Agriculture

Stéphane Blanc of the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) in France will minimize the destructive effects of aphids on crop plants by studying a newly described structure, the acrostyle, which is found at the tip of the piercing mouthparts of the insects and thought to be important for feeding and for transmitting disease-causing viruses between plants. Aphids spread an array of different plant viruses to many crop species including banana, chickpea, and sweet potato.

Michael DuBow of Université Paris-Sud in France will develop a biodegradable, water-soluble business card impregnated with bacteriophages targeting bacterial pathogens. Cards would be enclosed in a plastic sleeve and be printed with pictographic instructions for diagnosis and use.

Paul Chavarriaga-Aguirre of the International Center for Tropical Agriculture in Colombia will develop protocols to produce synthetic seeds for propagation of disease- free true-type cassava plants. The work would use cultured somatic embryos as micro-propagules that can tolerate desiccation and be coated for storage.

Neena Mitter of The University of Queensland in Australia will develop a 'BioClay' technology to deliver biological agents that kill crop pathogens and pests. This technology could provide broad spectrum protection to crops without the need for transgenic plants or the use of chemicals.

David Hughes of the Pennsylvania State University in the U.S. will produce plants expressing RNAi designed to sterilize ant queens. The strategy will use aphids to deliver the RNAi to the ants: the phloem-sucking aphids take up the RNAi and pass it along to ants in their honeydew. The goal is to reduce populations of ants that act as bodyguards to the aphids, thereby increasing aphid mortality.

Charles Opperman and Julie A. Willoughby of North Carolina State University in the U.S. worked to develop a low-cost biodegradable paper substrate containing nanoparticles for the controlled release of active compounds as a seed treatment against crop-destroying pests. The seeds will be wrapped in the paper during planting. This project's Phase I research tested different types of paper, and banana paper was selected for optimum release of an anthelminthic compound and ability to protect crops without affecting plant growth.

Haibo Yao of Mississippi State University in the U.S. proposes to develop portable and cost effective spectral-based technology for rapid and non-invasive detection of aflatoxin contamination in whole maize ears for use by farmers in rural areas of developing countries.

Kin-Ping Wong of Lotus Innovative Sciences in the U. S. proposes to develop the white powdery wax from winter melon into a safe and effective preservative against various biotic stresses for fruits and grains. Mass production of the low-cost preservative could facilitate their transportation from field to market.

Hideaki Tsutsui of the University of California, Riverside in the U.S. will develop a low-cost stamp to directly print biosensors on maize leaves for colorimetric detection of biotic stresses. The strategy is to develop an immunochromatographic assay using microneedle probes while printing an easily-read color-change detector.

Walter Messier of Evolutionary Genomics, Inc. in the U.S. will discover genes in wheat that underlie resistance to Ug99 stem rust by looking for genes that have evolutionary signatures of adaptation. The strategy involves high quality sequencing of RNA from close wild relatives of wheat and doing a comparative analysis, looking for genes under positive selection.