The Biology Department is pleased to announce the awarding of a $15,000 grant to Marina Caillaud, assistant professor, from the United States Department of Agriculture.
The USDA-Agricultural Research Service (and Ithaca College) grant entitled, "The genetic and biochemical regulation of luteovirus transmission-microsatellite markers for Schizaphis graminum," will begin in September and continue for two years.
The work is to investigate the mechanisms that regulate the circulative transmission of plant viruses by aphids. It is a joint effort with Stewart Gray, of the USDA, and Fred Gildow and Diana Cox-Foster, of Pennsylvania State University. The overall objective is to identify genetically controlled factors that determine whether an aphid is competent to transmit a virus. The research will focus on three genotypes of the aphid Schizaphis graminum that differ in their ability to vector three strains of barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV).
Contributed by Nancy Pierce
