Research Project
2018895
DESCRIPTION: (Adapted from the Applicant's Abstract). This proposal will develop an agrochemical discovery and safety screening technology using plant and brain cell cultures tested with quantitative fluorimetry and specific florescent probes. Cultures of plant and brain cells will be grown in a statistically uniform way to test chemical assays. The first specific aim of this phase I proposal is to use robots to develop uniform cultures of tomato leaves and rat cortical neurons in a 96 well culture plate for high throughput screening of a variety of agrochemicals. The second specific aim is to test the effects of these chemicals on secondary targets, such as commercial crops. The third specific aim is to test these chemicals on CNS cultures to monitor the toxicity that may be encountered through environmental exposure. The overall goal is to produce the assays and a set of standardized kits for the agrochemical products discovery, as well as neurotoxicity testing.
