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 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...
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 Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences under the Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074) provides $192,052 to the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska to investigate the cellular and biomechanical mechanisms of rapid stomatal dynamics in grasses. The project will utilize molecular genetics, cell biology, computer vision, mechanical testing, and computational modeling techniques to gain a better understanding of how...
This $735,000 project grant awarded by the National Science Foundation's Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074) supports research at Cornell University to investigate the functional interactions of plant transcription factors that regulate the three-dimensional patterning of grass leaves. The research aims to understand the mechanisms by which the LG1 and WOX3 transcription factors coordinate leaf width, length, and angle, which directly impact photosynthesis and leaf morphology in maize. The...
This three-year, $1,060,492 National Science Foundation project grant supports research at Oregon State University to uncover the genetic basis of specialized vascular function in maize. Funded under the Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074), the grant enables the Principal Investigators to apply single-cell genomics, mutant mapping, and machine learning to identify key genetic regulators that define specialized veins critical for maize's drought tolerance and ability to host beneficial...
This $699,870 Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074) supports the development of simplified and highly efficient genetic modification technologies for economically important grasses and cereal crops. The "PLANTTRANSFORM: SMART GRASS" project aims to overcome the current constraint in the plant science research community regarding the capacity to genetically modify major crop plants. The award establishes a...
This $794,457 federal Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074) will support the development of new genetic analysis tools. The goal is to incorporate molecular and cellular biology knowledge, such as gene expression patterns and regulatory networks, directly into statistical models used to map genes, predict traits, and simulate changes in the genotype-to-phenotype relationships. The research will be conducted using simulated...
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"...