This $500,000 Project Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Biotechnology Risk Assessment Research program (CFDA #10.219) will fund research at Texas A&M Agrilife Research to develop a thorough understanding of gene flow between crop sorghum and Johnsongrass. Specifically, the award will support determining the frequency of gene transfer through pollen produced by sorghum and hybrids with Johnsongrass serving as the female parent. It will also fund research to elucidate the backcrossing potential of F1 progeny with either parent species, and to understand the characteristics and fitness of F1 and BC1F1 hybrids under field and greenhouse conditions. Findings from this research beginning September 2021 through August 2025 aim to improve risk assessment frameworks by providing valuable data on the risk of gene flow conveying non-transgenic herbicide resistance and transgenic lignin modification traits from sorghum to Johnsongrass.
Generated 1/6/24, 1:44 PM