U. professor receives $1 million grant for innovations in corn growth
In September, Andrea Gallavotti, a professor in the Department of Plant Biology, received a grant of more than $1 million from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study plant cell regeneration for corn growth, according to a press release.
Gallavotti said the lab primarily focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms behind maize and plant stem cell development. He said that the grant assists with funding for staffing and various supplies and reagents for the research program.
He said that despite the announcement of his receipt, the funds do not take effect until January 2025, a common timeline for grant proposals.
Gallavotti said that Zongliang Chen, a postdoctoral researcher in the lab, found that combinations of certain genes, known as morphogenic factors, could improve some types of maize. He said the combination of the factors Chen identified allowed the research group to efficiently extend the use of CRISPR-Cas9, a gene editing technology, to discover new mutations in maize.
"What we want to understand is how these morphogenic genes make transformation of plants more efficient," Gallavotti said. "If you understand that, then you can improve it and make it even more efficient and with higher throughput … not all genetic backgrounds respond equally to the same morphogenic factors, and we really do not know why."
Gallavotti said that overcoming these challenges will make it much easier to research and develop stronger genetic variations of corn, but traditional breeding will still play an essential role.
He added that understanding why other lines do not respond the same way would allow for innovations that can be applied to most genetic backgrounds.
Gallavotti said the grant can potentially lead to significant improvements in the transformation of maize. In the long term, the grant can assist in issues posed by growing populations and changing climate conditions.
"The research in my lab has always been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation," Gallavotti said. "I have been lucky enough to have constant support since I opened my lab at the Waksman Institute at Rutgers."
