Melinda Yerka

Associate Professor

Department: Agriculture, Veterinary and Rangeland Sciences
Office: (775) 784-6442
Email: myerka@unr.edu
Building: FA
Room: 107
Mailstop: 202
Website: Instagram @Yerka_Lab
Website: Twitter @LabYerka

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

Publications

Bulletins

Herbicide resistance evolution in Johnsongrass

2022

Bull Ecol Soc Am 103(2):e01961

Holmes, K. H., J. L. Lindquist, R. Rebarber, R. Werle, M. Yerka, and B. Tenhumberg.

Fact Sheets

Applications, Benefits, and Challenges of Genome Edited Crops

2024

The Council for Agricultural Science and Technology

Evanega, S., Brown, Z., Bubeck, D., Falck-Zapeda, J., Chou, F., Graham, N., Karavolais, N., Tripathi, L., and Yerka, M.

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...

Sorghum Production in Nevada

2021

University of Nevada, Reno, FS-21-09

Walia, M., Yerka, M., Washington-Allen, R., Andrade-Rodriguez, M., and McCuin, G.

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....

Journals

Progress in, Targets of, and Resources for Mining Alleles in Sorghum Candidate Genes | Chapter 10

2024

Allele Mining for Genomic Designing of Cereal Crops | Vol. 1

Boyles, R. E., Rhodes, D. H., Yerka, M. K., Hayes, C. M., Brenton, Z. W., Behnke, M.-F., Emendack, Y. & Sanchez, J.

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...

De novo identification and targeted sequencing of SSRs efficiently fingerprints Sorghum bicolor sub-population identity.

2021

PLOS ONE, 16(3).

Baggett, J. P., Tillett, R. L., Cooper, E. A., & Yerka, M. K.

Modeling the evolution of herbicide resistance in weed species with a complex life cycle.

2021

ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS, 32(1)

Holmes, K. H., Lindquist, J. L., Rebarber, R., Werle, R., Yerka, M., & Tenhumberg, B.

Physiological and molecular analysis of glyphosate resistance in non-rapid response Ambrosia trifida from Wisconsin

2020

Pest Management Science, Volume76, Issue1, Pages 150-160

C. Wilson, H. Takano. C. Van Horn, M. Yerka, P. Westra, D. Stoltenberg

Genome wide analysis of Ga1-s modifiers in maize

2019

Plant Direct, 2019-07-02

Hurst, P., Liang, Z., Smith, C., Kadam, D., Yerka, M. K., Sigmon, B., Rodriguez, O., Schnable, J.

Independent Evolution of Acetolactate Synthase–inhibiting Herbicide Resistance in Weedy Sorghum Populations across Common Geographic Regions

2017

Weed Science. Volume 65, Issue 1, pp. 164-176

Werle, R., Begcy, K., Yerka, M. K., Dweikat, I., Jhala, A., Mower, J., Lindquist, J.

Distribution of herbicide resistant shattercane and johnsongrass populations across Nebraska and Kansas.

2016

Agronomy Journal. 108:321-328.

Werle, R., A. J. Jhala, M. K. Yerka, and J. L. Lindquist.

Evaluation of interallelic waxy, heterowaxy, and wild-type grain sorghum hybrids.

2016

Crop Science. 56:1-9.

Yerka, M. K., J. J. Toy, D. L. Funnell-Harris, S. E. Sattler, and J. F. Pedersen.

Crop Science 55:681-687.

2015

Yield and forage value of a dual-purpose bmr-12 sorghum hybrid.

Yerka, M. K., A. Watson, J. J. Toy, G. Erickson, J. F. Pedersen, and R. Mitchell.

Registration of A/BN641 and RN642 waxy grain sorghum genetic stocks.

2015

Journal of Plant Registrations. 9:258-261.

Yerka, M. K., J. J. Toy, D. L. Funnell-Harris, S. E. Sattler, and J. F. Pedersen.

Registration of N619 to N640 grain sorghum lines with waxy or wild-type endosperm.

2015

Journal of Plant Registrations. 9:244-248.

Yerka, M. K., J. J. Toy, D. L. Funnell-Harris, S. E. Sattler, and J. F. Pedersen.

Reduced translocation is associated with common lambsquarters (Chenopodium album) tolerance to glyphosate.

2013

Weed Science. 61:353-360.

Yerka, M., A. Wiersma, B. Lindenmayer, P. Westra, W. Johnson, N. de Leon, and D. Stoltenberg.

Pollen-mediated gene flow in common lambsquarters (Chenopodium album).

2012

Weed Science. 60:600-606.

Yerka, M. K., N. de Leon, and D. E. Stoltenberg.

Corn morphology, mass, and grain yield as affected by early-season red:far-red light environments.

2010

Crop Science. 50:273-280.

Markham, M. Y. and D. E. Stoltenberg.

Red:far-red light effects on corn growth and productivity in field environments.

2009

Weed Science. 57:208-215.

Markham, M. Y. and D. E. Stoltenberg.

Technical Publication

Large-Seeded Sorghums for Dairy Nutrition

2023

arpasca.net

Melinda K. Yerka and Jackie Atim