Scheduled Tribe. Lewis, MO, January 24, 2025 – A new collaborative research team of leading plant scientists is developing sorghum with nitrogen-saving traits using the genetic diversity of wild relatives to improve resilience and productivity for grain sorghum growers.
This project is part of a $38 million investment in nine projects by the U.S. Department of Energy, DOE, Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, ARPA-E, to develop advanced technologies for plants to increase nitrogen-use efficiency and reduce nitrogen pollution from U.S. bioenergy feedstocks.
Veena Veena, PhD, MBA, Principal Investigator and Director of Plant Transformation Core Facility Donald Danforth serves as co-PI on the project at the Plant Science Center. Veena will provide specialized knowledge in genome modification technologies and use advanced genetic engineering techniques to develop sorghum lines with improved traits including improved nutrient cycling, increased resilience, productivity, drought resistance.
This project is led by Sakiko OkumotoPhD, AgriLife Research Plant Physiologist and Associate Professor Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Department of Soil and Crop Science,
The Texas A&M AgriLife research team is studying the potential of BNI, a unique trait found in wild relatives, biological nitrification inhibition, through previous research efforts to reduce fertilizer application and increase environmental benefits.
Okumoto said the technologies developed in the project will target the grain ethanol sorghum market. By taking advantage of genetic diversity from wild varieties, new sorghum hybrids will provide unique opportunities for both growers and sorghum grain buyers to reduce costs by reducing fertilizer application levels.
Co-PIs at Texas A&M include, Nitya RajanPhD, Director of the Center for Greenhouse Gas Management in Agriculture and Forestry, Crop Physiologist and Professor; bill rooneyPhD, sorghum breeder, professor and Borlaug-Monsanto Chair for Plant Breeding and International Crop Improvement; Sanjay Antony-BabuPhD, Microbiologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology; and Aniruddha Dutta, PhD, professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the College of Engineering.
About Donald Danforth Plant Science Center Established in 1998, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center is a nonprofit research institute whose mission is to improve the human condition through plant science. Research, education and outreach aim to impact the relationship between food security and the environment and establish the St. Louis region as a world center for plant science. The Center’s work is funded through competitive grants from multiple sources, including the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Agency for International Development, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and through the generosity of individual, corporate, and Is. , and foundation donors.
Contact for more information: Carla Roeber, Vice President, Public and Government Affairs, (email protected)
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