Location: Invasive Plant Research Laboratory
Project Number: 6032-22000-013-155-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Sep 1, 2025
End Date: Aug 31, 2029
Objective:
1) Develop new biological control agents against weeds that are invasive in the United States which are also native to Australia and/or Asia, including Imperata cylindrica, Lygodium microphyllum, Acacia auriculiformis, Hydrilla verticillata, Nymphoides peltata, Azolla pinnata, Rotala rotundifolia, and other weeds of importance to the United States.
1a) Conduct surveys to discover, collect, rear and identify natural enemies from target weeds in their native range, and elucidate their biology and life history.
1b) Undertake native range surveys of host use, conduct preliminary host specificity testing and impact studies, to prioritize natural enemies, and to send impactful and specific natural enemies to USDA collaborators for further quarantine testing
1c) Conduct phylogenomics and population genomics research on target weeds
2) Contribute to the development of genetic biological control technologies (e.g., RNAi, gene drives, and the enhancement of classical biological control agents), defining the role that Overseas Biological Control Laboratories have in developing these technologies.
2a) Assess the regulatory feasibility of genetic modification as a strategy for improving biological control agents, and the role of native range research in developing these agents
2b) Develop molecular resources for Agasicles hygrophila and identify cold tolerance genes for genetic modification
Approach:
Research includes initial exploration and discovery of potential biological control agents (arthropods, nematodes, and microorganisms), identification to species or subspecies level with morphological and molecular methods. Travel within Australia and East Asia to a range of habitats where there is the highest likelihood of success to identify, collect and evaluate potential biocontrol agents of target invasive weeds . Current targets in these regions will include the climbing fern (Lygodium microphyllum), cogon grass (Imperata cylindrica), hydrilla (Hydrilla verticillata), round-leaf tooth cup (Rotala rotundifolia), red azolla (Azolla pinnata) and yellow floating heart (Nymphoides peltata).