Dr. Leland Cseke has been awarded a grant from the USDA titled, "Rapid Automated Molecular Identification System for Prohibited Plants" ($74,665).

Award Summary

Preventing the introduction and spread of prohibited and restricted plants hinges upon our ability to identify them in an accurate and timely manner.  Prohibited plant species continue to enter the U.S. in the form of seeds, dormant plants without leaves, stem sections, rhizomes and roots, which are difficult to identify by morphology alone.  The purpose of this agreement is to help safeguard the U.S. against the impact of prohibited plant taxa through the development of a compact, rapid, and automated molecular diagnostic system for use during inspection activities at U.S. ports and during survey activities in the field.  The project represents a collaborative effort between UA-Huntsville, the laboratory of Dr. Jian Han at HudsonAlpha, and the USDA.