This three-year National Science Foundation Project Grant of $439,507 will fund research at the University of California, Berkeley to uncover the genetic basis of specialized vascular function in maize plants. Principal Investigators Leiboff of Oregon State University and Chuck of UC Berkeley will apply single-cell genomics, mutant mapping, and machine learning techniques to identify genes regulating specialized vein development and physiology. Their work aims to improve maize's resilience to...
The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a $953,779 Project Grant under the Biological Sciences (CFDA 47.074) program to the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska to develop innovative data processing and advanced visualization tools for optimizing maize canopy architecture. The goal is to create a "digital twin" of maize plants that can simulate real plant growth and response to the environment. This will allow researchers to experiment with different plant traits and...
This National Science Foundation (NSF) Biological Sciences (CFDA 47.074) program grant, awarded to Purdue University, aims to develop innovative data processing and visualization tools to reconstruct 3D models of maize plants, known as "digital twins." The $533,393 project, running from September 1, 2024 to August 31, 2027, will leverage advanced AI and optimization techniques to simulate how changes in maize plant architecture and environmental conditions impact crop productivity. The...
This $5 million National Science Foundation Project Grant, awarded under the Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074), funds research and educational activities related to leaf angle variation in maize plants from 2022-2026. Iowa State University will lead efforts to identify genes controlling leaf angle variation across plant canopies using high-throughput phenotyping and transcriptomic analyses. Functional validation of candidate genes will be conducted through CRISPR-based gene editing....
This three-year, $1.8 million project grant from the National Science Foundation Division of Integrative Organismal Systems aims to develop rapid transformation and gene editing techniques in maize through the Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074). The University of Missouri System will work to establish a system for precisely inserting transgenes and editing genes at predetermined sites in the genome of maize. Researchers will create "landing pads" on five chromosomes of a...
This $180,000 Project Grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program (CFDA 10.310). The overall goal of this 3-year project is to identify genes related to vein initiation and spacing in the leaves of corn. To achieve this, the project will use three approaches: a genome-wide association study to associate vein density measurements with genetic variation,...
This National Science Foundation (NSF) Biological Sciences (CFDA 47.074) program grant, awarded to Elizabeth City State University (ECSU), provides $426,473 to conduct collaborative research on morphogenic-based mechanisms of maize regeneration. The goal is to gain a thorough understanding of the molecular events leading to successful plant formation from differentiated tissue, which will help improve transformation and regeneration of recalcitrant plant species like maize. The research will...
This National Science Foundation (NSF) Project Grant, awarded under the Integrative Activities program (CFDA 47.083), will support collaborative research at Kansas State University to identify the genetic basis of plant regeneration, specifically focusing on maize. The $400,000 award will fund the project from September 1, 2023 to August 31, 2027. The primary goal is to better understand the genetic mechanisms controlling plant cell proliferation and growth, which are critical for successful...
This $959,997 federal Project Grant, awarded by the National Science Foundation's Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074), supports collaborative research at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory to develop improved methods for plant transformation and regeneration. The research aims to provide a thorough understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying regeneration in maize, a key crop that provides a substantial portion of human caloric intake. By exploiting a "morphogenic-based"...
This Project Grant awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the Biological Sciences (CFDA 47.074) program provides $533,000 in funding to Iowa State University of Science and Technology for a 3-year research project from September 1, 2024 to August 31, 2027. The project aims to develop innovative data processing and visualization tools to generate fundamental knowledge applicable to agriculture and advancing food production needs. The key products include: Reconstructing 3D digital...