9311802 Gresshoff Description: This project supports the participation of Dr. Bhaju K. Tamot, of the Department of Botany, Tirbhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal, in a research project at the laboratory of Dr. Peter H. Gresshoff of the Department of Plant Molecular Genetics at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The research is to use DNA amplification fingerprinting (DAF), a newly developed DNA- electrophoretic assay, to detect the DNA of the causative agent of citrus greening disease (CGD). The DNA will be isolated separately from leaf, flower bud and stem tissue of infected and healthy citrus in Nepal. Attempts will be made to isolate DNA from any Bacterium- Like Organism (BLO), and to generate DAF patterns. The difference in DNA amplification products, one or more polymorphic bands, generated from DNA of infected and non-infected tissues with specific primer will be used as markers for detecting CGD. Scope: This research brings a young scientist from Nepal, a recent Ph.D., who has had some experience in DAF technology and its application in plant breeding, with a senior U.S. scientist who has published extensively in the field. The field work by Dr. Tamot in Nepal, combined with the analytical work at the University of Tennessee in cooperation with Dr. Gresshoff should produce two benefits, an expanded research data and information about the validity of DAF as an early detector of the citrus disease, and a better training for the Nepalese scientist that should enable him to apply the technique to other biological objectives in his country. This represents a strong cooperative project with a developing country as well as support for a recent foreign Postdoctorate. ***
