Sept. 8, 2014
Contact:
Fiona Goggin, Department of Entomology
479-575-6751 / fgoggin@uark.edu
Dave Edmark, Division of Agriculture Communications
479-575-6940 / dedmark@uark.edu
Plant stress research in Arkansas and Missouri aims to increase
agricultural productivity
Fast facts:
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National Science Foundation grant will support research into crop plant
stress
Research will explore how to fight stress-induced crop losses from
drought, poor soil, insects and disease
NSF grant of $6 million awarded to team of scientists in Arkansas and
Missouri, including UA System Division of Agriculture researchers
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – A team of scientists from Arkansas and Missouri
has secured a $6 million research grant from the National Science Foundation to
combat crop losses resulting from stresses such as drought, poor soil, insects
and disease.
“Plant stress is arguably the greatest factor limiting global yields of food,
fiber and fuel crops,” said Fiona Goggin, a University of Arkansas System
Division of Agriculture entomology professor who serves as a co-principal
investigator for the project. “However, plants possess mechanisms to adapt to
stress, and these adaptations can be dramatically enhanced through breeding
and biotechnology.”
The three-year research collaboration between Arkansas and Missouri
research scientists will develop and apply cutting-edge imaging technologies to
help plant scientists select for hardier crops that can fend off insects, diseases,
and other stresses.
The research team will adapt imaging tools that are widely used in medical
diagnostics – such as PET scans (positron emission tomography) – for use in
plants. It will also use a robotic camera system for high-throughput phenotyping,
an approach that allows plant scientists quickly and efficiently to compare how
well many different plant types grow under stressful conditions.
Goggin said these different imaging tools will be used together to identify
characteristics that help stressed plants absorb necessary nutrients from the soil,
synthesize health-promoting antioxidants for humans and plants and mount
defense responses against insects and other pests.
“These characteristics can then be enhanced in crop plants through
breeding to increase yields and reduce the need for costly inputs such as
pesticides, fertilizer, and irrigation,” Goggin explained. The investigators believe
this approach will shed light on how a plant’s genome – the sum total of its DNA
– shapes its phenotype, or its appearance, health and productivity.
To assemble the expertise needed to achieve these goals, the project will
establish a team of crop scientists, chemists, and computer scientists from the
UA System Division of Agriculture, the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville; the
University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Arkansas State University at Jonesboro, the
University of Missouri-Columbia and Washington University in St. Louis. The
consortium will also make its plant imaging technologies accessible to a network
of more than 130 scientists at other institutions throughout Arkansas and
Missouri by developing regional core facilities, offering training workshops and
funding smaller pilot studies throughout the two states.
Goggin said the project will seek to build a strong science and technology
workforce and promote the biotechnology industry in Arkansas and Missouri
through industry internships, research exchanges between universities and other
training opportunities for undergraduates, graduate students and postdoctoral
scholars. The research team will also work to advance scientific literacy in both
states by developing new hands-on science teaching techniques for public
schools.
The Arkansas project leaders in addition to Goggin are principal
investigator Gail McClure, program director for the Arkansas Science and
Technology Authority, and co-principal investigator Argelia Lorence, associate
professor in metabolic engineering at Arkansas State University. The Missouri
team is led by principal investigator John C. Walker, director of biological
sciences at the University of Missouri-Columbia.
PHOTO: (goggin.jpg)
University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture entomology researcher
Fiona Goggin.
The University of Arkansas is an equal opportunity/affirmative action
institution.