Location: Foreign Disease-Weed Science Research
Project Number: 8044-22000-047-010-I
Project Type: Interagency Reimbursable Agreement
Start Date: Jun 1, 2023
End Date: Sep 30, 2025
Objective:
The primary purpose of this agreement is to investigate the efficacy of exogenous double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) foliar applications, as a genetic biocontrol tool, that exploits RNA interference (RNAi) and plant defense pathways to control invasive weeds in a species-specific manner.
The objective for this project is to determine the efficacy and specificity of exogenous dsRNA applications targeting conserved plant genes important to plant health.
Approach:
ARS plans to: 1) determine the efficacy of exogenous dsRNA applications against model plant systems, 2) determine the specificity of exogenous dsRNA applications against model plant systems, and 3) evaluate exogenous dsRNA applications against invasive weeds.
