Plant-Biotic Interactions | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

The Plant-Biotic Interactions (PBI) program is a joint National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) grant opportunity that funds research on how plants interact with other living organisms that either help them or harm them. It is designed to support studies that explain the biological processes behind beneficial relationships (such as mutualisms and other symbioses) as well as antagonistic ones (such as disease, herbivory, and parasitism). The program is broadly interested in interactions involving plant-associated viruses, bacteria, oomycetes, fungi, other plants, and invertebrates, covering everything from classic host-pathogen systems to more complex multi-partner associations in natural and agricultural settings.

A defining feature of this opportunity is its wide scientific scope, ranging from foundational, basic-mechanism research to more translational work intended to move discoveries toward agricultural application. Proposals can be purely fundamental, purely applied, or intentionally combine both, but they need to be clearly justified either by the importance of the underlying biological questions or by their relevance to agriculture (or both). The program explicitly welcomes projects using established model organisms as well as emerging model and non-model systems, including agriculturally important plants and the organisms that commonly associate with them in the field.

In terms of research themes, PBI is interested in the full life cycle of plant-biotic relationships: how associations begin, how they are transmitted, how they are maintained, and what ultimately determines their outcomes for the plant and its partners. Examples of emphasized topics include metabolic exchanges between partners, immune recognition and signaling in plants, regulatory mechanisms that stabilize or disrupt host-symbiont relationships, and reciprocal responses where each organism changes its behavior or physiology in response to the other. The program also highlights self versus non-self recognition mechanisms, including cases like pollen-pistil interactions, where compatibility systems determine whether reproduction proceeds.

Methodologically, proposals may approach these questions using molecular biology, genomics, metabolism-focused studies, cell biology, network-level analyses, and whole-organism or ecological perspectives, as long as the work is driven by clear hypotheses and/or rigorous discovery-based experimentation. Quantitative and computational modeling is encouraged when it is paired with experimental validation, especially where modeling can help explain complex interaction dynamics or predict outcomes under different biological or environmental conditions. Research may center on the plant host, the pathogen or pest, beneficial symbionts, the interactions among multiple partners, or the role and function of plant-associated microbiomes.

Operationally, the opportunity is categorized as a discretionary research grant in the science and technology domain. It was posted on March 8, 2016, with a closing date of June 6, 2016 (original and current closing date are the same in the listing). It is associated with CFDA numbers 10.310 and 47.074. The listing notes that a preliminary proposal is not required for submission under this program, meaning applicants can submit a full proposal directly without an initial pre-proposal stage.

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