Understanding how both environmental conditions and genetic makeup affect crops is essential to developing varieties that are more resilient and productive. But the intricate interplay between weather and genes is difficult to untangle, in part because plants with the same genotype can respond in different ways to varying conditions. That dynamic is called phenotypic plasticity, and it’s the main research interest of Jianming Yu, an agronomy professor at Iowa State University.
Linking data on genetics, traits and environment gives crop breeders a wider lens
