Alexandra Casa
Research Associate
Institute for Genomic Diversity
153 Biotechnology Building
Cornell University
Ithaca, New York 14853-2703
Tel: 607 254-6753
Fax: 607 255-6249
e-mail: amc56@cornell.edu

  

 

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Education:

Ph.D.,, Plant Genetics, Department of Plant Breeding, Cornell University, 2002.
M.S., Genetics, Department of Genetics, Universidade Estadual Paulista - UNESP (Botucatu, SP, Brazil), 1995.
B.S., Agronomy, Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina (Lages, SC, Brazil), 1992.
Research Interests:

General Statement
Effective conservation and use of plant genetic resources are essential to the continued maintenance and improvement of agricultural production. In this context, plant scientists are applying molecular tools to address questions related to the amount and partition of variation within and among species, to investigate evolutionary and taxonomic questions and to assist breeding programs through marker assisted selection. Considering the possible applications of molecular genetics to problems in plant science, I am particularly interested in:

1. Developing new strategies for evaluation and characterization of genetic diversity in plants,

2. Identifying functional variation that can be potentially used in crop improvement, and

3. Understanding the role of miniature inverted repeat transposable elements (MITEs) in plant genome evolution and structure.

Current Research
1. Assessment of genetic diversity and population structure in sorghum using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers and DNA sequence data,

2. Identification of genomic regions in sorghum that have experienced selection as a consequence of the domestication process and/or due to adaptation to local environments, and

3. Evaluation of maize genome diversity based on transposon-based assays

Publications

Garris, AJ, Casa, AM, and Kresovich, S (2004) Molecular technologies and their role in maintaining and utilizing genetic resources. In: Encyclopedia of Plant and Crop Science. Goodman, R.M. (ed.) Marcel Dekker, Inc. New York, NY. p. 757­ 59.

 

Casa, AM, Nagel, A, Wesler, SR (2004) MITE Display. In: Mobile Genetic Elements: Protocols and Genomic Applications. Capy, P., and Miller, W. (eds.) Humana Press Series Methods in Molecular Biology. Totowa, NJ. p. 175-188.

 

Casa, AM, Mitchell, SE, Lopes, CR, and Valls, JFM (2002) RAPD analysis reveals genetic variability among sexual and apomictic Paspalum dilatatum Poiret biotypes. Journal of Heredity 93: 300-302.

 

Casa, AM, Mitchell, SE, Smith, OS, Register III, JC, Wessler, SR, and Kresovich S (2002) Evaluation of Hbr (MITE) markers for assessment of genetic relationships among maize (Zea mays L.) inbred lines. . Theor Appl Genet 104: 104-110

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Casa, AM, Brouwer, C, Nagel, A, Wang, L, Zhang, Q, Kresovich, S, and Wessler, SR (2000) The MITE family Heartbreaker (Hbr): Molecular markers in maize. . Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci USA 97: 10083-10089

 

Zhao, S, Mitchell, SE, Meng, J, Kresovich, S, Doyle, MP, Dean, R, Casa, AM, and Weller, JW (2000) Genomic typing of Escherichia coli O157:H7 by semi-automated fluorescent AFLP analysis. Microbes and Infection 2:107-113.

 

Hopkins, MS, Casa, AM, Wang, T, Mitchell, SE, Dean, RE, Kochert, GD, and Kresovich, S (1999) Discovery and characterization of polymorphic simple sequence repeats (SSRs) in peanut. Crop Science 39:1243-1247.

 

Broetto, F, Casa, AM, Malavolta, E, and Lopes, CR (1997) Isoenzymatic polymorphism and activity of peroxidases of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) under saline stress. Scientia Agricola 54: 128-132.