Charles Y. Chen - profile information
More information about Charles Y. Chen
- Professor (Peanut Breeding and Genetics)
- Department of Crop, Soil & Environmental Sciences
More bio information
Education
Ph.D. in Plant Breeding and GeneticsUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
M.S. in Crop ScienceThe Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
B.S. in AgronomyChina Agricultural University, Beijing, China
Professional Experience
Positions Held
- Professor, Department of Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama (2017-present)
- Associate Professor, Department of Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama (2012-2017)
- Research Geneticist/Lead Scientist, USDA/ARS National Peanut Research Lab, Dawson, Georgia (2007-2012)
- Senior Research Associate, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan (2002-2007)
- Ph.D. Graduate Research Assistant, The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1997-2002)
Professional Socieities Membership
- The Secretary/President-elect/President for The Association of Chinese Soil & Plant Scientists in North America (ACSPSNA) under ASA-CSSA-SSSA (2017-2019)
- University faculty senator (2016-2018)
- Alabama representative to the S-009 Multistate Committee “Plant Genetic Resources Conservation and Utilization” (2016-present)
- Program 3+2 faculty liaison: for the College of Agriculture and the Dept. of Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences (2013-present)
- Bailey Award Committee Chair, APRES (2015-2017)
- Peanut Germplasm Committee Member, APRES (2007-present)
- Associate editor for Journal of Plant Registration (2015-2017)
- Associate editor for The Journal of the American Oil Chemists’ Society (JAOCS) (2015-2017)
- Senior associate editor for Agronomy Journal (2008-2011)
- Member, Gamma Sigma Delta (2000 -present)
- Member, Crop Science Society of America (CSSA) (1997-present)
Professional Affiliations
- Crop Science Society of America since 1997
- American Society of Agronomy since 1997
- Gamma Sigma Delta – The Honor Society of Agriculture since 2000
- American Peanut Research and Education Society since 2007
- National Association of Plant Breeders (NAPB) since 2013
Research
Primary research responsibilities are in peanut breeding, genetics, and genomics. The major objectives of the research are to develop cultivars with desirable improved traits adapted to all U.S. peanut producing regions; and enhance elite peanut germplasm through conventional and genomic approaches. The targeted traits are high yield, resistance to tomato spotted wilt virus and leaf spot, maturity, seed characteristics (size, split, and taste etc.), high oil content, high oleic and low linoleic fatty acids, and drought tolerance.
In addition to the breeding effort, second focus of my research program is to understand the genetic principles of important agronomic traits in peanut; to map quantitative trait loci (QTLs) underlying the desired traits in peanuts; to explore genetic potential for peanut improvement, and to discover new genes related to desirable agronomic and seed quality traits. Ongoing projects include the research to identify drought-induced genes and to associate and map the genes or alleles that control leaf spot disease resistance in peanuts. In order to discover alleles/genes contributing to the leaf spot resistance in Arachis germplasm for cultivated peanut improvement, several recombinant inbred line (RIL) populations were constructed. A great effort of phenotyping the US peanut mini-core collection has achieved significant progress on identifying QTLs underlying TSWV (tomato spotted wilt virus) resistance, leaf spot resistance, peanut favor characters and chemistry. We also investigated the effects of drought stress on symbiotic nitrogen fixation in peanut. A runner-type peanut cultivar ‘AU-NPL 17’ was released in 2017 and a Virginia-type peanut cultivar named as ‘AU14-34’ was released in 2021.
Honors and Awards
- Auburn University College of Agriculture Dean’s Grantsmanship Award (2020)
- Auburn University College of Agriculture Dean’s Grantsmanship Award (2018)
- Outstanding Research Award by the International Peanut Genome Initiative for contributions to ongoing efforts to establish links between genetics and key traits in cultivated peanuts. (2014)
- Member of the Honor Society of Agriculture, Gamma Sigma Delta (2000)
Honors and Awards by Graduate Students
- Oluwamosope Adeniji. 2018-2021 Auburn University Presidential Scholarship.
- Boipelo Nthupisang. 2016-2018 Fulbright Foreign Student Scholarship, The U.S. Department of State, Bureaus of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
- Jing Li. 2016 Outstanding International Graduate Student Award, Auburn University.
- Shandrea Stallworth. 2014 Dow AgroSciences R&D Internship.
- Joshua Carter. 2013 The J. Fielding Reed Scholarship from the American Society of Agronomy, 2013 ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting, November 11 – 14, 2013. Tampa, FL.
- Joshua Carter. 2013 The Hubert J. Byrd Sr. Scholarship from the Soil Science Society of America. 2013 ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting, November 11 – 14, 2013. Tampa, FL.
- Shandrea Stallworth. 2013-2015 NSF Bridge to Doctorate Fellowship.
