Photo of Melinda Yerka, Extension

Melinda Yerka

Associate Professor

Summary

Genetics and physiology of evolved herbicide resistance in weeds. Crop-to-weed gene flow and development of reproductive barriers to gene flow. Sorghum germplasm development and trait characterization.

Education

B.S. University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2005
M.S. University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2008
Ph.D. University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2011

News & Journal Articles, Fact Sheets, Reports...

Bulletins
Herbicide resistance evolution in Johnsongrass Holmes, K. H., J. L. Lindquist, R. Rebarber, R. Werle, M. Yerka, and B. Tenhumberg. 2022, Bull Ecol Soc Am 103(2):e01961
Fact Sheets
Applications, Benefits, and Challenges of Genome Edited Crops
The paper discusses the advancements and potential of genome editing in agriculture, how genome editing tools are being applied and regulated, benefits for producers and consumers, and recommendations to ensure genome editing in agriculture benefits society.
 Evanega, S., Brown, Z., Bubeck, D., Falck-Zapeda, J., Chou, F., Graham, N., Karavolais, N., Tripathi, L., and Yerka, M. 2024, The Council for Agricultural Science and Technology
sorghum fallon nevada
Sorghum Production in Nevada
This fact sheet aims to educate it's readers on sorghum as an alternative crop for Nevada, varieties of sorghum, and key considerations for the production of sorghum crops.
 Walia, M., Yerka, M., Washington-Allen, R., Andrade-Rodriguez, M., and McCuin, G. 2021, University of Nevada, Reno, FS-21-09
Journals
Transcriptome and metabolome analyses reveal regulatory networks associated with nutrition synthesis in sorghum seeds
We analyze spatiotemporal transcriptome and metabolome profiles during sorghum seed development in the inbred line ‘BTx623’. The availability of this data in the sorghum reference genome line establishes a baseline for future studies as new pangenomes emerge.
 Adil Khan, Ran Tian, Scott R. Bean, Melinda Yerka & Yinping Jiao 2024, Communications Biology volume 7, Article number: 841 (2024)
Progress in, Targets of, and Resources for Mining Alleles in Sorghum Candidate Genes | Chapter 10
This chapter focuses on the success stories in sorghum that have identified functional alleles for major effect genes, but also details the opportunities that exist for allele mining in the era of publicly available sorghum pangenomes and genomic database resources.
 Boyles, R. E., Rhodes, D. H., Yerka, M. K., Hayes, C. M., Brenton, Z. W., Behnke, M.-F., Emendack, Y. & Sanchez, J. 2024, Allele Mining for Genomic Designing of Cereal Crops | Vol. 1
Physiological and molecular analysis of glyphosate resistance in non-rapid response Ambrosia trifida from Wisconsin C. Wilson, H. Takano. C. Van Horn, M. Yerka, P. Westra, D. Stoltenberg 2020, Pest Management Science, Volume76, Issue1, Pages 150-160
Genome wide analysis of Ga1-s modifiers in maize Hurst, P., Liang, Z., Smith, C., Kadam, D., Yerka, M. K., Sigmon, B., Rodriguez, O., Schnable, J. 2019, Plant Direct, 2019-07-02
Independent Evolution of Acetolactate Synthase–inhibiting Herbicide Resistance in Weedy Sorghum Populations across Common Geographic Regions Werle, R., Begcy, K., Yerka, M. K., Dweikat, I., Jhala, A., Mower, J., Lindquist, J. 2017, Weed Science. Volume 65, Issue 1, pp. 164-176
Distribution of herbicide resistant shattercane and johnsongrass populations across Nebraska and Kansas. Werle, R., A. J. Jhala, M. K. Yerka, and J. L. Lindquist. 2016, Agronomy Journal. 108:321-328.
Evaluation of interallelic waxy, heterowaxy, and wild-type grain sorghum hybrids. Yerka, M. K., J. J. Toy, D. L. Funnell-Harris, S. E. Sattler, and J. F. Pedersen. 2016, Crop Science. 56:1-9.
Crop Science 55:681-687. Yerka, M. K., A. Watson, J. J. Toy, G. Erickson, J. F. Pedersen, and R. Mitchell. 2015, Yield and forage value of a dual-purpose bmr-12 sorghum hybrid.
Registration of A/BN641 and RN642 waxy grain sorghum genetic stocks. Yerka, M. K., J. J. Toy, D. L. Funnell-Harris, S. E. Sattler, and J. F. Pedersen. 2015, Journal of Plant Registrations. 9:258-261.
Registration of N619 to N640 grain sorghum lines with waxy or wild-type endosperm. Yerka, M. K., J. J. Toy, D. L. Funnell-Harris, S. E. Sattler, and J. F. Pedersen. 2015, Journal of Plant Registrations. 9:244-248.
Reduced translocation is associated with common lambsquarters (Chenopodium album) tolerance to glyphosate. Yerka, M., A. Wiersma, B. Lindenmayer, P. Westra, W. Johnson, N. de Leon, and D. Stoltenberg. 2013, Weed Science. 61:353-360.
Pollen-mediated gene flow in common lambsquarters (Chenopodium album). Yerka, M. K., N. de Leon, and D. E. Stoltenberg. 2012, Weed Science. 60:600-606.
Corn morphology, mass, and grain yield as affected by early-season red:far-red light environments. Markham, M. Y. and D. E. Stoltenberg. 2010, Crop Science. 50:273-280.
Red:far-red light effects on corn growth and productivity in field environments. Markham, M. Y. and D. E. Stoltenberg. 2009, Weed Science. 57:208-215.