Research Interests
Tzion Fahima is a full professor at the Department of Evolutionary and Environmental Biology and the head of the Laboratory of Plant Genomics and Disease Resistance at the Institute of Evolution in the University of Haifa. Fahima's research interests have focused on the application of plant genomics for characterization, utilization and conservation of wild cereal populations in Israel (mainly wild emmer wheat, Triticum dicoccoides, and wild barley, Hordeum spontaneum). His laboratory is involved in plant structural and functional genomics studies, and population genetics of wild cereals. The genomic studies include molecular marker development, linkage mapping, quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis, map-based cloning, and maker-assisted selection of several traits with economic values, such as disease resistance, grain protein and mineral content, and drought resistance. Fahima's lab was involved in the positional cloning of the high grain protein QTL, Gpc-B1, and the high-temperature stripe rust resistance gene, Yr36, both derived from wild emmer wheat. Tzion Fahima is a Corresponding member of the European Cooperative Program for Crop Genetic Resources (ECPGR) Network organized by the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) of the European Community, a member of the Scientific Board of the Israeli Gene Bank (IGB) for Agriculture Crops, a member of the Coordination Committee of the European Triticeae Genomics Initiative (ETGI), and a member of the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium.
Fahima T., Roder M.S., Wendehake K., Kirzhner V.M., and Nevo E. 2002. Microsatellite polymorphism in natural populations of wild emmer wheat, Triticum dicoccoides, in Israel. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 104:17-29.
Peng J.H., Ronin Y.I., Fahima T., Röder M.S., Li Y.C., Nevo E., and Korol A.B. 2003. Domestication QTLs in wild emmer wheat, Triticum dicoccoides. PNAS, 100: 2489-2494.
Cenci A., Chantret N., Kong X., Gu Y., Anderson O., Fahima T., Distelfeld A., Dubcovsky J. 2003. Construction and characterization of a half million clones BAC library of durum wheat (Triticum turgidum ssp. durum). Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 107:931-939.
Yan L., Loukoianov A., Tranquilli G., Helguera M., Fahima T., and Dubcovsky J. 2003. Positional cloning of wheat vernalization gene VRN1. PNAS, 100: 6263-6268.
Distelfeld A., Uauy C., Olmos S., Schlatter A.R., Dubcovsky J., and Fahima T. 2004. Microcolinearity between a 2-cM region encompassing the grain protein content locus Gpc-6B1 on wheat chromosome 6 and a 350-kb region on rice chromosome 2. Functional and Integrative Genomics, 4:59-66.
Peleg Z., Fahima T., Abbo S., Krugman T., Nevo E., Yakir D., and Saranga Y. 2005. Genetic diversity for drought resistance in wild emmer wheat and its ecogeographical associations. Plant Cell and Environment, 28: 176-191.
Distelfeld A., Uauy C., Fahima T., and Dubcovsky J. 2006. Physical map of the wheat high-grain protein content gene Gpc-B1 and development of a high-throughput molecular marker. New Phytologist, 169:753-763.
Uauy C., Distelfeld A., Fahima T., Blechl A., and Dubcovsky J. 2006. A NAC gene regulating senescence improves grain protein, Zn, and Fe content in wheat. Science, 314:1298-1301.
Peleg Z., Saranga Y., Krugman T., Abbo S., Nevo E., and Fahima T., 2008. Allelic diversity associated with aridity gradient in wild emmer wheat populations. Plant Cell and Environment, 31:39-49.
Peleg Z., Saranga Y., Krugman T., Suprunova T., Ronin Y., Röder M.S., Kilian A., Korol A.B., and Fahima T. 2008. High-density genetic map of durum wheat × wild emmer wheat based on SSR and DArT markers. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 117:103-115.
Distelfeld A., Korol A.B., Dubcovsky J., Uauy C., Fisher A., Blake T., and Fahima T.2008. Colinearity between the barley grain protein content (GPC) QTL on chromosome arm 6HS and the wheat Gpc-B1 region. Molecular Breeding, 22:25-38.
Peleg Z., Saranga Y., Krugman T., Suprunova T., Ronin Y., Röder M.S., Kilian A., Korol A.B., and Fahima T. 2008. High-density genetic map of durum wheat × wild emmer wheat based on SSR and DArT markers. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 117:103-115.
Peleg Z., Fahima T., Krugman T., Abbo S., Yakir D., Korol A.B., and Saranga Y. 2009. Genomic dissection of drought resistance in durum wheat x wild emmer wheat recombinant inbreed line population. Plant, Cell and Environment 32, 758-779.
Sela H., Cheng J.P.,YanJ., Nevo E., and Fahima T. 2009. Divergent diversity patterns of NBS and LRR domains of resistance gene analogs in wild emmer wheat populations. Submitted. (Link) Genome 52:557-565.
Fu D., Uauy C., Distelfeld A., Blechl A., Epstein L., Chen X., Sela H., Fahima T., and Dubcovsky J. 2009. A kinase-START gene confers temperature-dependent resistance to wheat stripe rust. Science. 323:1357-1360.