Overall Research Interests

Dr. da Silva’s overall research interests include improving sugarcane for sustainability and productivity and the improvement of energy cane. His research focuses on the tolerance and resistance to abiotic and biotic stress; the development of sugarcane clones with improved performance and quality (high sucrose content); the introgression of exotic germplasm and the application of molecular techniques in plant breeding. The following is a brief overview of his research.

Sugarcane Breeding Program

The objective of the program is to develop new varieties of sugarcane based on sugar content, resistance to disease and pests, ratooning ability and high yield for a sustainable sugarcane production in South Texas.

Photoperiod Control for Induction of Flowers

Poster FIELD DAY 2014 - IV.pdf - Adobe Acrobat ProPoster FIELD DAY 2014 - IV.pdf - Adobe Acrobat Pro

Flowering and Sugarcane Crosses

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New Sugarcane Clones – Seedlings

Poster FIELD DAY 2014 - IV.pdf - Adobe Acrobat ProPoster FIELD DAY 2014 - IV.pdf - Adobe Acrobat Pro

Poster FIELD DAY 2014 - IV.pdf - Adobe Acrobat ProPoster FIELD DAY 2014 - IV.pdf - Adobe Acrobat Pro

Jorge da Silva – Biographical Sketch

Jorge da Silva – Professor; Soil and Crop Science Department; Texas A&M AgriLife Research & Extension Center, Weslaco, TX; 2401 E. Hwy 83, Weslaco, TX 78596; Tel: (956)969-5623; email: jorge.dasilva@agnet.tamu.edu

Education

Ph.D. 1993       Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, Plant Breeding

M.S.  1987        ESALQ, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil, Genetics & Plant Breeding

B.S.   1983       Universidade Federal Rural. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Agronomy

Appointments

2011 –Current Professor, Soil & Crop Science Department, Texas A&M AgriLife. 100 % research assignment, with emphasis on sugarcane genetic breeding using genomics techniques for the State of Texas sugar industry and energy cane genetic breeding for bioenergy.

2010 – 2011 Professor and Associate Center Director, Professor/Director, Soil & Crop Science Department, Texas A&M AgriLife. Supervise all research activities conducted at the Weslaco center.

2009 – 2010 Director, Sugarcane Breeding, Syngenta Crop Protection, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Install experiment station and implement sugarcane genetic breeding program.

2003 – 2009 Associate Professor, Sugarcane Project Leader, Texas AgriLife Research; Soil & Crop Science Department, Texas A&M AgriLife. 100 % research assignment, with emphasis on sugarcane genetic breeding using genomics techniques for the State of Texas sugar industry.

2001 – 2003 Research Scientist, Sugarcane Project Leader, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, Soil & Crop Science Department, Texas A&M AgriLife. 100 % research assignment, with emphasis on sugarcane genetic breeding for the State of Texas sugar industry.

1987 – 2001 Senior Research Scientist, sugarcane genetic breeding, CTC – Centro de Tecnologia Copersucar – Piracicaba, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Research scientist working for the local private sector sugarcane genetic breeding program.

1986 – 1987 Agronomist, Copener, Alagoinhas, Bahia, Brazil. Working as agronomist in charge of production of grains under irrigation in the state of Bahia, Brazil.

1986 Agronomist, Meridional Planejamentos Agricolas., Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Working as agronomist supervising irrigation projects of grains in different parts of Brazil

Publications

Gautam S, Solis-Gracia N, Teale MK, Mandadi K, da Silva JA and Vales MI (2021) Development of an in vitro Microtuberization and Temporary Immersion Bioreactor System to Evaluate Heat Stress Tolerance in Potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.). Front. Plant Sci. 12:700328. DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2021.700328.

Pramod Pokhrel, Nithya Rajan, John Jifon, William Rooney, Russell Jessup, Jorge da Silva, Juan Enciso, Ahmed Attia. (2020). Agronomic Performance of the Lignocellulosic Feedstock Crop Energy Cane in the Texas Rolling Plains. Agronomy, 10, 718; DOI:10.3390/agronomy10050718.

Padilla, C.S., Damaj, M.D., Yang, Z-N, Molina, J., Berquist, B.R., White, E.L., Gracia, N.S., Da Silva, J., Mandadi, K.K. (2020). High-Level Production of Recombinant Snowdrop Lectin in Sugarcane and Energy cane. Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol., 8, 977.

Uriel Cholula, Jorge A. da Silva, Thiago Marconi, J. Alex Thomasson, Jorge Solorzano and Juan Enciso. (2020). Forecasting Yield and Lignocellulosic Composition of Energy Cane Using Unmanned Aerial Systems. Agronomy 2020, 10, 718; DOI:10.3390/agronomy10050718.

da Silva, J.A., Solis-Gracia, N., Jifon, J. et al. (2020). Use of bioreactors for large-scale multiplication of sugarcane (Saccharum spp.), energy cane (Saccharum spp.), and related species. In Vitro Cell.Dev.Biol.-Plant. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11627-019-10046-y.

Renesh Bedre, Sonia Irigoyen, Patricia Schaker, Claudia Monteiro-Vitorello, Jorge DaSilva, and Kranthi Mandadi. (2019). Genome-wide Alternative Splicing Landscapes Modulated by Biotrophic Sugarcane Smut Pathogen”. Nature Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-45184-1.

Andrade, L.M., Peixoto, R.F. Jr., Nóbile, P.M., Brito, M.S., Ribeiro, R.V., Marchiori, P.E.R., Cavallari, S.D.C., MartinsA.P.B., Goldman, M.H.S., Llerena, J.P.P., Perecin, C.F.D., Nebó, J.F., De Oliveira, C., Figueira, A.V.O, Bennatti, T., J.A. Da Silva, Mazzafera, J.A.P., Creste. (2019). S. Biomass accumulation and cell wall structure of rice plants overexpressing a dirigent-jacalin of sugarcane (ShDJ) under varying water availability. Front. Plant Sci. 10:65. DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2019.00065.

Ramasamy, M., Mora V., Damaj, M.B., Padilla, C.S. Ramos, N., Rossi D., Solís-Gracia, N., Vargas-Bautista, C., Irigoyen, S. Da Silva, J.A., Mirkov, T.E., Mandadid, K.K. (2018). A biolistic-based genetic transformation system applicable to a broad-range of sugarcane and energycane varieties. GM Crops and Food. https://doi.org/10.1080/21645698.2018.1553836.

Fernandez, C.J., Da Silva, J.A., Correa, J.C., Grichar, W.J. (2018). Biomass Production and Water Economy of Sugarcane and Energy Cane Genotypes Grown in Water-Deficient and Well-watered Regimes. Journal of Experimental Agriculture International 20(1): 1-15. DOI:10.9734/JEAI/2018/38309

Elsayed-Farag, S., Silva, M.  Solis-Gracia, N. Enciso, J., Da Silva, J. (2018). An agronomic approach to screen sugar and energy cane genotypes for drought tolerance. Afr. J. Agric. Res. V.13(23):1220-26. DOI:10.5897/AJAR2018.13144

Yang, Y, Wilson, L.T., Jifon, J., Landivar, J, Da Silva, J. A., Maeda, M., Wang, J., Christensen, E. (2018). Energycane Growth Characteristics and Yield Potential along the Texas Gulf Coast. Biomass and Bioenergy, 113 :1-14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2018.03.003.

Da Silva, J. A.; Costa, P.M.A.; Marconi, T.G.; Barreto, E.J. S.; Gracia, N.S.; Park, J.W.; Glynn, N.C. (2018). Agronomic and Molecular Characterization of Wild Germplasm (Saccharum spontaneum) for Sugarcane and Energycane Breeding Purposes. Scientia Agricola.  Sci. v.75, n.4: 329-338.

Da Silva, J. A. The Importance of the Wild Cane Saccharum spontaneum for Bioenergy Genetic Breeding. A Review. (2017). Sugar Tech 19: 229. DOI: 10.1007/s12355-017-0510-1.

Dos Santos, F.R.C., Zucchi, M.I., Park, J-W, Benatti, T.R., da Silva, J.A., Souza, G.M., Pinto, L.R. (2017). New Sugarcane Microsatellites and Target Region Amplification Polymorphism Primers Designed from Candidate Genes Related to Disease Resistance.  Sugar Tech. Volume 19, 2: 219–224.DOI 10.1007/s12355-016-0457-7.

Arro, J., Park, J-W., Wai, C.M., VanBuren, R., Pan, Y-B, Nagai, C., da Silva, J., Ming, R. (2016). Domestication of autopolyploid sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) was attributed to balancing selection. Euphytica. DOI: 10.1007/s10681-016-1672-8.

Park, Jong-Won, T. R., Marconi, T., Qingyi, Y., Gracia, N.S., Mora, V. and da Silva, J.A. 2015. Cold Responsive Gene Expression Profiling of Sugarcane and Saccharum spontaneum with Functional Analysis of a Cold Inducible Saccharum Homolog of NOD26-like Intrinsic Protein to Salt and Water Stress. PLoS ONE 10(5): e0125810. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0125810.

Park, J-W., Gracia, N.S. Trevino, C., and da Silva, J.A. 2011. Exploitation of Conserved Intron Scanning as a Tool for Molecular Marker Development in the Saccharum Complex. Molecular Breeding, Digital Object Identifier (DOI) 10.1007/s11032-011-9683-6.

da Silva, J. A. and M. E. Sorrells. 1996. Linkage Analysis in Polyploids using Molecular Markers In: Methods of Genome Analysis in Plants ed. P. Jauhar, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida.  pp 211 – 228.

da Silva, J. A. and B. W. S.  Sobral. 1996. Genetics of Polyploids In: The Impact of Plant Molecular Genetics ed. B. Sobral, Birkhauser, Cambridge, Massachusetts, pp. 3-37.

Da Silva, J. A.; R. J. Honeycutt; W. L. Burnquist; S. M. Al-Janabi; M. E. Sorrells; S. D. Tanksley, and B.W. S. Sobral. 1995. Saccharum spontaneum L. ‘SES 208’ genetic linkage map combining RFLP- and PCR-based markers. Molecular Breeding vol. 1 (2) 165 – 179.

Park, J-W and Da Silva, J. 2015. Hybridization of Sugarcane and other Grasses for Novel Traits. In: Compendium of Bioenergy Plants: Sugarcane. Ed: Eric Lam, Rutgers University. (In press).

Hodnett, G.L., Hale, A.L., Packer, D.J., Stelly, D.M., Da Silva, J. and Rooney, W. L. 2010. Elimination of a Reproductive Barrier Facilitates Intergeneric Hybridization of Sorghum bicolor and Saccharum. Crop Science, vol. 50: 1-8Brumbley, Stevens M., S.J. Snyman, A. Gnanasambandam, P.

Joyce, S.R.Hermann, J.A.G. Da Silva, R.B. McQualter, M.L Wang, B.T.Egan, A.H.Patterson, H.H. Albert, P.H.Moore. 2008. Sugarcane In: Kole, C. and Hall,T. C. (eds.), “Compendium of Transgenic Crop Plants: Transgenic Sugar, Tuber and Fiber Crops”, Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, UK, , pp 1-58.

Ming, R., P. H. Moore, K. K. Wu, A. DHont, J. C. Glaszmann, T. L. Tew, T. E. Mirkov, J. Da Silva, J. Jifon, M.Rai, R. J. Schnell, S. M. Brumbley, P. Lakshmanan, J. C. Comstock, A. H. Paterson. 2006.   Sugarcane improvement through breeding and biotechnology.  Plant Breeding Reviews 27:15-118.

Da Silva, J. A.; M. E. Sorrells, W. L. Burnquist and S. D. Tanksley. 1993.  RFLP linkage map and genome analysis of Saccharum spontaneum. Genome 36: 782 – 791.

Da Silva, J. A. G. (1993). A Methodology for Genome Mapping of Autopolyploids and its Application to Sugarcane (Saccharum spp.). Ph.D. Dissertation, Cornell University. 108 pp.

 

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