Plant Genome Research (PGRP)

Supports genome-wide, systems-level studies in plants and the development of genomic tools to advance plant functional genomics. Projects will strive to achieve a systems-level understanding of genes, genomes and complex multigenic traits in plants essential for advancing biotechnology and translational science. Areas of interest could include, but are not limited to, the study of:

• Multi-genome/epigenome interactions with the environment,
• Biotic and abiotic interactions among plants and partner organisms on a genome-wide scale,
• High throughput phenotyping to link genomes to phenomes,
• Manipulation of multiple genes using modular components and engineering principles
• Incorporation of engineering, quantitative modeling, and artificial intelligence into research activities,
• Building bridges across scientific disciplines including plant physiology, ecology, evolution, and plant development or across agencies, the private sector or international borders, and
• Linking basic research to applied outcomes relevant to agriculture.

Supports development of novel tools, resources and methods that empower a broad plant functional genomics research community through innovation and capacity building to address challenging questions of biological, societal and economic importance. Areas of interest could include, but are not limited to, generating:

• New -omic datasets and the tools to improve and refine them, from single cell approaches to pan-genomes,
• Functional genomic resources and toolkits, especially those that enable plant synthetic biology approaches,
• New methods, tools, or techniques to overcome bottlenecks to plant transformation, especially those that improve plant regeneration, increase genotype independence or circumvent tissue culture, and facilitate ease of transformation in the public sector,
• Technologies for advancing genome/epigenome editing technologies,
• Data and analytical workflows, including but not limited to artificial intelligence tools, that can be re-used, and potentially reanalyzed for knowledge synthesis and discoveries from existing large datasets, and
• Advances in imaging and data visualization that can be applied to existing or new datasets.

There are additional opportunities in research infrastructure in the areas of bioinformatics, instrumentation and research methods through the Infrastructure Innovation for Biological Research (Innovation) solicitation.

PIs can contact the program contacts listed above with any questions about where best to submit a proposal.