By Scout Nelson
Researchers from the University of Nebraska Medical Center will bring artificial intelligence and computational biology skills to a new $6 million National Science Foundation project. The four-year project will focus on developing stronger and more resilient cereal crops.
The four-year project is jointly led by the University of Idaho, UNMC, and Clemson University and combines expertise in artificial intelligence, engineering, plant biology and genetics. Specialists in artificial intelligence, engineering, plant biology, and genetics will work together to better understand why crop stems weaken and fall.
The research will focus on a problem known as stalk lodging. Stalk lodging happens when the stems of crops become weak or break. When plants fall before harvest, farmers may have more difficulty collecting the crops. Lodging also can lower crop yield and quality.
Wind and other environmental stresses can cause crops to lodge. The new research will study cereal crops such as wheat, corn, and sorghum. Researchers will examine the physical, genetic, and environmental factors that may affect the strength of crop stems.
At UNMC, Shibiao Wan, PhD, assistant professor in the UNMC Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy, will lead the artificial intelligence team. Jieqiong Wang, PhD, assistant professor in the UNMC Department of Neurological Sciences, will serve as co-principal investigator.
The UNMC team will use different types of information collected by researchers across the project. This information will include genomic data, images, biomechanical data and other measurements. The team will use these data to develop a multimodal large language model.
The AI model will be designed to identify characteristics linked to stronger and more resilient plants. By combining several types of data, researchers will look for patterns that may be difficult to find when each type of information is studied separately.
“UNMC functions as the AI hub of the consortium,” Dr. Wan said. “Our team will transform the large, heterogeneous datasets produced by our partner institutions into predictive models and decision-support tools.”
Each university will have a different role in the project. Researchers at the University of Idaho will develop technologies that measure the physical characteristics and performance of crops. Clemson University scientists will provide knowledge about genomics and crop genetics.
UNMC researchers will bring these different types of information together through AI models. The models will focus on finding genetic and physical factors connected with resistance to stalk lodging.
The results could help researchers understand which crop varieties are more likely to fall under certain environmental conditions. The models also could help identify genes and plant traits that deserve more research.
This information may help plant breeders make decisions earlier in the breeding process. Breeders could use the findings to better understand which traits may help produce stronger crop varieties.
The project also connects agricultural research with research in human health. Dr. Wan has a background that includes engineering and biomedical research. He said the project provides an opportunity to use similar computer-based approaches in plant science.
“My own research journey reflects that philosophy,” Dr. Wan said. “I was trained in engineering as an undergraduate and later transitioned into the intersection of AI and biomedical research.”
Researchers will study how genetics, physical characteristics, and environmental conditions work together. Similar questions appear in both plant and human biology because scientists often need to understand how many factors interact at the same time.
The project may also provide useful ideas for fields outside agriculture. AI methods developed through the research could eventually support biomedical work involving multi-omics analysis, biomarker discovery, precision oncology, and disease prediction.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) award began in August and will support the project through 2030.
Photo Credit: gettyimages-prostock-studio
Categories: Nebraska, Crops