NSF Awards $57.3M for 20 New Projects for Plant Genome Research

28 October 2008

The US National Science Foundation (NSF) has made 20 new awards totaling $57.3 million during the 11^th year of its Plant Genome Research Program (PGRP).

These awards, which cover two to five years and range from $350,000 to $6.8 million, support research and tool development to further knowledge of genome structure and function. They will leverage sequence and functional genomics resources to increase understanding of gene function and interactions between genomes and the environment in economically important crop plants such as corn, soybean, wheat and rice.

The new awards, made to 45 institutions in 28 states, include international groups of scientists from Asia, Australia, Europe and South America.

First-time recipients of PGRP awards include California State University-Long Beach, Case Western Reserve University, North Carolina Central University, University of Minnesota-Duluth, University of Southern California and Western Illinois University.

Projects include:

• Research led by Duke University to conduct a genome-wide analysis of root traits.

• Research led by the University of Southern California to study how Medicago truncatula, a small legume, and associated soil bacteria co-adapt to high salinity conditions. This project will be done in collaboration with scientists in Tunisia and France.

• Research led by the University of Minnesota, Duluth to identify the molecular mechanisms of nectar synthesis and secretion in the Brassicaceae, an agriculturally important family of flowering plants.

• An interdisciplinary effort led by Pennsylvania State University to define the regulation of maize shoot growth and development by the plant hormone auxin.

• A multi-institutional effort led by the University of California, Davis to develop genomics resources that will support the physical mapping of wheat chromosomes; this project will complement ongoing national and international efforts to sequence the wheat genome.

• Research led by the University of Georgia to generate populations of mutant plants that will advance our understanding of the functions of agronomically important genes in soybean.

The PGRP, which was established in 1998 as part of the coordinated National Plant Genome Initiative by the Interagency Working Group on Plant Genomes of the National Science and Technology Council, works to advance the understanding of the structure and function of genomes of plants of economic importance.