Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with North Atlantic Coast CESU Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit

U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Great Lakes Science Center is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU Partner for research on “Control of invasive species using genomic insights.” This project will be a collaborative effort to examine and develop gene-based treatments for invasive plants, specifically the non-native Phragmites australis (common reed) and Hydrocharismorsus-ranae (European frog-bit). Ongoing investments in this research generated primary genomic and transcriptomic data for Phragmites australis, but similar data are not available for Hydrocharis morsus-ranae. In addition, no genetic studies have explored what environmental signals induce or enhance their development, stress tolerance, and capacity to grow more aggressively under projected climate conditions in the Great Lakes region. Therefore, this project will create genomic resources required to identify primary genetic targets for the control of these and potentially other invasive species identified as high-priorities for resource managers in the Great Lakes. Specifically, this project consists of three aims that enable functional genomics and systems biology-based predictions to use genetic data to control invasive plants, including Phragmites australis ssp australis andHydrocharis morsus-ranae. Aim 1: Characterize the genome of H. morsus-ranae and identify genes associated with its invasive potential and critical growth using comparative genomics. Aim 2: Identify uniquely and highly expressed genes in critical developmental stages of H. morsus-ranae using comparative transcriptomics. Aim 3: Develop potential RNA interference-based genetic tools targeting candidate genes of P. australis ssp. australis and H. morsus-ranae. If successful, a genetic-based approach may provide to resource managers a new treatment option that is species specific and transient (i.e., only impacts one generation of plants).