Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** citrus HLB is the most…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** citrus HLB is the most devastating citrus disease. We aim to expedite the release of non-transgenic HLB-resistant/tolerant citrus varieties through a multi-tiered decision-making approach including 1) assessment of genome-edited citrus plants previously generated by a transgenic approach for HLB resistance/tolerance, fruit quality and yield and other horticultural traits. 2) accelerate screening and evaluating of target genes for non-transgenic genome editing usingcandidatusliberibacter psyllaurous (synonymca.L. Solanacearum)-tomato as a surrogate by evaluating approximately 100 tomato mutants related to immune response and cell death that were previously generated.3)generation of non-transgenic genome-edited citrus varieties for HLB susceptibility genes using our newly developed CO-editing technology via mature tissue transformation to bypass juvenility.4)evaluation of non-transgenic genome-edited citrus varieties for HLB resistance/tolerance, fruit quality and yield and other horticultural traits.5)delivery of non-transgenic genome-edited citrus varieties via extension and outreach approaches, regulatory approvals, registration, and release.