The University of Florida was awarded a $499,967 Project Grant from the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture under the Biotechnology Risk Assessment Research program (CFDA 10.219). The grant will fund a three-year research project from September 2022 to August 2025 to conduct field experiments comparing hazards of genetically engineered, CRISPR-mutated, and wild-type tomato lines that vary in plant defense expression. The Biotechnology Risk...
This $645,674 Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Biotechnology Risk Assessment Research (BRAG) program (CFDA 10.219) will support comprehensive evaluation of genome-wide off-target effects and phenotypes in citrus gene-edited lines. The goal is to provide valuable data to assist regulatory agencies in effectively assessing the risks of gene-editing technology for engineering citrus species, a critical...
The University of Florida was awarded a $650,000 Project Grant from the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative competitive grants program (AFRI, CFDA #10.310). The three-year grant will fund research into the biosynthesis of flavonoids in sorghum plants, which produce compounds that protect against stresses from climate change and have potential health benefits. Specifically, the university will...
The University of Florida (UF), through its Division of Sponsored Research, has been awarded a $150,000 Cooperative Agreement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) under the Agricultural Research Basic and Applied Research program (CFDA 10.001). The award, effective September 17, 2023 through September 16, 2024, will fund UF's research project to evaluate symbiont technology for agricultural applications. As one of the nation's leading research institutions, UF will leverage its expertise...
The Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded a $649,189 Project Grant through the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (CFDA 10.310) to the University of Florida (UF) Division of Sponsored Research. The grant supports the development of data science tools and AI-based models to facilitate breeding cotton germplasm with improved yield and quality characteristics. Key objectives include managing heterogeneous field data, developing real-time video tracking...
The University of Florida was awarded a $649,934 Project Grant from the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture to conduct research securing resilient food production and safeguarding ecosystem services in agroecosystems under increasing climate variability. The three-year award, made under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative competitive grants program, will fund determination of how precipitation variability, grazing, and land management...
The University of Florida (UF) received a $1,042,257 Project Grant from the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI) program (CFDA 10.309). The goal of this 3-year project is to develop transgene-free citrus varieties resistant or tolerant to Huanglongbing (HLB) disease, commonly known as citrus greening, using advanced precision genome editing techniques. Key objectives include creating...
The University of Florida has been awarded a $327,153 Cooperative Agreement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) under the Plant and Animal Disease, Pest Control, and Animal Care (CFDA 10.025) federal grant program. The award supports "An Approach for Utilizing a Flexible Self-Amplifying RNA System for Silencing Plant, Insect and Viral Genes to Control Huanglongbing (HLB), its Insect Vector and Viral Pathogens of Citrus." The...
The University of Florida was awarded a $702,998 Project Grant from the United States Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture through the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) federal grant program. The grant period is from May 1, 2023 to April 30, 2026. Under the grant, the University of Florida will conduct research to develop resistance-breaking aphicides with novel modes and mechanisms of action. The University will synthesize new N-arylamine...
The University of Florida was awarded a $573,938 Project Grant by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (CFDA 10.310) program. The grant will fund the design, development, and evaluation of autonomous weed management robots with integrated precision herbicide application technology for use in specialty crop production, such as vegetables and strawberries. The key objectives are to enhance grass weed...