"... there is no doubt that the wild forms, ancestral to the presently cultivated species, deserve the same research efforts as given the cultivated species." (Nikolai I Vavilov, 1887-1943)
Species’ adaptations involve the change in their genetic make-up as a result of both selection and stochastic processes. The ability of plants to cope with different environments depends on the range of genetic and epigenetic diversity in populations, which relate to plastic and constitutive mechanisms that stabilize or destabilize core functions. Projected climatic changes in the upcoming decades include abiotic fluctuations that would constrain crop productivity and its improvement. Going back to the wild ancestors of modern crops and investigating new sources of molecular variation, which underlies adaptation to biotic and abiotic challenges, is imperative. In our group we explore the triangle Environment-Genotype-Phenotype while observing both the source and sink organs that regulates grain yield and quality. We develop genomic infrastructure (wild B1K collection & the interspecific wild-cultivated cytoplasmic multi-parent CMPP population) with phenomics tools (SensyPAM). These resources allow the scanning of barley genomes in search of the needles in the haystack (gene alleles) that mediate these interactions. Research projects are on the spectrum between fundamental understanding of mechanism underlying plasticity, including use of molecular and genome editing toolbox, to applied aspects of utilizing cytonuclear variation for breeding new traits while considering possible tradeoffs and their release.
Our research includes synergistic collaborations with diverse groups (genetic and trait modelling, phenomics, grain quality, evolutionary biology, plant pathology). Yet, for us to keep feet on the ground, we also interact with stakeholders in the value chain of barley and try to help maintaining barley as leading model crop for sustainable agriculture.
Species’ adaptations involve the change in their genetic make-up as a result of both selection and stochastic processes. The ability of plants to cope with different environments depends on the range of genetic and epigenetic diversity in populations, which relate to plastic and constitutive mechanisms that stabilize or destabilize core functions. Projected climatic changes in the upcoming decades include abiotic fluctuations that would constrain crop productivity and its improvement. Going back to the wild ancestors of modern crops and investigating new sources of molecular variation, which underlies adaptation to biotic and abiotic challenges, is imperative. In our group we explore the triangle Environment-Genotype-Phenotype while observing both the source and sink organs that regulates grain yield and quality. We develop genomic infrastructure (wild B1K collection & the interspecific wild-cultivated cytoplasmic multi-parent CMPP population) with phenomics tools (SensyPAM). These resources allow the scanning of barley genomes in search of the needles in the haystack (gene alleles) that mediate these interactions. Research projects are on the spectrum between fundamental understanding of mechanism underlying plasticity, including use of molecular and genome editing toolbox, to applied aspects of utilizing cytonuclear variation for breeding new traits while considering possible tradeoffs and their release.
Our research includes synergistic collaborations with diverse groups (genetic and trait modelling, phenomics, grain quality, evolutionary biology, plant pathology). Yet, for us to keep feet on the ground, we also interact with stakeholders in the value chain of barley and try to help maintaining barley as leading model crop for sustainable agriculture.
Lab News
LIFU- Last in first up ;-)
June-2026>>! We just got awarded a BARD Pioneer grant for three years, together with a strong collaborating team in ARO , UC Davis and BTI/Cornell! The CMPP and derivatives are going to be challenged, and so are we, with Desert Farming in Israel and in CA. Let's see how cytonuclear interactions may harness adaptive breeding to real harsh environments...
>>Mar-2026 Schewach will present his progress report of PhD on April-28-2026 in Faculta
>> February-2026: Our new reprint: Wild barley cytoplasms affect grain weight stability, with environment-dependent cytonuclear epistasis at the ari-e locus https://lnkd.in/dUUYfrQQ. Great collaboration with Christine Diepenbrock's team, University of California, Davis, supported by BARD , the U.S.-Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund , and led by PhD student Schewach Bodenheimer
>> Aug-2025 Joseph was awarded the BARD PhD fellowship! He's packing now and leaving soon to spend few months with Juan M Debernardi @ UC Davis to learn some tricks in cereals genome editing. Congratulations.&Good luck!
>> Aug-2025 Our manuscript showcasing the first cytonuclear multiparent population (CMPP) in plants (and #barley) is out in #GENETICS journal (https://lnkd.in/dRCppY9g). see thread here: https://x.com/sche_wach/status/1958240837801742537
>> Mar-2025 The CMPP paper, with great analysis and writing by Schewach Bodenheimer, following on mastering of all crosses by Eyal Bdolach and so much field work by lab members and colleagues is out in bioRxiv [ https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.04.08.647843v1]
> Apr-2025 Another use of the Barley1K for GWAS, this time for photosynthesis traits, and led by John Ferguson is out in bioRxiv [https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.04.08.647843v1]
> Nov-2024 Eyal interview (in Hebrew) for Volcani-ARO podcast תרבות והתרבות של צמחים [ https://open.spotify.com/episode/15n0yHt5JiLZwDqDroROuW?si=SPTgimshTaGLUo71dkTfJQ]
> Nov-1 Eyal is back from a mini-Sabbatical at the Landry lab (UC Berkeley), bringing with him new leads for the future of genome editing in recombining barley QTL. We're eagerly anticipating Henry Squire's visit to the Fridman lab later during 2025, where he will continue following these leads after being awarded the Prof Rahamimof Travel Grant for Young Scientists.
> Jan-14-2024 Schewach's study on the Cytonuclear Multi-Parent Population (CMPP) was selected for oral presentation at the The Allied Genetics Conference (#TAGC24). Congratulations Schewach!
> July 2023 Shaharit is here to explore variation in the barley CMPP and PhD possibilities
2023 begins with new faces in the group:
> Lalita* a new postdoc joined recently to explore inheritance in the new CMPP barley population, and to investigate recombination rates within the RECAS9 project. Good luck Lalita!
> Adi is a new MSc student in Ben Gurion University who just joined us to a joint project with Victor Alchanatis (Agricultural Engineering, ARO) and with supervision of Prof Yael Edan (BGU). Adi will develop models for prediction of grain qualities using multispectral imaging. Welcome Adi!
* Funny, it seems we have tendency to pick people having names with y/a/l or l/a/l/i,
> Roei Shuminov, a new Sachlav students from Russia, joined us for 2-3 months interim to work with Ayelet on Dry2.2 genetics and development. Welcome Roei!
> Feb-13-22 Avital made a great cake to welcome Yamima to the lab as a Bat-Sheroot/
> Sept-17-21 Welcome Jozif! Just joined the lab as a candidate PhD student after finalizing his MSc in U of Hamburg. Good luck in studying the genetics behind RECAS9..
> We welcome Abby Cook for couple of months of Sachlav (Orchid) internship in ARO. Good luck!
> June, 2021 keeps the good grant tide (Knock-Knock...) with new BARD grant for 2021-2024, together with Dan Koenig (UCR) and Scott Lenaghan (UTK). Studying and utilizing barley plasmotype diversity for barley adaption
> May-3 We welcome two new PhD students in lab: Ayelet Kurtz-Son and Schewach Bodenheimer. Good Luck in studying genetics and genome editing of phenotypic plasticity and robustness!...in barley of course.
> April-26 Bdolach strikes again with his piece "Plasmotype: A hidden diversity for understanding and improving plant fitness under fluctuating abiotic environments in barley" has been accepted as an oral presentation in next SEB meeting.
> First paper for 2021 from the lab is now accepted to New Phytologist! great team work of so many great people . Including data from field, SensyPAM, MARSseq with Qgen, and more. We identified pleiotropic drivers of the clock (DOC) loci with signatures of selection under domestication and improvement [a thread on that will be coming in Twitter soon). Great start for 2021 and for follow-up studies.
> 2021 starts well... with a new BSF-NSF with Markita Landry (http://landrylab.com/) to develop nano-particles methods in QTL mapping by genome-editing.
June-2026>>! We just got awarded a BARD Pioneer grant for three years, together with a strong collaborating team in ARO , UC Davis and BTI/Cornell! The CMPP and derivatives are going to be challenged, and so are we, with Desert Farming in Israel and in CA. Let's see how cytonuclear interactions may harness adaptive breeding to real harsh environments...
>>Mar-2026 Schewach will present his progress report of PhD on April-28-2026 in Faculta
>> February-2026: Our new reprint: Wild barley cytoplasms affect grain weight stability, with environment-dependent cytonuclear epistasis at the ari-e locus https://lnkd.in/dUUYfrQQ. Great collaboration with Christine Diepenbrock's team, University of California, Davis, supported by BARD , the U.S.-Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund , and led by PhD student Schewach Bodenheimer
>> Aug-2025 Joseph was awarded the BARD PhD fellowship! He's packing now and leaving soon to spend few months with Juan M Debernardi @ UC Davis to learn some tricks in cereals genome editing. Congratulations.&Good luck!
>> Aug-2025 Our manuscript showcasing the first cytonuclear multiparent population (CMPP) in plants (and #barley) is out in #GENETICS journal (https://lnkd.in/dRCppY9g). see thread here: https://x.com/sche_wach/status/1958240837801742537
>> Mar-2025 The CMPP paper, with great analysis and writing by Schewach Bodenheimer, following on mastering of all crosses by Eyal Bdolach and so much field work by lab members and colleagues is out in bioRxiv [ https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.04.08.647843v1]
> Apr-2025 Another use of the Barley1K for GWAS, this time for photosynthesis traits, and led by John Ferguson is out in bioRxiv [https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.04.08.647843v1]
> Nov-2024 Eyal interview (in Hebrew) for Volcani-ARO podcast תרבות והתרבות של צמחים [ https://open.spotify.com/episode/15n0yHt5JiLZwDqDroROuW?si=SPTgimshTaGLUo71dkTfJQ]
> Nov-1 Eyal is back from a mini-Sabbatical at the Landry lab (UC Berkeley), bringing with him new leads for the future of genome editing in recombining barley QTL. We're eagerly anticipating Henry Squire's visit to the Fridman lab later during 2025, where he will continue following these leads after being awarded the Prof Rahamimof Travel Grant for Young Scientists.
> Jan-14-2024 Schewach's study on the Cytonuclear Multi-Parent Population (CMPP) was selected for oral presentation at the The Allied Genetics Conference (#TAGC24). Congratulations Schewach!
> July 2023 Shaharit is here to explore variation in the barley CMPP and PhD possibilities
2023 begins with new faces in the group:
> Lalita* a new postdoc joined recently to explore inheritance in the new CMPP barley population, and to investigate recombination rates within the RECAS9 project. Good luck Lalita!
> Adi is a new MSc student in Ben Gurion University who just joined us to a joint project with Victor Alchanatis (Agricultural Engineering, ARO) and with supervision of Prof Yael Edan (BGU). Adi will develop models for prediction of grain qualities using multispectral imaging. Welcome Adi!
* Funny, it seems we have tendency to pick people having names with y/a/l or l/a/l/i,
> Roei Shuminov, a new Sachlav students from Russia, joined us for 2-3 months interim to work with Ayelet on Dry2.2 genetics and development. Welcome Roei!
> Feb-13-22 Avital made a great cake to welcome Yamima to the lab as a Bat-Sheroot/
> Sept-17-21 Welcome Jozif! Just joined the lab as a candidate PhD student after finalizing his MSc in U of Hamburg. Good luck in studying the genetics behind RECAS9..
> We welcome Abby Cook for couple of months of Sachlav (Orchid) internship in ARO. Good luck!
> June, 2021 keeps the good grant tide (Knock-Knock...) with new BARD grant for 2021-2024, together with Dan Koenig (UCR) and Scott Lenaghan (UTK). Studying and utilizing barley plasmotype diversity for barley adaption
> May-3 We welcome two new PhD students in lab: Ayelet Kurtz-Son and Schewach Bodenheimer. Good Luck in studying genetics and genome editing of phenotypic plasticity and robustness!...in barley of course.
> April-26 Bdolach strikes again with his piece "Plasmotype: A hidden diversity for understanding and improving plant fitness under fluctuating abiotic environments in barley" has been accepted as an oral presentation in next SEB meeting.
> First paper for 2021 from the lab is now accepted to New Phytologist! great team work of so many great people . Including data from field, SensyPAM, MARSseq with Qgen, and more. We identified pleiotropic drivers of the clock (DOC) loci with signatures of selection under domestication and improvement [a thread on that will be coming in Twitter soon). Great start for 2021 and for follow-up studies.
> 2021 starts well... with a new BSF-NSF with Markita Landry (http://landrylab.com/) to develop nano-particles methods in QTL mapping by genome-editing.