, K.P. Smith, A. Castro. 2013. Genome-wide association mapping of agronomic traits in relevant barley germplasm in Uruguay. Mol. Breeding (accepted).
- Lorenz, A. J., Chao, S., Asoro, F.G, Heffner, E.L., Hayashi, T., Iwata, H., Smith, K.P., Sorrells, M.E. and Jannink, J.L. 2011. Genomic Selection in Plant Breeding: Knowledge and Prospects. Advances in Agronomy 110:77-123.
- von Zitzewitz, J., F. Condon, A. Corey, A. Cuesta‐Marcos, T.Filichkina, K. Haggard, S.P. Fisk, K.P. Smith, G.J. Muehlbauer, I. Karsai and P.M. Hayes. 2011. The genetics of winterhardiness in barley: perspectives from genome‐wide association mapping. The Plant Genome 4:76-91.
- Wang, H., K.P. Smith, E. Combs, T. Blake, R. Horsley and G.J. Muehlbauer. 2011. Effect of population size and unbalanced data sets on QTL detection using genome-wide association mapping in barley breeding germplasm. Theor. Appl. Genet. 124:111-124. DOI 10.1007/s00122-011-1691-8.
- Cuesta-Marcos, A., P. Szucs, T. J Close, T. Filichkin, G. J Muehlbauer, K. P Smith and P. M Hayes. 2011. Genome-wide SNPs and re-sequencing of growth habit and inflorescence genes in barley: implications for association mapping in germplasm arrays varying in size and structure. BMC Genomics 11:707-721.
- Massman, J., B. Cooper, R. Horsley, S. Neate, R. Dill-Macky, S. Chao, Y. Dong, P. Schwarz, G. J. Muehlbauer and K. P. Smith. 2011. Genome-wide Association Mapping of Fusarium Head Blight Resistance in Contemporary Barley Breeding Germplasm. Mol. Breeding 27:439-454.
- Muñoz-Amatriaín, M., Y. Xiong, H. Bilgic, A.D. Budde, M.R. Schmitt, K.P. Smith and G.J. Muehlbauer. 2010. Transcriptome analysis of a breeding program pedigree examines gene expression diversity and reveals target genes for the improvement of malting quality. BMC Genomics 11:653.
- Jia, H., B.P. Millett, S. Cho, H. Bilgic, W.W. Xu, K.P. Smith and G.J. Muehlbauer. 2011. Quantitative trait loci conferring resistance to Fusarium head blight in barley respond differentially to Fusarium graminearum infection. Functional & Integrative Genomics 11:95-102.
- Roy J. K., K. P. Smith, G. J. Muehlbauer, S. Chao, T. J. Close, and B. J. Steffenson. 2010. Association mapping of spot blotch resistance in wild barley. Mol Breeding 26: 243–256.
- Nair, S., S. E. Ullrich, T. K. Blake, B. Cooper, C. A. Griffey, P. M. Hayes, D. J. Hole, R. D. Horsley, D. E. Obert, K. P. Smith, G. J. Muehlbauer, and B.-K. Baik. 2010. Variation in Kernel Hardness and Associated Traits in U.S. Barley Breeding Lines. Cereal Chem. 87:461–466.
- Smith, K.P., Rasmusson, D.C. Schiefelbein, E. Wiersma, J.J. Wiersma, J. V. Budde, A.Dill-Macky, R. Steffenson, B. 2010. Registration of ‘Rasmusson’ Barley 2010. J. Plant Reg. 4:164-167.
- Hamblin, M., T. Close, P. Bhat, S. Chao, K. Abraham, T. Blake, W. Brooks, D. Cooper, C. Griffey, P. Hayes, D. Hole, R. Horsley, D. Obert, K. P. Smith, S. Ullrich, G. Muehlbauer, J-L Jannink. 2010. Population structure and linkage disequilibrium in US barley germplasm: implications for association mapping. Crop Sci. 50:556-566.
- St. Pierre, S., C. Gustus, B.J. Steffenson, R. Dill-Macky , K.P. Smith. 2010. Mapping net form net blotch and septoria speckled leaf blotch resistance loci in barley. Phytopathology 100:80-84.
- Muñoz-Amatriaín, M., L. Cistué, Y. Xiong, H. Bilgic, A.D. Budde, M. Schmitt, K.P. Smith, P.M. Hayes and G.J. Muehlbauer. 2009. Structural and functional characterization of a winter malting barley. Theor. Appl. Genet. 120:971–984.
- Condon, F., D.C. Rasmusson1, E. Schiefelbein G. Velasquez, and K.P. Smith. 2009. Effect of Advanced Cycle Breeding on Genetic Gain and Phenotypic Diversity in Barley Breeding Germplasm. Crop Sci. 49: 1751-1761.
- Hill, N.S., S.M. Neate, B. Cooper, R. Horsley, P. Schwarz, L.S. Dahleen, K.P. Smith, K. O’Donnell, and J. Reeves. 2008. Comparison of ELISA for Fusarium, Visual Screening, and Deoxynivalenol Analysis of Fusarium Head Blight for Barley Field Nurseries. Crop Sci. 48:1389-1398.
- Condon, F., C. Gustus, D.C. Rasmusson, and K.P. Smith. 2008. Effect of Advanced Cycle Breeding on Genetic Diversity in Barley Breeding Germplasm. Crop Sci. 48:1027-1036.
- Steffenson, B.J., P. Olivera, J.K. Roy, Y. Jin, K.P. Smith, and G.J. Muehlbauer. 2007. A walk on the wild side: mining wild wheat and barley collections for rust resistance genes. Austr. J. of Agric. Res. 58:532–544.
- Nduulu L. M., A. Mesfin, G. J. Muehlbauer, and K. P. Smith. 2007. Analysis of the chromosome 2(2H) region of barley associated with the correlated traits Fusarium head blight resistance and heading date. Theor. Appl. Genet. 115:561–570.
- Gyenis, L., S. J. Yun, , K. P. Smith, B. J. Steffenson, E. Bossolini, M. C. Sanguineti, and G. J. Muehlbauer. 2007. Genetic architecture of quantitative trait loci associated with morphological and agronomic trait differences in a wild by cultivated barley cross. Genome 50:714-723.
- Wenzl, Peter, Haobing Li, Jason Carling, Meixue Zhou, Harsh Raman, Edie Edie, Phillippa Hearnden, Christina Maier, Ling Xia, Vanessa Caig, Jaroslava Ovesna, Mehmet Cakir, David Poulsen, Junping Wang, Rosy Raman, Kevin P Smith, Gary J Muehlbauer, Ken J Chalmers, Andris Kleinhofs, Eric Huttner and Andrzej Kilian. 2006. A high-density consensus map of barley linking DArT markers to SSR, RFLP and STS loci and agricultural traits. BMC Genomics 2006, 7:206.
- S. J. Yun, L. Gyenis, E. Bossolini, P. M. Hayes, I. Matus, K. P. Smith, B. J. Steffenson, R. Tuberosa, and G. J. Muehlbauer. 2006. Validation of Quantitative Trait Loci for Multiple Disease Resistance in Barley Using Advanced Backcross Lines Developed with a Wild Barley. Crop Sci. 2006 46: 1179-1186.
- Zhong, S., H. Toubia-Rahme, B. J. Steffenson, and K. P. Smith. 2006. Molecular Mapping and Marker-Assisted Selection of Genes for Septoria Speckled Leaf Blotch Resistance in Barley. Phytopathology 96:993-999.
- Steffenson, B. J and Smith, K. P. 2006. Breeding Barley for Multiple Disease Resistance in the Upper Midwest Region of the USA. Czech J. Genet. Plant Breed. 42: 79–86.
- Brakke, M., K. P. Smith, P. Baepler, and J.D. Walker. 2006. Using Problem-Based Learning to Enhance Students’ Motivation to Learn. Creative College Teaching Journal "Problem-Based Learning : Successful Examples from Across the Disciplines."
- Yun, S. J., L. Gyenis, P. M. Hayes, I. Matus, K. P. Smith, B. J. Steffenson, and G. J. Muehlbauer. 2005. Quantitative Trait Loci for Multiple Disease Resistance in Wild Barley. Crop Sci. 45: 2563-2572.
- Flagel, L., Christensen, J. R., Gustus, C. D., Smith, K. P., Olhoft, P. M., Somers, D. A. and Matthews P. D. 2005. Inexpensive, High Throughput Microplate Format for Plant Nucleic Acid Extraction: Suitable for Multiplex Southern Analyses of Transgenes. Crop Sci 45:1985-1989.
- Wingbermuehle, W. J., Gustus, C., and Smith, K. P. 2004. Exploiting selective genotyping to study genetic diversity of resistance to Fusarium head blight in barley. Theor. Appl. Genet. 109: 1160-1168.
- Smith, K. P., C. K. Evans, R. Dill-Macky, C. Gustus, W. Xie , and Y. Dong. 2004. Host genetic effect on deoxynivalenol accumulation in Fusarium head blight of barley. Phytopathology 94:766-771.
- Canci, P. C., L.M. Nduulu, R. Dill-Macky, G.J. Muehlbauer, D.C. Rasmusson, and K.P. Smith. 2004. Validation of Quantitative Trait Loci for Fusarium Head Blight and Kernel Discoloration Resistance in Barley. Mol. Breeding 14:91-104.
- Canci, P. C., L.M. Nduulu, R. Dill-Macky, G.J. Muehlbauer, D.C. Rasmusson, and K.P. Smith. 2003. Genetic relationship between kernel discoloration and grain protein concentration in barley. Crop Sci. 43: 1671-1679.
- Mesfin, A., K.P. Smith, R. Dill-Macky, C.K. Evans, R. Waugh, C.D. Gustus, and G.J. Muehlbauer. 2003. Quantitative Trait Loci for Fusarium Head Blight Resistance in Barley Detected in a Two-Rowed by Six-Rowed Population. Crop Sci. 43:307-318.