Project Grant 20257002944030

The University of Florida (UF) received a $6,172,615 Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI) grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA) to expedite the release of non-transgenic, genome-edited citrus varieties resistant or tolerant to Huanglongbing (HLB), a devastating citrus disease. The project aims to: 1) assess genome-edited citrus plants previously generated using a transgenic approach for HLB resistance, fruit quality, and yield; 2) accelerate screening and evaluation of target genes for non-transgenic genome editing using a tomato surrogate system; 3) generate non-transgenic, genome-edited citrus varieties for HLB susceptibility genes; 4) evaluate the non-transgenic, genome-edited citrus varieties; and 5) deliver the new citrus varieties through extension, outreach, regulatory approvals, and commercialization. UF has sub-awarded portions of the work to Soil Culture Solutions, LLC, James Madison University, UC Riverside, and Texas A&M University-Kingsville to leverage their expertise in genome editing, plant pathology, and citrus research.