Cooperative Agreement for affiliated Partner with the Gulf Coast Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU)

U.S. Geological Survey"s (USGS) Great Lakes Science Center solicits research on "Targeted Genomic Approaches for the Control of Invasive Plants in Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecosystems." This project will be a collaborative effort to examine and develop RNAi-based treatments for invasive plants, specifically the non-native Phragmites australis (common reed) and Hydrocharis morsus-ranae (European frog-bit). Ongoing investments in this research generated primary genomic and transcriptomic data for Phragmites australis and Hydrocharis morsus-ranae, so there is now a foundation for the development of targeted species-specific treatments. In addition, no published studies have explored the non-target effects of RNAi constructs on plants closely related to invasive plants. Therefore, this collaborative project will develop and test RNAi-based constructs for these two invasive plants.