A new USDA-AFRI grant was awarded to R.F. Baker Center member Maria Salas-Fernandez (co-PI), with Steve Whitham as lead PI, and Shuizhang Fei (co-PI) to develop a novel virus-mediated gene editing system for sorghum and switchgrass. Sorghum is recalcitrant to genetic transformation, and thus traditional gene editing is challenging and limited to genotypes that are amenable for transformation. The proposed new technology will simplify and accelerate gene editing applications in sorghum and switchgrass, which will facilitate gene functional validations and enable rapid progress in improving agricultural traits. This grant is part of the Agricultural Innovations through Gene Editing Program