The multi-agency funding for this initiative - made through the Joint Program on Phytoremediation also includes the Office of Naval Research and the DOD/DOE/EPA Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program.
ATTACHMENT: Summary of Awards
SUMMARY OF NSF/EPA AWARDS FOR PHYTOREMEDIATION
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Boyce Thompson Institute, Cornell University Principal Investigator: Leon V. Kochian - The Molecular Basis for Heavy Metal Accumulation and Tolerance in the Hyperaccumulating Plant Species, Thlaspi caerulescens. The research will lead to identifying hyperaccumulation genes, which could be used to develop transgenic plants that are both metal hyperaccumulators and produce high shoot biomass, and thus well suited for the phytoremediation of metal contaminated soils. A focus will be the metal transporter genes involved in metal accumulation and tolerance, as well as genes involved in the production of compounds that bind and detoxify zinc and cadmium in plant cells.
Purdue University - Principal Investigator: David E. Salt GenomeWide Hunt For Metal Hyperaccumulation Genes. Although known metal hyperaccumu- lators are not well suited for phytoremediation because of their small size and slow growth, they are a unique source of genes for this process. Over 25 percent of the known hyperaccumulator species are from the Brassicaceae family. Researchers will collect metal hyperaccumulating Brassicaceae from around the world and id
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Contact: Andrea M. Dietrich
adietric@nsf.gov
703-292-8070
National Science Foundation
13-Feb-2002