About

Dr. Laura Shannon is an associate professor of potato breeding, genetics, and genomics in the Department of Horticultural Science at the University of Minnesota. She is a population and quantitative geneticist by training and applies her expertise to elucidate potato diversity and the complex nature of autotetraploid genomics, as well as developing new potato varieties for Minnesota growers. She earned an undergraduate degree in biology and anthropology at Grinnell College and a PhD in genetics from the University of Wisconsin. Her postdoctoral research was conducted in the department of Biomedical Sciences at Cornell and the Department of Horticulture at the University of Wisconsin. Her research focuses on understanding potato genetics and applying genomic tools to improve potato breeding.

Research topics

• Biology
• Genetics
• Botany
• Chemistry
• Agronomy
• Horticulture
• Cell biology
• Biotechnology
• Biochemistry

Selected publications

• Phased, chromosome-scale genome assemblies of tetraploid potato reveal a complex genome, transcriptome, and predicted proteome landscape underpinning genetic diversity

  Molecular Plant · 2022 · 185 citations

  • Biology
  • Genetics
  • Botany

  Cultivated potato is a clonally propagated autotetraploid species with a highly heterogeneous genome. Phased assemblies of six cultivars including two chromosome-scale phased genome assemblies revealed extensive allelic diversity, including altered coding and transcript sequences, preferential allele expression, and structural variation that collectively result in a highly complex transcriptome and predicted proteome, which are distributed across the homologous chromosomes. Wild species contribute to the extensive allelic diversity in tetraploid cultivars, demonstrating ancestral introgressions predating modern breeding efforts. As a clonally propagated autotetraploid that undergoes limited meiosis, dysfunctional and deleterious alleles are not purged in tetraploid potato. Nearly a quarter of the loci bore mutations are predicted to have a high negative impact on protein function, complicating breeder's efforts to reduce genetic load. The StCDF1 locus controls maturity, and analysis of six tetraploid genomes revealed that 12 allelic variants of StCDF1 are correlated with maturity in a dosage-dependent manner. Knowledge of the complexity of the tetraploid potato genome with its rampant structural variation and embedded deleterious and dysfunctional alleles will be key not only to implementing precision breeding of tetraploid cultivars but also to the construction of homozygous, diploid potato germplasm containing favorable alleles to capitalize on heterosis in F1 hybrids.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Genotype and Variable Nitrogen Effects on Tuber Yield and Quality for Red Fresh Market Potatoes in Minnesota

  Agronomy · 2021 · 17 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Biology
  • Horticulture
  • Agronomy

  Potato (Solanum tuberosum) production generally requires added nitrogen (N), which is costly and potentially environmentally damaging. One path to limiting N application is breeding N efficient potatoes. Effective use of nitrogen, across crops, is typically characterized in terms of yield. However, tuber quality characteristics affect potato marketability, especially for red fresh market potatoes. While optimal N rates maximize yield, the genotype-specific effect of N on tuber quality traits is unclear. In order to highlight quality traits effected by N, identify germplasm with lower N requirements, and determine optimal N rates for red-skinned clones, we conducted a variable N rate experiment over two years in Minnesota. Eight red fresh market genotypes were grown in RCB factorial design with five nitrogen application rates ranging from 0 to 81.6 kg/ha. Best linear unbiased estimates were calculated for yield, skin color, skin set, and tuber shape. The models for yield and quality traits included significant genotype by N rate interaction effects, suggesting that there is variation in the way clones respond to N. Established varieties were more responsive to added N than breeding lines. Similarly, established varieties tended to produce more oblong tubers under higher N conditions, while the breeding lines remained round. Color traits also responded to N in a genotype-specific way, while the interaction effect for other traits depended on unmeasured environmental factors. No clone exhibited increased yield above the 54.4 kg/ha rate. Our results suggest that the 81.6 kg/ha rate produced less favorable phenotypes for all traits.

  DOI

• Phenylpropanoids Are Connected to Cell Wall Fortification and Stress Tolerance in Avocado Somatic Embryogenesis

  International Journal of Molecular Sciences · 2020 · 51 citations

  • Biology
  • Botany
  • Biochemistry

  -ferulic acid, stimulated the production of somatic embryos in avocado. Exogen phenolic compounds were associated with the modification of the content of endogenous polyphenolic and the induction of the production of the putative auxin-a, adenosine, cellulose and 1,26-hexacosanediol-diferulate. We suggest that in EC of avocado, there is an enhanced phenylpropanoid metabolism for the production of the building blocks of lignin and flavonoid compounds having a role in cell wall reinforcement for tolerating stress response. Data are available at ProteomeXchange with the identifier PXD019705.

  DOI

• Nitrogen uptake and utilization in advanced fresh‐market red potato breeding lines

  Crop Science · 2020 · 16 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Biology
  • Horticulture
  • Agronomy

  Abstract Potato ( Solanum tuberosum L.) production on sandy soils requires added N. Only 40–60% of the applied N is acquired by the crop. Increased N use efficiency (NUE) and its components, N utilization efficiency (NUtE) and N uptake efficiency (NUpE), could reduce fertilizer rates and environmental losses. We compared N efficiency in fresh‐market red potato varieties, in terms of yield and quality traits, and examined potential mechanisms for that efficiency including uptake, utilization, and increased root growth. We grew selections from a red potato breeding population and commercial varieties under two N rates: 101 and 202 kg N ha −1 . We compared NUE, NUpE, and NUtE in low and high N. We compared root phenotypes at tuber initiation and yield and skin quality metrics at harvest. Values for NUtE correlated with NUE and yield in low N and NUpE correlated with NUE and yield in high N. Low‐N conditions produced smaller tubers, while high N resulted primarily in medium tubers. Nitrogen did not affect skinning and redness but low N did result in slightly lighter skin color. Total root mass 45 d after planting (DAP) correlated with final yield and NUE but did not correlate with measures of N uptake across treatments. Larger roots correlated with NUpE only in the high‐N treatment. Selection under low N may reveal NUE and expose more stable representations of the genetic components of skin quality phenotypes. While skinning and skin color were more variable among varieties in low N, within variety they exhibited year‐to‐year consistency.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• John Doebley

  University of Wisconsin–Madison

  42 shared

• David M. Wills

  University of Georgia

  38 shared

• Zachary H. Lemmon

  Inari Agriculture (United States)

  37 shared

• Yongrui Wu

  Chinese Academy of Sciences

  37 shared

• Joachim Messing

  Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

  37 shared

• Robert Bukowski

  Cornell University

  37 shared

• Zhihong Lang

  Sanya University

  36 shared

• Adam R. Boyko

  13 shared

Labs

• Shannon LabPI

Awards & honors

• Distinguished Alumni Award

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