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 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 federal Project Grant award of $1,192,499.00 from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074) supports research by the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in Missouri to develop epigenetic editing tools for crop improvement. The key objectives of this 4-year project are to: 1) Expand epigenetic editing technologies to other crop species beyond cassava, such as rice and tomato, to enable disease resistance; 2) Demonstrate additional applications of...
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"...
The National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Integrative Organismal Systems awarded a $277,978 Project Grant under the Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074) to the University of California, Berkeley. The 3-year grant, beginning on Sep 1, 2023, aims to develop new tools and resources to enable more efficient gene editing in maize, the world's most produced crop. Specifically, the project will generate maize lines that constitutively express the Cas9 gene editing enzyme and engineer...
Biotech Naturale Inc. received a $256,000 Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation Division of Industrial Innovation under the Engineering federal grant program (CFDA 47.041) for the period of August 1, 2021 through July 31, 2022. The grant funds the development of a simple, targeted, and flexible method for transferring value-added genes from wild relatives of crop plants. The Engineering program seeks to improve quality of life and economic strength through fostering innovation...
This $1,691,891 federal Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074) supports research by the University of California, Irvine into genome evolution and structure in corn (maize). The project aims to investigate how plant genomes can vary substantially in size and organization, yet still produce functional organisms. Specifically, the researchers will measure and compare the folding structures of 25 corn genomes and two related...
The National Science Foundation awarded an $899,970 project grant under the Biological Sciences federal grant program (CFDA 47.074) to the University of Kansas Center for Research Inc. on March 15, 2021 for research concluding on February 29, 2024. The grant supports research into the genetics and mechanisms of microbe-dependent heterosis, or hybrid vigor, in corn. Subawards were provided to North Carolina State University to conduct experiments inoculating corn with microbial communities and...
The National Science Foundation awarded a $307,400 Project Grant under its Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074) to the University of Missouri System to develop epigenetic editing tools for improving crop plants. The project aims to expand the capabilities of genome editing by enabling targeted changes in gene expression, rather than just DNA sequence, to generate novel traits in important crops like rice and tomato. Key objectives include adapting the epigenetic editing approach...
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...