Benefit to JMU This project has lasting benefits for students, faculty, and the JMU community: 1) Student training and research experience: undergraduate and graduate students will gain hands-on experience in plant tissue culture and transformation, CRISPR genome editing, and other biotechnology research. They will also have opportunities to present their findings at conferences and contribute to peer- viewed publications. These will enhance their career prospects in graduate school or the biotech industry. 2) Integration with JMU courses: I also plan to integrate this project into my plant biotechnology lecture and lab beginning in Spring 2027, exposing a large group of students to real-world applications of gene editing and plant biotechnology. 3) Future funding and institutional growth: This project can potentially bring external research funding to JMU. I will use the preliminary data generated with Madison Trust support to apply for other large grants, such as NSF Career Award, USDA- NIFA, etc. 4) Regional and Global impact: Developing more resilient crops will support local and regional agriculture while contributing to global efforts for sustainable food production.
Projected Budget
Supplies and Materials:
$12,000
Personnel:
$9,000
Travel:
$3,000
Other:
$1,000
Total:
$25,000
• Supplies and Materials: Expendable materials and supplies needed for routine molecular biology, plant tissue culture/transformation, and disease assays. Examples include Gibson Assembly kits for cloning; competent bacterial cells for transformation; Taq polymerase, primers, and DNA purification kits for genotyping; plant hormones, agar, and other chemicals for tomato tissue culture and transformation; plasticware (Petri dishes, pipette tips, tubes, etc.); and Sanger sequencing and amplicon sequencing to detect mutations in the target region of tomato mutants. • Personnel: Summer salary support for one master’s student for two summers (total: 4 months). • Travel: Support for one master’s student to attend national and local conferences (registration, airfare, lodging, and meals, as allowed). • Other: Postage and printing, including shipping materials (seeds and bacterial strains) and conference poster printing.
Madison Trust 2026 Project Proposal
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