Professional Staff

Yong-Bi Fu, Ph.D.

Research Scientist in Genetic Diversity
Plant Gene Resources of Canada
Saskatoon Research Centre
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
107 Science Place
Saskatoon SK Canada S7N 0X2

Tel.: 306-956-7642
Fax: 306-956-7246
E-mail: Yong-Bi Fu

Areas of Expertise

Plant population and conservation genetics; crop genetic diversity and domestication; molecular characterization and conservation of plant germplasm; in situ conservation and utilization of native plants; molecular markers and DNA sequence analysis; next generation sequencing data analysis.

Current Research Projects

• Application of next generation sequencing to analyze plant genetic diversity

• Molecular characterization of plant germplasm, focusing on wheat and barley collections

• Molecular diversity analysis of native plant species, focusing on blue grama, white prairie clover and side-oats grama grass

• Molecular inference of crop domestication, focusing on wheat, barley and flax

Research Staff

• Gregory W Peterson – Research Technician
• Carolee Horbach – Research Technician

Current Research Collaborators

• Axel Diederichsen – PGRC, AAFC, Saskatoon
• Bifang Cheng – AAFC, Saskatoon
• Frank You – AAFC, Winnipeg
• Gavin Humphreys – AAFC, Winnipeg
• Brent McCallum  – AAFC, Winnipeg
• Danny Singh – AAFC, Swift Current
• Mike Schellenberg – AAFC, Swift Current
• Bruce Coulman – University of Saskatchewan
• Randy Kutcher – University of Saskatchewan
• Helen Booker – University of Saskatchewan
• Gopalan Selvaraj – NCR PBI, Saskatoon
• Jitao Zou – NCR PBI, Saskatoon
• Robin Allaby – University of Warwick HRI, UK
• Orhan Kurt – University of Ondokuz Mayis, Turkey
• Preeya P Wangsomnuk – Khon Kaen University, Thailand
• Babak A Mandoulakani – Urmia University, Iran
• Eviatar Nevo – University of Haifa, Israel

Refereed Publications

• Pitt WM, Bailey KL, Fu YB and Peterson GW. 2012. Biological and genetic characterization of Phoma macrostoma isolates with bioherbicidal activity. Biocontrol Science and Technology (in press)
   
• Nevo E, Fu YB, Pavlicek T, Khalifa S, Tavasi M and Beiles A. 2012. Evolution of wild cereals during 28 years of global warming in Israel. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 109: 3412-3415
   
• Fu YB and Peterson GW. 2012. Developing genomic resources in two Linum species via 454 pyrosequencing and genomic reduction. Molecular Ecology Resources 12: 492-500
   
• Fu YB. 2012.Genetic structure in a core subset of cultivated barley germplasm. Crop Science 52: 1195-1208.
   
• Fu YB. 2012. Population-based resequencing analysis of wild and cultivated barley revealed weak domestication signal of selection and bottleneck in the Rrs2 scald resistance gene region. Genome 55: 93-104
   
• Fu YB. 2012. Population-based resequencing revealed an ancestral winter group of cultivated flax: implication for flax domestication processes. Ecology and Evolution 2:622-635
   
• Fu YB, Diederichsen A and Allaby RG. 2012. Locus-specific view of flax domestication history. Ecology and Evolution 2: 139-152
   
• Uysal H, Kurt O, Fu YB, Diederichsen A and Kusters P. 2012. Variation in phenotypic characters of pale flax (Linum bienne Mill.) from Turkey. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 59: 19-30
   
• Mornkham T, Wangsomnuk PP, Jogloy S, Wangsomnuk P, Pattanothai A and Fu YB. 2012. Comparison of five DNA extraction methods for molecular analyses of Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.). Genetics and Molecular Research 11: 572-581
   
• Wangsomnuk PP, Khampa S, Jogloy S, Wangsomnuk P, Mornkham T, Puttha R, Srivong T, Ruttawat B, Patanothai A, Kesmala T and Fu YB. 2011. Genetic diversity of worldwide Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.) germplasm as revealed by random amplified polymorphic DNA markers. Genetics and Molecular Research 10: 4012-4025
   
• Wangsomnuk PP, Khampa S, Jogloy S, Srivong T, Patanothai A and Fu YB. 2011. Assessing genetic structure and relatedness of Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.) germplasm with RAPD, ISSR and SRAP markers. American Journal of Plant Sciences 2: 753-764
   
• Lung’aho C, Chemining’wa GN, Fu YB, Shibairo SL, Hutchinson MJ and Paniagua HG. 2011. Genetic diversity of Kenyan potato germplasm revealed by simple sequence repeat markers. American Journal of Potato Research 88: 424-434
   
• Fu YB and Peterson GW. 2011 Genetic diversity analysis with 454 pyrosequencing and genomic reduction confirmed the eastern and western division in the cultivated barley gene pool. The Plant Genome 4: 226-237
   
• Fu YB. 2011. Genetic evidence for early flax domestication with capsular dehiscence.  Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 58: 1119-1128
   
• Fu YB, Peterson GW and Richards KW. 2011. Genetic risk assessment of a threatened remnant population of hairy prairie-clover (Dalea villosa var. villosa) in the Canadian Prairie. Diversity 3: 375-389
   
• Fu YB and Somers DJ. 2011. Allelic changes in breed wheat cultivars were associated with long-term wheat trait improvements. Euphytica 179: 209-225
   
• Qiu J, Bai Y, Fu YB and Wilmshurst JF. 2010. Patterns of amplified restriction fragment polymorphism in the germination of Festuca hallii seeds. Seed Science Research 20: 153-161
   
• Fu YB, Peterson GW, McCallum B and Huang L. 2010 Population based resequencing analysis of improved wheat germplasm at wheat leaf rust resistance locus Lr21. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 121: 271-281
   
• Uysal H, Fu YB, Kurt O, Peterson GW, Diederichsen A and Kusters P. 2010. Genetic diversity of pale and cultivated flax as revealed by ISSR markers. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 57: 1109-1119
   
• Fu YB and Peterson GW. 2010. Characterization of expressed sequence tag-derived simple sequence repeat markers for 17 Linum species. Botany 88: 537-543
   
• Fu YB and Allaby R. 2010. Phylogenetic network of Linum species as revealed by non-coding chloroplast DNA sequences. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 57: 667-677
   
• Fu YB. 2010. FPTest: A SAS routine for testing allelic counts. Molecular Ecology Resources 10: 389-392
   
• Qiu J, Bai Y, Fu YB and Wilmshurst JF. 2010. Spatial variation in temperature thresholds during seed germination of remnant Festuca hallii populations across the Canadian prairie. Environmental and Experimental Botany 67: 479-486
   
• Fu YB and Gugel RK. 2010. Genetic diversity of Canadian elite summer rape (Brassica napus L.) cultivars from the pre- to post-canola quality era. Canadian Journal of Plant Sciences 90: 23-33
   
• Qiu J, Fu YB, Bai Y and Wilmshurst JF. 2009. Genetic variation in remnant Festuca hallii populations is weakly differentiated but geographically associated across the Canadian Prairie. Plant Species Biology 24: 156-168
   
• Fu YB and Gugel RK. 2009. Genetic variability of Canadian elite cultivars of summer turnip rape (Brassica rapa L.) revealed by simple sequence repeat markers. Canadian Journal of Plant Sciences 89: 865-874
   
• Khan AI, Fu YB and Khan IA. 2009. Genetic diversity of Pakistani cotton cultivars as revealed by simple sequence repeat markers. Communications in Biometry and Crop Science 4: 21-30
   
• Fu YB, Peterson GW, Richards KW, Tarn TR and Percy JE. 2009. Genetic diversity of Canadian and exotic potato germplasm revealed by simple sequence repeat markers. American Journal of Potato Research 86: 38-48
   
• Fu YB and Somers DJ. 2009. Genome-wide reduction of genetic diversity in wheat breeding. Crop Science 49: 161-168
   
• Fu YB, Qiu J and Wilmshurst JF. 2008. Interpolating genetic variation in natural populations: a case study of plains rough fescue (Festuca hallii). The Open Evolution Journal 2: 31-40
   
• Fu YB and Williams D. 2008. AFLP variation in 25 Avena species. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 117: 333-342
   
• Mirza B, Shoaib M, Ahmad M and Fu YB. 2007. Genetic diversity in Pakistani populations of Avena fatua revealed by seed storage protein polymorphism. Communications in Biometry and Crop Science 2: 41-48
   
• Fu YB, Peterson GW and Morrison MJ. 2007. Genetic diversity of Canadian soybean cultivars and exotic germplasm revealed by simple sequence repeat markers. Crop Science 47: 1947-1954
   
• Qiu J, Fu YB, Bai Y and Wilmshurst JF. 2007. Patterns of amplified fragment length polymorphism in natural populations and corresponding seed collections of plains rough fescue. Canadian Journal of Botany 85: 484-492
   
• Fu YB, Chong J, Fetch T and Wang ML. 2007. Microsatellite variation in germplasm accessions of the wild oat Avena sterilis L. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 114: 1029-1038
   
• Fu YB and Thompson D. 2006. Genetic diversity of bluebunch wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata) in the Thompson River valley of British Columbia. Canadian Journal of Botany 84: 1122-1128
   
• Fu YB, Richards KW and Peterson GW. 2006. Genetic variability in multiple accessions of two Canadian heritage crop cultivars as revealed by AFLP markers. Communications in Biometry and Crop Science 1: 1-10
   
• Fu YB, Clarke JM, Richards KW and Sadasivaiah RS. 2006. Genetic diversity of Canadian wheat cultivars as revealed by simple sequence repeat markers. World Journal of Agricultural Sciences 2: 239-248
   
• Fu YB, Qiu J, Peterson GW, Willms WD and Wilmshurst JF. 2006. Characterization of microsatellite markers for rough fescue species (Festuca spp). Molecular Ecology Notes 6: 894-896
   
• Xie CY, Fu YB and Yanchuk A. 2006. Accuracy of ranking individuals in field tests of different designs: a computer simulation. Silvae Genetica 55: 70-77
   
• Fu YB, Legge WG, Clarke JM and Richards KW. 2006. Genetic variation and relationships of pedigree-known oat, wheat, and barley cultivars via bulking and single-plant sampling. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 53: 1153-1164
   
• Fu YB. 2006. Redundancy and distinctness in flax germplasm as revealed by RAPD dissimilarity. Plant Genetic Resources 4: 117-124
   
• Fu YB, Gugel R and Katepa-Mupondwa F. 2006. Genetic diversity of Sinapis alba germplasm as revealed by AFLP markers. Plant Genetic Resources 4: 87-95
   
• Fu YB. 2006. Impact of plant breeding on genetic diversity of agricultural crops: searching for molecular evidence. Plant Genetic Resources 4: 71-78
   
• Diederichsen A and Fu YB. 2006. Phenotypic and molecular differentiation of flax intraspeicifc classifications. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 53: 77-90
   
• Fu YB, Peterson GW, Yu J-K, Gao LF, Jia JZ and Richards KW. 2006. Impact of plant breeding on genetic diversity of the Canadian hard red spring wheat germplasm as revealed by EST-derived SSR markers. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 112: 1239-1247
   
• Allaby R, Peterson GW, Merriwether A and Fu YB. 2005. Evidence of the domestication history of flax (Linum usitatissimum) from genetic diversity of the sad2 locus. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 112: 58-65
   
• Fu YB, Peterson GW, Richards KW, Somers DJ, DePauw R and Clarke JM. 2005. Allelic reduction and genetic shift in the Canadian red hard spring wheat germplasm released from 1886 to 2004. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 110: 1505-1516
   
• Fu YB, Peterson GW, Williams D, Richards KW and Mitchell Fetch J. 2005. Patterns of AFLP variation in a core subset of cultivated hexaploid oat germplasm. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 111: 530-539
   
• Fu YB, Thompson D, Wilms W and Mackay M. 2005. Long-term grazing effects on genetic variability in mountain rough fescue. Rangeland Ecology and Management 58: 637-642
   
• Rozhmina TA, Diederichsen A, Fu YB, Richards KW and Zhuchenko AA. 2005. Issledovanie genetičeskogo polimorfisma obrazcov “Nacional’noj kollekcii russkogo l’na” s ispol’zovaniem RAPD-metoda [Investigation of genetic polymorphism of accessions from the “National Collection of Russian Flax” by application of the RAPD-method]. (In Russian) Dostiženija nauki i technika APK, 10 (October 2005), 11-13
   
• Fu YB, Coulman BE, Ferdinandez YSN, Cayouette J and Peterson PM. 2005. Genetic diversity of fringed brome (Bromus ciliatus) as revealed by amplified fragment length polymorphism. Canadian Journal of Botany 83: 1322-1328
   
• Khan IA, Awan FS, Ahmad A, Fu YB and Iqbal A. 2005. Genetic diversity of Pakistan wheat germplasm as revealed by RAPD markers. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 52: 239-244
   
• Fu YB. 2005. Geographic patterns of RAPD variation in cultivated flax. Crop Science 45: 1084-1091
   
• Ferdinandez YSN, Coulman B and Fu YB. 2005. Detecting genetic changes over seed increases in an awned selnder wheatgrass population using AFLP markers. Crop Science 45: 1064-1068
   
• Fu YB, Phan AT, Coulman B and Richards KW. 2004. Genetic diversity in natural populations and corresponding seed collections of little bluestem as revealed by AFLP markers. Crop Science 44: 2254-2260
   
• Fu YB, Kibite S and Richards KW. 2004. AFLP analysis of 96 Canadian oat cultivars released between 1886 and 2001. Canadian Journal of Plant Science 84: 23-30
   
• Fu YB, Ferdinandez YSN, Phan AT, Coulman B and Richards KW. 2004. AFLP variation in four blue grama sources. Crop Science 44: 283-288
   
• Fu YB. 2003. Applications of bulking in molecular characterization of plant germplasm: A critical review. Plant Genetic Resources 1: 161-167
   
• Fu YB, Whitwill S, Ferdinandez YSN, Coulman BE and Richards KW. 2003. Bulking generated considerable bias in detection of AFLP variations in oat, fringed brome and smooth bromegrass. Molecular Ecology Notes 3: 476-478
   
• Fu YB. 2003. On implementation of incomplete block designs in forest genetic field trials. Forest Genetics 10: 23-33
   
• Fu YB, Peterson GW, Scoles G, Rossnagel B, Schoen DJ and Richards KW. 2003. Allelic diversity changes in 96 Canadian oat cultivars released from 1886 to 2001. Crop Science 43: 1989-1995
   
• Phan AT, Fu YB and Smith SR Jr. 2003. RAPD variations in selected and unselected blue grama populations. Crop Science 43: 1852-1857
   
• Fu YB, Rowland GG, Duguid SD and Richards KW. 2003. RAPD analysis of 54 North American flax cultivars. Crop Science 43: 1510-1515
   
• Fu YB, Guerin S, Peterson G, Carlson JE and Richards KW. 2003. Assessment of bulking strategies for RAPD analyses of flax germplasm. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 50: 743-746
   
• Fu YB, Guerin S, Peterson G, Diederichsen A, Rowland G and Richards KW. 2003. RAPD analysis of genetic variability of regenerated seeds in the Canadian flax cultivar CDC Normandy. Seed Science and Technology 31: 207-211
   
• Joyce D, Ford R and Fu YB. 2002. Spatial patterns of tree height variations in a black spruce farm-field progeny test and neighbors-adjusted estimation of genetic parameters. Silvae Genetica 51: 13-18
   
• Fu YB, Peterson G, Diederichsen A and Richards KW. 2002. RAPD analysis of genetic relationships of seven flax species in genus Linum L. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 49: 253-259
   
• Fu YB, Diederichsen A, Richards KW and Peterson G. 2002. Genetic diversity within a range of cultivars and landraces of flax (Linum usitatissimum L) as revealed by RAPDs. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 49: 167-174
   
• Fu YB. 2000. Effectiveness of bulking procedures in measuring population-pairwise similarity with dominant and co-dominant genetic markers. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 100: 1284-1289
   
• Fu YB, Yanchuk AD and Namkoong G. 2000. Incomplete block designs for genetic testing: accuracy of ranking families and individuals. Forest Genetics 7: 287-293
   
• Fu YB, Yanchuk AD and Namkoong G. 1999. Incomplete block designs for genetic testing: some practical considerations. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 29: 1871-1878
   
• Fu YB, Yanchuk AD, Namkoong G and Clarke, GPY. 1999. Incomplete block designs for genetic testing: statistical efficiencies with missing observations. Forest Science 45: 374-380
   
• Williams ER and Fu YB. 1999. Comment-enhanced heritabilities and best linear unbiased predictors through appropriate blocking of progeny trials. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 29: 1633-1634
   
• Fu YB, Yanchuk AD and Namkoong G. 1999. Spatial patterns of tree height variations in a series of Douglas-fir progeny trials: implications for genetic testing. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 29: 714-723
   
• Fu YB. 1999. Patterns of purging deleterious genes of synergistic interactions with different breeding schemes. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 98: 337-356
   
• Fu YB, Clarke GPY, Namkoong G and Yanchuk AD. 1998. Incomplete block designs for genetic testing: statistical efficiencies of estimating family means. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 28: 977-986
   
• Fu YB, Namkoong G and Carlson JE. 1998. Comparison of breeding strategies for purging inbreeding depression via simulation. Conservation Biology 12: 856-864
   
• Fu YB, Charlesworth D and Namkoong G. 1997. Point estimation and graphical inference of marginal dominance for two viability loci controlling inbreeding depression. Genetical Research 70: 143-153
   
• Clarke GPY, Haines LM and Fu YB. 1997. Kriging and fields experiments. Bulletin of the International Statistical Institute Vol 57: 229-232
   
• Ritland K, Fu YB and Lin JZ. 1996. Characterizing molecular quantitative variability for inbreeding depression. Plant Species Biology 11: 23-31
   
• Fu YB and Ritland K. 1996. Multilocus marker-based inferences of epistasis for genes influencing inbreeding depression. Genetics 144: 339-348
   
• Fu YB and Ritland K. 1994. Evidence for partial dominance of viability genes contributing to inbreeding depression in Mimulus guttatus. Genetics 136: 223-231
   
• Fu YB and Ritland K. 1994. On estimating linkage of marker genes to viability genes controlling inbreeding depression. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 88: 925-932
   
• Fu YB and Ritland K. 1994. Marker-based inferences about fecundity genes contributing to inbreeding depression in Mimulus guttatus. Genome 37: 1005-1010
   
• Fu YB and Ritland K. 1994. Marker-based inferences about the genetic basis of flowering time in Mimulus guttatus. Hereditas 121: 267-272
   
• Fu YB, Knowles P and Perry DJ. 1992. Pollen pool heterogeneity of jack pine (Pinus banksiana): a problem for estimating outcrossing rate? Theoretical and Applied Genetics 83: 500-508
   
• Fu YB, Si ZW and Li S. 1988. A blue-staining fungus of the timbers of Hevea brasiliensis and Pinus massoniana. Forest Research (China) Vol 1(2): 232-241
   
• Fu YB. 1987. An overview of the application of isozyme analysis to genetic breeding of forest trees in China. Commonwealth Forestry Review 66(4):201-208
   
• Fu YB. 1987. Blue stain of the timber. Tropical Forestry (Science and Technology) No2 (1987):120-128
  

Achievements and Awards

• 2010 Award for Best C-8 Paper in Crop Science

• Saskatoon Volunteer Award in Workplace Volunteer Program

• Postdoctoral Fellowship of National Science and Engineering Research Council

• Ontario Graduate Scholarship (declined)

• Elizabeth Ann Wintercorbyn Award, University of Toronto

• University of Toronto Open Doctoral Fellowship

• University of Toronto Open Doctoral Fellowship

• University of Toronto Open Doctoral Fellowship

• Mary H Beatly Fellowship, University of Toronto

• University of Toronto Open Doctoral Fellowship

Current Professional Memberships

• Adjunct Professor of University of Saskatchewan

• Associate Editor of Communications in Biometry and Crop Science

• Editorial Board of Diversity

• Crop Science Society of America

• The Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution

• The Canadian Society of Ecology and Evolution