CITRUS GREENING CURES: PARTNERSHIPS TO INCREASE STUDENT SUCCESS THROUGH COURSE-BASED EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING IN GENOMICS

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: OTHER GRANTS
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1023387
• Grant No.: 2020-38422-32252
• Cumulative Award Amt.: $274,314.00
• Proposal No.: 2020-02263
• Project Start Date: Sep 1, 2020
• Project End Date: Aug 31, 2024
• Grant Year: 2020
• Program Code: [NJ]- Hispanic Serving Institutions Education Grants Program

Recipient Organization
Indian River State College
3209 Virginia Avenue
Fort Pierce,FL 34981

Performing Department
(N/A)

Non Technical Summary
The Citrus Greening CURES project will provide a pathway to increase the overall success and retention of Hispanic students in the Indian River State College (IRSC) biology programat both the associate's and baccalaureate levels byprovidingexperiential learning-based research experiencesas part ofstudents'courses. IRSC is designated a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and supports a diverse community of students.Degree completion represent a major hurdle for Hispanic and underrepresented minorities in the agriculturalsciences.The project buildson a trend in biological science educationwhichintroducesstudents early in their academics to real-world research in order to help develop scientific thinking while teaching them practical skills. This early exposure to research has been showntoincreasestudents'interest in science andtheir persistencein science programs. However,challengesin developing, instructing and fundingresearchexperiencesfor alarge group of inexperienced studentsoften prevent theseactivitiesfrom being offered.The Citrus Greening CURES project will provide researchexperiencestoover460students at the associates andbaccalaureateslevel to provide a pathway to increase success, retention and completion.This will be done by building on a partnershipbetweenIRSC andBoyce Thompson Institute that provides students theopportunityto conduct research on the Asian Citrus Psyllid genome. This research is scalable to different educationallevels andis less expensive than lab-based projects.Students will be using bioinformatics, which is the use of computers to study DNA sequences, genes, proteins and genomes, to help provide scientists withabetter understanding of the biology of the insect that spreads the devastating citrus greening disease. Through this work, students will be able to make scientific contributions while learning the foundational concepts in biology that will complement their coursework and support their educational progress.The first goalof the projectwill be to increase students' success at the associate degree level. A course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE)will be designedto be completed by 320 students in an introductory biology course. The CURE will introduce students to important concepts inmolecular biologyas they explore the genomeof animportantagricultural vector.By working closely with students to train them and introduce themtocareer options in agricultural sciences, theCURE willincrease completion of the AA degree and enrollment into the baccalaureate degree in biology at IRSC. Goal two will increase the retention of students in the IRSC biology program at the baccalaureate level. A secondCUREwill be developed at the baccalaureate level that will instruct 120 students in genome annotation of the Asian citrus psyllid.An additional 24 students will be provided research stipends to complete research projects in annotation and biotechnology supported by IRSC, BTI and USDA, and peer mentoring.These students will take on a more in-depth analysis of discovering and characterizing important genes in the psyllidgenome andprovide reports of their analysis for the scientific community in publications and in national and regional scientific conferences.Overall, all student participants will be introduced tothe importance of DNA sequence data("genomics")in agricultural sciences and trainedin how to use the computational tools to analyze thisinformation. They will gain critical thinking, data mining and analysisas well as teamworking skills as they work to complete projects together, and independently. The process requires students to think critically and apply their knowledge, supporting theireducationaland intellectual growth. By increasingstudent'ssuccess and retention, theachievementgap for the Hispanicstudents will decrease, and the students will be well trained for careers in life sciences or pursuing further education.

Animal Health Component

(N/A)

Research Effort Categories

Basic

(N/A)

Applied

(N/A)

Developmental

(N/A)

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
211	3110	1040	100%

Knowledge Area
211 - Insects, Mites, and Other Arthropods Affecting Plants;

Subject Of Investigation
3110 - Insects;

Field Of Science
1040 - Molecular biology;

Keywords

agriculture

citrus greening

course-based undergraduate research experience

student success

Goals / Objectives
Goal Statement:Thegoals of theCitrus Greening CURES projectare designed tosignificantly increase thesuccess and completionof underrepresentedminority studentsat IRSC. This will be accomplished by two overarching goals and seven objectives that will increase student recruitment, persistence, and completion at the AA and BS levels throughinquiry-basedcourse-based undergraduate researchexperiences(CUREs). Students will be supported through an established scientific network consisting of IRSC faculty and researchers at BTI and the USDA in Fort Pierce, making this project unique.An innovative CURE will be developed using the citrus greening genome annotation model for an introductory course in biology at the AA level. This approach will significantly increase the exposure of URM students early in their academic careers to scientific thinking as a mode to learn core concepts.AsecondCURE will be developed that will teach over 40 additional students a year the process of genome annotation in a bachelor's level bioinformatics course. By introducing the key concepts of bioinformatics through a relatable real-world agricultural disease model, students' interest will be increased; helping to keep them enrolled in additional science courses.Additionally, annotation stipends will be provided for 24 student research assistants for atwo-yearperiod, which is an extended time for students to participate in an independent research experience in genome annotation.TheCitrus Greening CURESproject will provide IRSC students a unique opportunity to be a part of the scientific discovery process.Goal 1:Increase student success in FANH/STEM disciplines at the associate's levelObjectives1: Increase the number of AA students enrolled in CURE-infused courses with FANH/STEM focus from 0 to 320.2: Increase the number of students that complete CURE and take the next course in the series (BSC2011) by 15% as compared to students who did not take the CURE course.3: Increase by 10% the number of IRSC students completing associate degrees from the current rate of 50% of students who take non-CURE courses to 60% taking the CURE course.4. Produce a 15% increase in transfer into the IRSC biology or FANH baccalaureate program for AA students completing CURE compared to non-CURE students.Goal 2:Increase student success in FANH/STEM disciplines at the baccalaureate levelObjectives1: Increase the percentage of students participating in CURE-infused courses in the BS Biology program at IRSC from 3.5% to 15%2: Increase graduate completion for the biology program by 15% for students participating in the BS level CURE and annotation opportunities3: Increase by 10% the number of students placed in continuing education or FANH/STEM careers from the current rate of 30% to 40% for students participating in the BS level CURE and annotation opportunities

Project Methods
Scientific Support Plan:Dr.Sahawill provide the primary scientific support, overseeing updates of the ACP genome, maintenance ofsoftware and servers, and updating public access to data atcitrusgreening.org for the citrus greening community. This effort will support each of the project objectives. Additional scientific support from Dr. D'Elia and Dr. Hunter (USDA) will ensure that questions and concerns that arise through the project and from other levels of project management are addressed to ensure successful execution of the objectives.Institutional Oversight Plan:Overall institutional oversight will be provided by IRSC administration, Dr. Heather Belmont (Vice President of Academic Affairs) and Dr. Anthony Dribben (Dean of Mathematics and Sciences) through consultation withDr. D'Elia. They will work together to make sure implementation of the program objectives supports institutional objectives and goals. They will meet to discuss the progress and determine how to best support the overall project to maximize the impact on student learning, retention, and completion. They will work to support the sustainability of the project at IRSC.Data Collection and Evaluation Plan:A comprehensive data collection and evaluation plan will be utilized to measure and quantitate the degree to which the objectives are met. Data generated from the CURE will be collected by the IRSC faculty instructing the course. Additionaldata collected from students completing independent research will be collected by Dr. D'Elia. IRSC's Math and Student Success Coordinator will help collect additional data, compile the data, and prepare yearly reports.CURE Curriculum Development and Implementation Plan:The learning module for general biology will be developed by co-PI's Dr. D'Elia and Dr.Sahaand supported by IRSC faculty and staff. The faculty instructing these modules will meet during the year prior to implementation to determine the pedagogy and best practices of instructing the material. This group will design and prepare the course curriculum and materials. During semesters that the CURE is implemented, the faculty will meet weekly during the CURE and at the end of the semester to discuss progress. They will collect data and student feedback about their experience in learning about genomics. This information will be shared among faculty and the team will reevaluate the course module and provide additional activities to support learning. The general biology implementation personnel will evaluate how students perceive careers in agricultural sciences after learning about citrus greening and being introduced to how genomics and biotechnology can be used to save the citrus industry. Theco-PI'swill share instructor training and course materials developed through a project website, presentations, and publications.Curriculum design for the introduction to bioinformatics course will be developed by Dr. D'Elia and Dr.Sahaand build on their current modes of instructing annotation at different educational levels (citrus annotation and HHMI SEA-PHAGES) and designing curriculum from student research projects (Fillmeret al., 2018). They have developed a framework for building strong educational support and will meet bimonthly through web meetings to continually review and revise curriculum and assessments of annotation and learning. Dr. D'Elia and Dr.Sahawill review data from assessments and evaluations after each semester, with a full annual review.Adjustments to curriculum and CURE pedagogy will be implemented based on data collected to support objectives and outcomes.Undergraduate Research Plan:Dr. D'Elia will coordinate with IRSC administration, support staff, and faculty to promote the recruitment of students to apply for stipends for the annotation research experiences. Students in key foundational STEM courses (BSC2010, BSC2010L, BSC2011, BSC2011L, CHM1045, CHM1045L) will be targeted through recruitment efforts directly in class and by faculty. Recruitment efforts will focus on contacting student organizations, including the science club, Hispanic club, and international club. Students will be eligible to apply for stipends if they meet the entrance requirements for the BS degree in biology. If a selected student leaves the program during the first year, the next ranked candidate from within the applicant pool will be selected. If a student becomes ineligible for stipend support at the end of the first year, a new student will be recruited for the next academic year cohort.Coordination and oversight of the senior annotators will be managed by Dr. D'Elia and Dr.Saha. Bimonthly meetings will be held online with IRSC students, Dr. D'Elia, and Dr.Sahato provide training in annotation, guidance, and support. Students will be provided weekly support at IRSC through face-to-face meetings with Dr. D'Elia and Mr. Holland. Students will be required to meet weekly in groups and provide peer support. More experienced students will be matched with less experienced students to provide peer training. The students will meet weekly with Dr. D'Elia to go over any unresolved issues. Dr. D'Elia and Dr.Sahawill coordinate students to prepare and present at scientific meetings and summarize their results for scientific publications.Project Evaluation:The project has two primary goals with objectives that focus on increasing student success at the associate's level (goal 1) or baccalaureate level (goal 2). To measure the objectives of each goal, an evaluation plan has been designed that will ensure students are progressing, allow for instructor intervention early to promote learning, and will allow for tracking of student participation and completion through the course and their degree plan. The evaluation efforts will be led by the PI (D'Elia) and external evaluator (Stein). Altogether, this approach will provide a thorough evaluation of the goals objectives to support the success of the project.Evaluation will include formative evaluation focused on assessing the impact of the course-based research experience on the students understanding, critical thinking and their development of research skills and their professional abilities. Student participants will be evaluated by formative assessments through instructor/student interactions during completion of course assignments and projects in genome annotation. Students will complete guided worksheets, discussions and reflections during their participation in the CURE. The formative assessment will provide a means for feedback to the students to encourage their educational growth. The in-class group projects will be active learning sessions where students and faculty will work closely to guide the learning process. The pedagogy will be designed to include theses assessments. The students will also complete surveys to assess the impact of the CURE and curriculum on gains in student learning. Summative evaluation will further aid in quantifyingstudentssuccess at theassociateslevel through collection and analysis of student assignments, exams and completed projects. Student data, including GPA, persistence in FANH or STEM education, degree completion, research participation and job placement, will also be collected and used in the evaluation process. The overall evaluation will ensure students are progressing, allow for instructor intervention early to promote learning, and will allow for tracking of student participation and completion. Altogether, this approach will provide a thorough evaluation of thegoalsobjectives. The evaluation will provide the data to support curriculum development and adjustments required to meet the objectives. The data generated will also provide a measure of impact in terms of total increase in students progressing through the associates and baccalaureate programs, and their transition to further education or careers.

Progress 09/01/20 to 08/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience during this reporting period has been undergraduate students from Indian River State College (IRSC). Students from IRSC were from both the associates (AA) and bachelor's (BS) degree programs in biology. IRSC serves a community of underrepresented minority students and is designated a Hispanic Serving Institution. The approach has been to include both lower level students (freshman and sophomores) and upper level students in the undergraduate research as means to provide peer mentoring and to encourage retention in the biology program at IRSC. IRSC students participated in traditional undergraduate research on annotation of the Asian citrus psyllid genome. The students were research interns and the upper level students were enrolled in a senior capstone seminar series of courses. We also offered a Course Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) in BSC4434: Introduction to Bioinformatics during year three. We also continued implementation of a CURE in two sections of introductory course BSC2010 General Biology One with two separate instructors. ?Total traditional undergraduate research student participants in year four and total for all four years: Year 4: 12 research students; Program total: 37 research students Year 4: Students from IRSC BS biology program advanced to: 1 in medical school 1 PhD at Duke University Program total:93% placement: 25 of 27 students that have graduated have been placed in career or graduate school in STEM 11 students placed in graduate program (MS, PhD, MD) 4 students transferred to complete BS in biology at university 11 students were placed in STEM careers Total CURE student participants in year four: Year 4: 230 CURE students; Program total: 374 CURE students BSC4434 Bioinformatics CURE Year 4: Total: 78 BSC2010 CURE Year 4: 223 Total: 296 Additionally, the project's website is routinely updated to provide updates to our students and the link is shared with our community. Scientific data collected has been used to generate peer reviewed publications and data that is available in the open access community database on citrusgreening.org. Therefore, the communities involved in citrus, arthropods and genomics research from academia, industry and government are included in the target audience. The students also have presented their scientific work to this same scientific audience. Outcomes from the curriculum and pedagogy development have been disseminated and shared with the academic community and other educators through peer reviewed publications and early release pre-prints. Delivery of the AA level Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience:The curriculum developed during year two was implemented in our AA level introductory biology course BSC2010 through year 4. 223 students participated in year four, and a total of 296 have participated in the three week experience that involved exploring and analyzing genes in the Asian citrus psyllid genome. Students completed a workbook that introduced students to the basics of molecular biology, provided an overview of a genome browser and culminated with students completing comparative analysis of DNA and protein sequences. Students had to interpret their results and communicate their understanding in written responses. Delivery of the BS level Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience:The curriculum developed during year one, and continually refined in years 2-4, was implemented within our BS Biology degree program years 2-4. Twenty two students in year 4, and 78 in total, participated in an eight week research experience culminating in poster presentations. The participating CURE students were peer mentored by two of the senior independent research students. Scientist from the Boyce Thompson Institute, Dr. Saha, joined our CURE course remotely to help mentor students on the importance of omics research, genome annotation for tackling the problems faced by the citrus community. Students were mentored for graduate school applications, internship applications and additional research opportunities at IRSC and partners at USDA. Curriculum Design for BS level CURE: Curriculum was developed to facilitate the implementation of the BS level CURE. Protocols provided to students were modified to address areas of difficulty and a new poster presentation template was created. Curriculum Design for year four CURE: The of BSC2010 General Biology One CURE in genome annotation was modified and expanded in year four. Dr. D'Elia worked with IRSC professor Ms. Julie Boswell to expand the CURE to her BSC2010 course. D'Elia attended the course to help with the implementation and to let students know about the broader citrus and agricultural research opportunities available through the grant. Continued: Upper level students from the traditional research experience joined the class to serve as peer mentors during the CURE. D'Elia modified instructional materials, PowerPoints and worksheets to address areas of difficulty students confronted in previous semesters. Student presentations and professional development: During year four, there were a total of 13 students presentations at scientific meetings. In addition to presenting at the meetings, students networked with peers and faculty, attended keynotes seminars and visited recruitment booths for graduate and professional school programs. Student Recruitment:Biology students at the AA and BS level were recruited through development and dissemination of promotional materials, including flyers, video overview and emails, to participate in undergraduate research experience in genome annotation of the Asian citrus psyllid. Coordinate IRSC student training:PIs Drs. D'Elia and Sahaworked with lead IRSC students to develop a working schedule for the thirteen IRSC student participants and faculty. Virtual training (videoconferencing) was utilized to accommodate students, and most meetings were face to face. An online communication portal (Discord) was widely used to share and disseminate training and scheduling information besides facilitating peer support among the students. Training guides, worksheets and instructional videos (YouTube) were made available in an online Google Drive so all students could access the training resources. Assessment of the CURE: Grant PIs Drs. D'Elia and Saha worked with Dr. Jil Singer from EvaluateUR-CURE (NSF funded CURE assessment program; https://serc.carleton.edu/evaluateur/cure/index.html) on setting up the assessment program for the CURE. The assessment was used during year two-four for the upper level CURE courses. EvaluateUR-CURE is a program that evaluates course based undergraduate research experiences. The program facilitates discussions between students and faculty on the outcomes of the assessments. The program also focuses on developing and enhancing student metacognition.? ? Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Students and PI met weekly as a group to train in genome annotation. Students also meet weekly in small groups to peer mentor new students and help each other make progress on their projects. IRSC students also attended additional training workshops on using the Apollo software platform to conduct genome annotation. These workshops were offered by the National Agricultural Library (NAL) by a supporting scientist that also provided a letter of support for our grant initiatives related to student training. Project team members and students were able to gain professional development through attendance and presentations at the following professional conferences and meetings: Florida Academy of Sciences Meeting Florida Undergrad Research Conference IRSC Undergraduate Research Conference Manual annotation using the Apollo software (Scientist from USDA NAL) How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Dr. D'Elia continues as a member of the IRSC Experiential Research Learning Community and has begun sharing best practices in pedagogy, course design and curriculum with colleagues interested in incorporating research into their courses. Dr. D'Elia continues to participate on the St. Lucie County School District advisory board for biotechnology programs. Through this network, administrators, teachers and staff are made aware of the IRSC biotechnology program, including the development of the course-based undergraduate research and the highly collaborative genome annotation community. The goal is to help recruit students to the IRSC programs and help provide support to area high schools. Dr. D'Elia continues to share the citrus greening CURES and community annotation research at Florida Academy of Sciences council meetings, where he chairs the biology section, to continue the opportunity to expand the annotation instruction at additional institutions. Additionally, Dr. D'Elia has provided presentations on the genome annotation program at the Florida Phytopathological Society and at the Florida International University Center for Translational Sciences. Recruitment efforts continued at IRSC to get students to join the grant-supported activities during year two and included working with the IRSC BS in Biology degree coordinator and meeting students in seminar courses to discuss opportunities. Dr. Saha is actively involved in working groups within i5k arthropod genome sequencing and the AgBioData consortiums. AgBioData consortium of agricultural biological databases with the mission of consolidating standards and best practices for acquiring, displaying, and reusing genomic, genetic, and breeding (GGB) data. The training and publication methodology used and genome annotation resources developed by the citrus greening CURES and community annotation research program are a model for other agricultural genomics communities so our results are communicated to these groups in a timely manner to foster cross-pollination. ? What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The Citrus Greening CURES project has provided Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) and guided independent research for over 350 undergraduate students. The program was designed to instruct students in the analysis of data related to citrus greening disease, which has devastated the citrus industry in our community. The overarching objective of this program is to increase student success, completion and placement. These goals were accomplished through implementation of research experiences in both introductory and advanced courses, and providing additional support to students by faculty and scientists, and peer mentors. Students were additionally attended and presented at research conferences, contributed significantly to peer reviewed articles (provided authorship) and were counseled in career and graduate school preparations by the grant directors, and program alumni. Knowledge Gains and Skill Development in Genome Research:The CURE provided students at the associate and bachelor's levels fundamental skills in genome annotation and bioinformatics, critical areas of knowledge for careers in agricultural and biological sciences. Over 296 AA-level students participated in introductory genome annotation, while 78 bachelor's students engaged in bioinformatics CURE and 37 completed independent research. A total of 27 of the independent researchers graduated, with the remaining on target to graduate on time. Twenty-two of the graduates have been placed in graduate school (11 in PhD, MS and MD) or STEM careers (n=11). Students presented a total of 56 presentations (oral and poster) at numerous scientific conferences during the entire grant funding period. Students also worked together to complete the data analysis, writing and revisions for six peer reviewed publications during the entire funding period. This is a key outcome demonstrating their ability to synthesize and communicate complex information. Increased Academic Progress and Retention in STEM:CURE participants demonstrated higher rates of progression to subsequent courses in their degree program, and higher rates of graduation compared to non-CURE students. Notably, up to 58% of introductory course CURE students enrolled in the next course, BSC2011,a substantial increase from the 12% progression rate of non-CURE students. Similarly, the associate degree graduation rate for CURE students reached 22%, nearly three times higher than non-CURE counterparts. These outcomes highlight the program's success in motivating students to persist in their educational paths. Enhanced Transfer Rates and Pathways to Advanced Degrees:The project has also increased transfer rates for associate-level students into bachelor's degree programs focused on biology and FANH/STEM, with CURE students transferring at a rate of 42% compared to only 19% for non-CURE students. Boosting Graduation Rates in Bachelor's Programs through Research Engagement:Among bachelor's students who participated in the upper-level CURE in bioinformatics, 71% graduated within one semester, Students that participated in the independent research had an even higher graduation rate of 82%. The graduation rate for the BS biology program at IRSC for the 2020-2021 academic year, prior to the grant related activities, averaged 8.2% for the fall and spring semesters. Goal 1.1: Increase the number of AA students enrolled in CURE-infused courses with FANH/STEM focus from 0 to 320 For year four, a total of 223 students participated in the BSC2010 Introduction to Biology 1 Genome Annotation CURE, up significantly from 73 students for year 3. This gives us a total of 296 students. Hurricane Ian and faculty turnover limited participation during initial implementation of CURE - but adjustments made to include two faculty teaching the AA level CURE, greatly increased participation and adoption of the CURE by the biology program. Goal 1.2: Increase the number of students that complete CURE and take the next course in the series (BSC2011) by 15% as compared to students who did not take the CURE course. For year four, 58% of students that took the CURE course took BSC2011, which is the next course in the series. This is an increase from year three, which was 39% and this is above the rate of 12% for students that have taken non-CURE sections of BSC2010. Goal 1.3: Increase by 10% the number of IRSC students completing associate degrees from the current rate of 50% of students who take non-CURE courses to 60% taking the CURE course. For year four, the graduate rate for CURE students ranged from 15-21%, which was higher than the 14% rate of graduates for AA degree among non-CURE students.For fall 2022, 15 total sections of BSC2010 were offered. The CURE course had a AA level graduation rate of 22%, while all non-CURE courses had a graduation rate of 8%. This shows a 60% increase in graduation rate for students with CURE courses. Goal 1.4. Produce a 15% increase in transfer into the IRSC biology or FANH baccalaureate program for AA students completing CURE compared to non-CURE students. Students from the CURE course that transition to the IRSC biology or FANH baccalaureate program at a rate of 42%, which was significantly higher, more than doubling the non-CURE students, which had a 19% transfer rate. Goal 2.1: Increase the percentage of students participating inCURE-infused coursesin the BS Biology program at IRSC from 3.5% to 15% The Course-based undergraduate research experience was implemented in BSC4434 Introduction to Bioinformatics in the fall of 2022 and continues through end of the grant reporting period, sustaining for a fifth year. This course is an elective within the IRSC Bachelor's in Science Biology Degree program. A total of 22 students participated in this CURE in year 4, and a cumulative total of 78 students have participated. Importantly, this course now represents the only baccalaureate level CURE at IRSC.The courses consisted of 71% percent Hispanic students. Goal 2.2: Increasegraduate completionfor the biology program by 15% for students participating in the BS level CUREand annotation opportunities (THIS MEANS the capstone students too!) Graduation rates for students that participated in the BS level CURE for spring 2024 was 71%. Students that participated in the annotation opportunities also had a graduation rate of 82%. These numbers represent the number of students that completed the CURE or annotation independent research, and then graduated within one semester following their participation. For the two semesters that the CURE was offered, a total of 53% of the graduates were hispanic.The graduation rate for the BS biology program at IRSC f prior to the grant related activities averaged 8.2% for the fall and spring semesters. Not all students in the CURE or research are on track to graduate within the following semester. Goal 2.3:Increase by 10% the number of students placed in continuing education or FANH/STEM careers from the current rate of 30% to 40% for students participating in the BS level CURE andannotation opportunities For year two, student participants were placed in continuing education or FANH/STEM careers at a rate of 41% for BS level CURE and 50% for independent annotation research. Student participants have entered the following programs or careers: University of Florida (PhD program), University of Edinburgh (MS program in synthetic biology), University of Pennsylvania (BS program in computational biology); and cumulatively, students participants have been placed at: NCSU Plant Pathology PhD program, UF Genetics PhD program, UF entomology MS program, Medical School pre-acceptance to DO program, job with Florida Fish and Wildlife job, job with Medical examiner, UF Medical Entomology lab research assistant.

Publications

• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Yip, Brandi; Bucio, Maricela Ayala, Lizbeth; Neiman, Alan; Massimino, Crissy; Saha, Surya; DElia, Tom. Annotation of Halloween Genes and Nuclear Receptors in 20E Pathway of Diaphorina citri. Florida Undergraduate Research Conference. 2024.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Yip, Brandi; Bucio, Maricela Ayala, Lizbeth; Neiman, Alan; Massimino, Crissy; Saha, Surya; DElia, Tom. Annotation of Genes Involved in the Ecdysteroidogenic Pathway in Diaphorina citri. Florida Undergraduate Research Conference. 2024.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Submitted Year Published: 2024 Citation: Bucio, Maricela; Yip, Brandi; Ayala, Lizbeth; Neiman, Alan; Massimino, Crissy; Saha, Surya; DElia, Tom. Annotation of RNA Helicase Genes Diaphorina citri. IRSC Undergraduate Research Symposium. 2024.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Yip, Brandi; Bucio, Maricela Ayala, Lizbeth; Neiman, Alan; Massimino, Crissy; Saha, Surya; DElia, Tom. Annotation of Genes Involved in the Ecdysteroidogenic Pathway in Diaphorina citri. IRSC Undergraduate Research Symposium. 2024.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Annotation of highwire pathway in Diaphorina citri. Eccles, Brittany; Saha, Surya and DElia, Tom. IRSC Undergraduate Research Symposium. 2024.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: BreAnnah Garcia, Lizbeth Soriano-Rios, Surya Saha, Tom DElia. Annotation of Phosphoinositide Phospholipase C genes in Diaphorina citri. RSC Undergraduate Research Symposium. 2024.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Julia Jameson, Surya Saha, Tom DElia. Annotation of genes with differential expression potential in Diaphorina citri. Undergraduate Research Symposium. 2024.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Lisvet Ramirez-Barrea, Surya Saha, Tom DElia. FKBP Gene Annotation in the Asian Citrus Psyllid. Undergraduate Research Symposium. 2024.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Nathaly Sanchez, Alan Neiman, Surya Saha, Tom DElia. Annotation of SKK and MESH genes in Diaphorina citri. Undergraduate Research Symposium. 2024.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Justin Forbes, Matiace Noel, Surya Saha, Tom DElia. Annotation of chromatin associated genes in Diaphorina citri. Undergraduate Research Symposium. 2024.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Bucio, Maricela; Yip, Brandi; Ayala, Lizbeth; Neiman, Alan; Massimino, Crissy; Saha, Surya; DElia, Tom. Annotation of RNA Helicase Genes Diaphorina citri. Florida Academy of Sciences Annual Meeting. 2024.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Yip, B., Bucio, M. A., Ayala, L., Neiman, A., Massimino, C., Saha, S., & DElia, T. (2024). Annotation of genes involved in the ecdysteroidogenic pathway in Diaphorina citri. Florida Scientist, 87(3/4), 101.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Bucio, M., Yip, B., Ayala, L., Neiman, A., Massimino, C., Saha, S., & DElia, T. (2024). Annotation of RNA helicase genes in Diaphorina citri. Florida Scientist, 87(3/4), 101
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: DElia, Tom. 2024. Indian River State College Preparing students for futures in STEM. Florida International University Center for Translational Sciences. Oral Presentation
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Jaimes, Chris, Saha, Surya; DElia, Tom.Annotation of genes in the Hedgehog Pathway in Diaphorina citri. IRSC Undergraduate Research Symposium. 2023.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Bucio, Maricela; Yip, Brandi; Ayala, Lizbeth; Neiman, Alan; Massimino, Crissy; Saha, Surya; DElia, Tom. Annotation of RNA Helicase Genes Diaphorina citri. Florida Undergraduate Research Conference. 2024.

Progress 09/01/22 to 08/31/23

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience during this reporting period has been undergraduate students from Indian River State College (IRSC). Students from IRSC were from both the associates (AA) and bachelor's (BS) degree programs in biology. IRSC serves a community of underrepresented minority students and is designated a Hispanic Serving Institution. The approach has been to include both lower level students (freshman and sophomores) and upper level students in the undergraduate research as means to provide peer mentoring and to encourage retention in the biology program at IRSC. IRSC students participated in traditional undergraduate research on annotation of the Asian citrus psyllid genome. The students were research interns and the upper level students were enrolled in a senior capstone seminar series of courses. We also offered a Course Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) in BSC4434: Introduction to Bioinformatics during year three. Year three was also the first implementation of a CURE in the introductory course BSC2010 General Biology One. Total traditional undergraduate research student participants in year three: 11 total students 1 dual enrollment AA level student, transferred to University of Pennsylvania computational biology 10 in BS biology program. Following completion, the following number of students advanced to further education: 1 in medical school 1 in masters program 1 at University of Florida Medical Entomology Lab 1 at Edinburgh MS synthetic biology Total CURE student participants in year three: Twenty five students participated in CURE in BSC4434 Bioinformatics Thirty seven student participated in CURE in BSC2010 Additionally, the project's website is routinely updated to provide updates to our students and the link is shared with our community. Scientific data collected has been used to generate peer reviewed publications and data that is available in the open access community database on citrusgreening.org. Therefore, the communities involved in citrus, arthropods and genomics research from academia, industry and government are included in the target audience. The students also have presented their scientific work to this same scientific audience. Outcomes from the curriculum and pedagogy development have been disseminated and shared with the academic community and other educators through peer reviewed publications and early release pre-prints. Delivery of the AA level Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience: The curriculum developed during year two was implemented in our AA level introductory biology course BSC2010. Thirty seven students participated in a three week experience that involved exploring and analyzing genes in the Asian citrus psyllid genome. Students completed a workbook that introduced students to the basics of molecular biology, provided an overview of a genome browser and culminated with students completing comparative analysis of DNA and protein sequences. Students had to interpret their results and communicate their understanding in written responses. Delivery of the BS level Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience: The curriculum developed during year one, and further refined in year 2, was implemented within our BS Biology degree program. Twenty five students participated in two eight week research experiences culminating in poster presentations. The participating CURE students were peer mentored by two of the senior independent research students. Scientist from the Boyce Thompson Institute, Dr. Saha, joined our CURE course remotely to help mentor students on the importance of omics research, genome annotation for tackling the problems faced by the citrus community. Curriculum Design for BS level CURE: Additional curriculum was developed to facilitate the implementation of the BS level CURE. Specifically, updated tutorials (PowerPoints and Videos) were made to address areas of difficulty confronted by the first round of student participants. Curriculum Design for year three/four CURE: Development and design of BSC2010 General Biology One CURE in genome annotation for year three of the grant. This was continued from year two and included: Specifically new to year three: Video tutorials and complementary workbook was developed to lead students through an introduction to molecular biology and genome annotation. This was completed with collaboration with Dr. Saha through video meetings to discuss major learning outcomes and how to design appropriate assessments around genome annotation, data collection, analysis and interpretation. Continued: Upper level students from the traditional research experience will join the class to serve as peer mentors during the CURE. D'Elia developed new instructional materials, PowerPoints and worksheets, to match the learning outcomes of the CURE and the newly adjusted semester timeline. Student Recruitment: Biology students at the AA and BS level were recruited through development and dissemination of promotional materials, including flyers, video overview and emails, to participate in undergraduate research experience in genome annotation of the Asian citrus psyllid. Coordinate IRSC student training: PIs Drs. D'Elia and Saha worked with lead IRSC student to develop a working schedule for the eighteen IRSC student participants and faculty. Virtual training (videoconferencing) was utilized to accommodate students, and most meetings were face to face. An online communication portal (Discord) was widely used to share and disseminate training and scheduling information. Training guides, worksheets and instructional videos (YouTube) were made available in an online Google Drive so all students could access the training resources. Assessment of the CURE: Grant PIs Drs. D'Elia and Saha worked with Dr. Jil Singer from EvaluateUR-CURE (NSF funded CURE assessment program; https://serc.carleton.edu/evaluateur/cure/index.html) on setting up the assessment program for the CURE. The assessment was used during year two on two sections of the CURE courses. EvaluateUR-CURE is a program that evaluates course based undergraduate research experiences. It utilizes instructor-selected learning outcomes that direct the targeted assessment of the student's progress. The program improves student understanding of their research strengths and weaknesses by facilitating discussions between students and faculty on the outcomes of the assessments. The program also focuses on developing and enhancing student metacognition. Changes/Problems:No major changes to grant objectives. ? What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Students and PI met weekly as a group to train in genome annotation. Students also meet weekly in small groups to peer mentor new students and help each other make progress on their projects. IRSC students also attended additional training workshops on using the Apollo software platform to conduct genome annotation. These workshops were offered by the National Agricultural Library (NAL) by a supporting scientist that also provided a letter of support for our grant initiatives related to student training. Project team members and students were able to gain professional development through attendance and presentations at the following professional conferences and meetings: Florida Academy of Sciences Meeting Florida Undergrad Research Conference IRSC Undergraduate Research Conference Three-minute thesis competition. Life Sciences South Florida. FIU Center for Translational Sciences Research Symposium. Biodiversity Genomics Research COnference Manual annotation using the Apollo software (Scientist from USDA NAL) American Biology Teacher Course-Embedded Student Research (CESR) Virtual Poster Competition How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Dr. D'Elia continues as a member of the IRSC Experiential Research Learning Community and has begun sharing best practices in pedagogy, course design and curriculum with colleagues interested in incorporating research into their courses. Dr. D'Elia continues to participate on the St. Lucie County School District advisory board for biotechnology programs. Through this network, administrators, teachers and staff are made aware of the IRSC biotechnology program, including the development of the course-based undergraduate research and the highly collaborative genome annotation community. The goal is to help recruit students to the IRSC programs and help provide support to area high schools. ?Dr. D'Elia continues to share the citrus greening CURES and community annotation research at Florida Academy of Sciences council meetings, where he chairs the biology section, to continue the opportunity to expand the annotation instruction at additional institutions. Additionally, Dr. D'Elia has provided presentations on the genome annotation program at the Florida Statewide Symposium on Undergraduate Research, the Florida Phytopathological Society and at the Florida International University Center for Translational Sciences. Recruitment efforts continued at IRSC to get students to join the grant-supported activities during year two and included working with the IRSC BS in Biology degree coordinator and meeting students in seminar courses to discuss opportunities. Dr. Saha is actively involved in working groups within i5k arthropod genome sequencing and the AgBioData consortiums. AgBioData consortium of agricultural biological databases with the mission of consolidating standards and best practices for acquiring, displaying, and reusing genomic, genetic, and breeding (GGB) data. The training and publication methodology used and genome annotation resources developed by the citrus greening CURES and community annotation research program are a model for other agricultural genomics communities so our results are communicated to these groups in a timely manner to foster cross-pollination. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Goal 1: Increase student success in FANH/STEM disciplines at the associate's level Objective 1: Increase the number of AA students enrolled in CURE-infused courses with FANH/STEM focus from 0 to 320. During the next reporting period the AA level CURE will be expanded into a second section of BSC2010 with the help of another IRSC faculty member, Professor Julie Boswell. This will help increase the number of AA student participants and put us towards the goal of 320 students. Additionally, this will open additional opportunities for expansion of the CURE in our BSC2010 course across our department. Objective 2: Increase the number of students that complete CURE and take the next course in the series (BSC2011) by 15% as compared to students who did not take the CURE course. The faculty members that instruct the CURE in both of the sections for the upcoming year also instruct the next course in the series, BSC2011. The instructors will discuss advising and course planning with students to encourage completion of the next course in the series. Based on the previous semester, we believe that the CURE provides more one-on-one with students and faculty, enhancing the relationship. Students build strong connections with the faculty and enjoy the teaching style that CUREs bring to the classroom. As a result, students will want to continue to the next course with the faculty from their CURE section. Objective 3: Increase by 10% the number of IRSC students completing associate degrees from the current rate of 50% of students who take non-CURE courses to 60% taking the CURE course. Students that complete the CURE course will be provided additional support including guidance to courses to take to stay on track, and access to tutors within our STEM support system STEM Pioneers program. Students that complete the CURE have demonstrated increase completion rate of 60%. Objective 4. Produce a 15% increase in transfer into the IRSC biology or FANH baccalaureate program for AA students completing CURE compared to non-CURE students. Continue to expose students to career and transfer options during the CURE course sections. Provide advice on degree planning. Provide links to career and transfer offerings, seminars and workshops offered through IRSC and our partner institutions. Goal 2: Increase student success in FANH/STEM disciplines at the baccalaureate level Objectives 1: Increase the percentage of students participating in CURE-infused courses in the BS Biology program at IRSC from 3.5% to 15% The genome annotation CURE that will be implemented for a third consecutive academic year during year four of the grant. . -Work with IRSC biology bachelor's degree student coordinator to recruit students to take the CURE course to help increase enrollment. -Prepare promotional materials to be provided to students through email and placed in department to recruit students to take the CURE course. -The CURE will continue to be assessed through the EvaluateUR-CURE program. -The total number of students participating in the grant project CURE will be compared to those in the BS Biology program at IRSC and percentages will be recorded. Objective 2: Increase graduate completion for the biology program by 15% for students participating in the BS level CURE and annotation opportunities Students that complete the CURE will continue to be supported and mentored to select their next subsequent course to help them stay on track to complete their BS degree. -Students participating in the traditional undergraduate research annotation opportunities will be mentored to help them complete their BS degree. These students will also participate in research conferences and contribute to scientific reports, both as efforts to keep students engaged in their projects to promote degree completion. -Additional training resources will be produced to support student learning of genome annotation during the CURE. These will include updated, and new annotation guides, overviews and instructional videos. -The total number of students participating in the grant project CURE and the traditional undergraduate research annotation opportunities and subsequently completing their degree will be recorded to evaluate program success. Objective 3: Increase by 10% the number of students placed in continuing education or FANH/STEM careers from the current rate of 30% to 40% for students participating in the BS level CURE and annotation opportunities Students that participate in the CURE and traditional undergraduate research annotation opportunities will continue to be provided career guidance and educational support. Students will meet with IRSC student success coordinator, with Dr. D'Elia and web meetings with Dr. Saha about opportunities for careers and additional education. -Participating students will attend scientific conferences and workshops that provide educational material about graduate school and job openings. -Previous graduates will be connected with current students to help mentor and guide students towards career and continuing educational opportunities. The total number of students participating in the grant project CURE and the traditional undergraduate research annotation opportunities and subsequently completing their degree and placed in FANH/STEM careers or continuing education will be compared to the overall completion rate of students in the BS Biology program at IRSC and percentages will be recorded.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Year three of the Citrus Greening CURES project focused on continual implementation of the bachelor's level CURE and the first implementation of the AA level CURE. The CURE that was developed during year one was implemented for the second consecutive year in the biology bachelors degree program (goal two). Students completed an eight-week long research experience and were exposed to high-impact experiential learning process. Each CURE course culminated in students presenting a research poster showcasing the results of their in-class research projects. The CURE was also part of an external national CURE assessment program that uses learning outcomes to direct assessment of students and promote development of metacognition. The assessment results have been used to improve pedagogy and re-evaluation of curricular materials available to students in the CURE. A second major outcome included the continued development of the traditional undergraduate level research experiences (goal 2). These students are recruited from both our AA and BS level, including students that joined after participating in the CURE. A total of eleven students participated in the independent research experience. Students in this group prepared twenty presentations at scientific conferences and contributed as authors to a preprint publication and a peer reviewed scientific manuscript that has been accepted for publication. Additionally, during year three the AA level CURE that was developed in year two for goal one and objectives was fully implemented in BSC2010 Introduction to Biology One course. The overall program has shown much success towards reaching or surpassing the goals and objectives. The success of the CUREs and student research project has opened avenues for expansion of the CUREs to additional section of BSC2010 and student placement at both the BS, graduate and career level is high. Goal 1: Increase student success in FANH/STEM disciplines at the associate's level Goal 1.1: Increase the number of AA students enrolled in CURE-infused courses with FANH/STEM focus from 0 to 320 For year three, a total of 73 students (36 students in the fall and 37 students in the spring) participated in the BSC2010 Introduction to Biology 1 Genome Annotation CURE. We are on track to have over 150 more students in year 4, placing us at 70% of our target. Hurricane Ian and faculty turnover limited participation in fall - but as of spring 2023, there are two faculty teaching the AA level CURE, as outlined in the objectives. Goal 1.2: Increase the number of students that complete CURE and take the next course in the series (BSC2011) by 15% as compared to students who did not take the CURE course. For year three, 39% of students that took the CURE course took BSC2011, which is the next course in the series. This was above the rate of 12% for students that have taken non-CURE sections of BSC2010 and then advanced to BSC2011. Goal 1.3: Increase by 10% the number of IRSC students completing associate degrees from the current rate of 50% of students who take non-CURE courses to 60% taking the CURE course. For fall 2022, 15 total sections of BSC2010 were offered. The CURE course had a AA level graduation rate of 22%, while all non-CURE courses had a graduation rate of 8%. This shows a 60% increase in graduation rate for students with CURE courses. Goal 1.4. Produce a 15% increase in transfer into the IRSC biology or FANH baccalaureate program for AA students completing CURE compared to non-CURE students. Students from the CURE course that transition to the IRSC biology or FANH baccalaureate program at a rate of 33%. Goal 2: Increase student success in FANH/STEM disciplines at the baccalaureate level Goal2.1: Increase the percentage of students participating in CURE-infused courses in the BS Biology program at IRSC from 3.5% to 15% The Course-based undergraduate research experience was implemented in BSC4434 Introduction to Bioinformatics in the fall of 2022 and spring of 2023. This course is an elective within the IRSC Bachelor's in Science Biology Degree program. A total of 19 students participated in this CURE, and a cumulative total of 51 students have participated. Compared to prior to implementation, this represents a 72.7% increase and substantially increases the number of students exposed to course-based research at IRSC. Importantly, this course now represents the only baccalaureate level CURE at IRSC. The courses consisted of 22% percent Hispanic students. Goal 2.2: Increase graduate completion for the biology program by 15% for students participating in the BS level CURE and annotation opportunities Graduation rates for students that participated in the BS level CURE for fall 2022 and spring 2022 were both 67%. Students that participated in the annotation opportunities also had a graduation rate of 67% (10 of 15 students graduated). These numbers represent the number of students that completed the CURE or annotation independent research, and then graduated within one semester following their participation. For the two semesters that the CURE was offered, a total of 22% of the students that went on to graduate were hispanic. The graduation rate for the BS biology program at IRSC for the 2020-2021 academic year, prior to the grant related activities, averaged 8.2% for the fall and spring semesters. Not all students in the CURE or research are on track to graduate within the following semester. One of the students that participated was at the associated degree level (sophomore) and successfully transferred to the University of Pennsylvania to complete their bachelor's degree in computational biology. Goal 2.3: Increase by 10% the number of students placed in continuing education or FANH/STEM careers from the current rate of 30% to 40% for students participating in the BS level CURE and annotation opportunities For year two, student participants were placed in continuing education or FANH/STEM careers at a rate of 41% for BS level CURE and 50% for independent annotation research. Student participants have entered the following programs or careers: University of Florida (PhD program), University of Edinburgh (MS program in synthetic biology), University of Pennsylvania (BS program in computational biology); and cumulatively, students participants have been placed at: NCSU Plant Pathology PhD program, UF Genetics PhD program, UF entomology MS program, Medical School pre-acceptance to DO program, job with Florida Fish and Wildlife job, job with Medical examiner, UF Medical Entomology lab research assistant.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Teresa D. Shippy, Prashant S. Hosmani, Mirella Flores-Gonzalez, Marina Mann, Sherry Miller, Matthew T. Weirauch, Chad Vosburg, Crissy Massimino, Will Tank, Lucas de Oliveira, Chang Chen, Stephanie Hoyt, Rebekah Adams, Samuel Adkins, Samuel T. Bailey, Xiaoting Chen, Nina Davis, Yesmarie DeLaFlor, Michelle Espino, Kylie Gervais, Rebecca Grace, Douglas Harper, Denisse L. Hasan, Maria Hoang, Rachel Holcomb, Margaryta R. Jernigan, Melissa Kemp, Bailey Kennedy, Kyle Kercher, Stefan Klaessan, Angela Kruse, Sophia Licata, Andrea Lu, Ron Masse, Anuja Mathew, Sarah Michels, Elizabeth Michels, Alan Neiman, Seantel Norman, Jordan Norus, Yasmin Ortiz, Naftali Panitz, Thomson Paris, Kitty M. R. Perentesis, Michael Perry, Max Reynolds, Madison M. Sena, Blessy Tamayo, Amanda Thate, Sara Vandervoort, Jessica Ventura, Nicholas Weis, Tanner Wise, Robert G. Shatters Jr., Michelle Heck, Joshua B. Benoit, Wayne B. Hunter, Lukas A. Mueller, Susan J. Brown, Tom DElia, Surya Saha. Diaci v3.0: Chromosome-level assembly, de novo transcriptome and manual annotation of Diaphorina citri, insect vector of Huanglongbing. bioRxiv 869685; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/869685
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: FACULTY (PI) Oral Conference Presentation. DElia 2023: The Transformative Power of Agricultural Partnerships in Education and Outreach. Presentation: Florida Phytopathological Society Biennial Meeting.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: ACULTY (PI) Seminar Presentation. DElia: 2023: Indian River State College: Preparing students for futures in STEM?. Florida International University Center for Translational Sciences.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Wise, T., Licata, S., Massimino, C., de Oliveira, L., Saha, S., & DElia, T. Manual gene annotation of the longevity-regulation pathway in Diaphorina citri, the vector for citrus greening disease. Florida Academy of Sciences. First Place Outstanding Undergraduate Student Poster Presentation.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Sanchez, Yesenia, Saha, S., and DElia, T. Genome annotation and characterization of nucleotidyl cyclase genes in the Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri, genome. 2023
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Wise, T., Licata, S., Massimino, C., de Oliveira, L., Saha, S., & DElia, T. (2023). Annotation of genes in the longevity-regulation pathway in Diaphorina citri. Florida Undergraduate Research Conference
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Neiman, A., De Oliviera, L., Ortiz, Y., Massimino, C., Flores-Gonzalez, M., Saha, S., & DElia, T. (2023). Annotation and Phylogenetic Analysis of GST Genes in Diaphorina citri.Florida Undergraduate Research Conference
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Wise, T., Licata, S., Massimino, C., de Oliveira, L., Saha, S., & DElia, T. (2023). Annotation of genes in the longevity-regulation pathway in Diaphorina citri. Life Sciences South Florida Undergraduate Research Symposium
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Anderson, D., Sappleton, M., Neiman, A., Massimino, C., Saha, S., & DElia, T. (2023). Genomic analysis of alpha-glucosidase enzymes in the citrus greening disease vector Diaphorina citri. Indian River State College Senior Research Symposium
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Neiman, A., De Oliviera, L., Ortiz, Y., Massimino, C., Flores-Gonzalez, M., Saha, S., & DElia, T. (2023). Annotation and Phylogenetic Analysis of GST Genes in Diaphorina citri. Indian River State College Senior Research Symposium
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Wise, T., Licata, S., Massimino, C., de Oliveira, L., Saha, S., & DElia, T. (2023). Annotation of genes in the longevity-regulation pathway in Diaphorina citri. Indian River State College Senior Research Symposium
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Neiman, A., De Oliviera, L., Ortiz, Y., Massimino, C., Flores-Gonzalez, M., Saha, S., & DElia, T. (2022). Annotation of GST genes in the Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri, genome. Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Wise, T., Licata, S., Massimino, C., de Oliveira, L., DElia, T., & Saha, S. (2022). Manual curation of Diaphorina citri genes in the longevity-regulation pathway. Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Ortiz, Y., Neiman, A., Espino, M., Massimino, C., Saha, S., & DElia, T. (2022). Manual curation of Diaphorina citri genes associated with female reproduction.Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Mekhi Sappleton. 2022. Genomic Analysis of Alpha Glucosidase Enzymes in the citrus greening disease vector Diaphorina citri. County and State Science Fair.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Gervais, K., Davis, N., Massimino, C., DeOliveira, L., Saha, S., & DElia, T. (2022). Genomic validation and characterization of protein kinase genes in Diaphorina citri genome 3.0. Indian River State College Senior Research Symposium
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Validation, revision and characterization of phototransduction pathway genes in Diaphorina citri genome 3.0. Michelle Espino, Lucas DeOliveira, Yasmin Ortiz, Alan Neiman, Crissy Massimino, Surya Saha and Tom DElia. IRSC Undergraduate Research Conference
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Manual curation of Diaphorina citri genes associated with female reproduction. Yasmin Ortiz, Alan Neiman, Michelle Espino, Crissy Massimino, Surya Saha, Tom DElia. Florida Undergraduate Research Conference.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: OrthoGroups: From function to gene annotation - limitations and highlights. Jasmine Hampson, Caroline Wattles, Lucas DeOliveria, Crissy Massimino, Surya Saha and Tom DElia?. IRSC Undergraduate Research Conference
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Bioinformatic validation and characterization of actin genes in Diaphorina citri?. Stefan Klaesen, Lucas DeOliveria, Sarah Michels, Elizabeth Michels, Surya Saha and Tom DElia?. IRSC Undergraduate Research Conference
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Lucas de Oliveira, Max Reynolds, Crissy Massimino, Surya Saha and Tom DElia. Genome curation of 27 putative circadian rhythm associated genes in Diaphorina citri. Florida Undergraduate Research Conference.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Manual curation of Diaphorina citri genes associated with female reproduction. Yasmin Ortiz, Alan Neiman, Michelle Espino, Crissy Massimino, Surya Saha, Tom DElia. Three-minute thesis competition. Life Sciences South Florida
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Manual curation of Diaphorina citri genes associated with female reproduction. Yasmin Ortiz, Alan Neiman, Michelle Espino, Crissy Massimino, Surya Saha, Tom DElia. FIU Center for Translational Sciences Research Symposium.

Progress 09/01/21 to 08/31/22

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience during this reporting period has been undergraduate students from Indian River State College (IRSC). Students from IRSC were from both the associates (AA) and bachelor's (BS) degree programs in biology. IRSC serves a community of underrepresented minority students and is designated a Hispanic Serving Institution. For this reporting year the total FTIC Hispanic students was 70% for the institution. The approach has been to include both lower level students (freshman and sophomores) and upper level students in the undergraduate research as means to provide peer mentoring and to encourage retention in the biology program at IRSC. IRSC students participated in traditional undergraduate research on annotation of the Asian citrus psyllid genome. The students were research interns and the upper level students were enrolled in a senior capstone seminar series of courses. We also offered a Course Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) in BSC4434: Introduction to Bioinformatics during year two. Total traditional undergraduate research student participants in year two: Twenty total participants Eighteen current students plus two former students. Four IRSC students that are AA level Two are dual enrollment high school students Fourteen IRSC students in the BS program in biology Additionally, two IRSC bachelors in biology program alumni participated and helped with mentoring and guidance on courses and provided their experience with job search and graduate school. Total CURE student participants in year two: Thirty-two students participated in CURE in BSC4434 Bioinformatics Additionally, the project's website is routinely updated to provide updates to our students and the link is shared with our community. Scientific data collected has been used to generate peer reviewed publications and data that is available in the open access community database on citrusgreening.org. Therefore, the communities involved in citrus, arthropods and genomics research from academia, industry and government are included in the target audience. The students also have presented their scientific work to this same scientific audience. Outcomes from the curriculum and pedagogy development have been disseminated and shared with the academic community and other educators through peer reviewed publications and early release pre-prints. Efforts: Delivery of the BS level Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience: The curriculum developed during year one was implemented within our BS Biology degree program. Thirty-two students participated in two eight week research experiences culminating in poster presentations. Eight of these students also joined as independent research participants. Scientist from the Boyce Thompson Institute, Dr. Saha, joined our CURE course remotely to help mentor students on the importance of genome annotation to the citrus community. Curriculum Design for BS level CURE: Additional curriculum was developed to facilitate the implementation of the BS level CURE. Specifically, updated tutorials (PowerPoints and Videos) were made to address areas of difficulty confronted by the first round of student participants. Curriculum Design for year three/four CURE: Development and design of BSC2010 General Biology One CURE in genome annotation for year three of the grant. Drs. D'Elia and Saha had videoconference meetings to begin the development of the curriculum for the CURE. We developed learning objectives that will address students learning of introductory molecular biology by illustrating gene structure and function through genome annotation. Additionally, students will analyze genes from biochemical pathways learned about in the course. Upper level students from the traditional research experience will join the class to serve as peer mentors during the CURE. D'Elia developed new instructional materials, PowerPoints and worksheets, to match the learning outcomes of the CURE and the newly adjusted semester timeline. Student Recruitment: Biology students at the AA and BS level were recruited through development and dissemination of promotional materials, including flyers, video overview and emails, to participate in undergraduate research experience in genome annotation of the Asian citrus psyllid. Coordinate IRSC student training: PIs Drs. D'Elia and Saha worked with lead IRSC students to develop a working schedule for the eighteen IRSC student participants and faculty. Virtual training (videoconferencing) was utilized to accommodate students, and most meetings were face to face. An online communication portal (Discord) was widely used to share and disseminate training and scheduling information. Training guides, worksheets and instructional videos (YouTube) were made available in an online Google Drive so all students could access the training resources. Coordinate training among collaborators: Video conferences were attended by PIs from IRSC and Boyce Thompson Institute and IRSC Students. Meetings provided student training and support in genome annotation and students and faculty worked on preparing data and writing of manuscripts. Assessment of the CURE: Grant PIs Drs. D'Elia and Saha worked with Dr. Jil Singer from EvaluateUR-CURE (NSF funded CURE assessment program; https://serc.carleton.edu/evaluateur/cure/index.html) on setting up the assessment program for the CURE. The assessment was used during year two on two sections of the CURE courses. EvaluateUR-CURE is a program that evaluates course based undergraduate research experiences. It utilizes instructor-selected learning outcomes that direct the targeted assessment of the student's progress. The program improves student understanding of their research strengths and weaknesses by facilitating discussions between students and faculty on the outcomes of the assessments. The program also focuses on developing and enhancing student metacognition. Changes/Problems:No major changes to grant objectives. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Students and PI met weekly as a group to train in genome annotation. Students also meet weekly in small groups to peer mentor new students and help each other make progress on their projects. IRSC students also attended additional training workshops on using the Apollo software platform to conduct genome annotation. These workshops were offered by the National Agricultural Library (NAL) by a supporting scientist that also provided a letter of support for our grant initiatives related to student training. Project team members and students were able to gain professional development through attendance and presentations at the following professional conferences and meetings: Arthropod Genomics Conference Florida Academy of Sciences Meeting Florida Undergrad Research Conference IRSC Undergraduate Research Conference Three-minute thesis competition. Life Sciences South Florida. FIU Center for Translational Sciences Research Symposium. Biodiversity Genomics Research COnference Webinar BTI Breaking Ground with Surya Saha Webinar BTI Breaking Ground with Gary Blissard Bioinformatics for Proteomics Workshop. IDeA National Resource for Proteomics. (student attended virtually) Manual annotation using the Apollo software (Scientist from USDA NAL) Students at IRSC attended webinars on biotechnology and agriculture: Bioinformatics for Proteomics Workshop. IDeA National Resource for Proteomics. (student attended virtually) Webinar BTI Breaking Ground with Gary Blissard How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Dr. D'Elia is a member of the IRSC Experiential Research Learning Community and has begun sharing best practices in pedagogy, course design and curriculum with colleagues interested in incorporating research into their courses. Dr. D'Elia continues to participate on the St. Lucie County School District advisory board for biotechnology programs. Through this network, administrators, teachers and staff are made aware of the IRSC biotechnology program, including the development of the course-based undergraduate research and the highly collaborative genome annotation community. The goal is to help recruit students to the IRSC programs and help provide support to area high schools. Dr. D'Elia continues to share the citrus greening CURES and community annotation research at Florida Academy of Sciences council meetings to continue the opportunity to expand the annotation instruction at additional institutions. Recruitment efforts continued at IRSC to get students to join the grant-supported activities during year two and included working with the IRSC BS in Biology degree coordinator and meeting students in seminar courses to discuss opportunities. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Goal 1: Increase student success in FANH/STEM disciplines at the associate's level Objectives 1-4: The design and development of the AA level CURE was completed during year two. Dr. D'Elia worked with Dr. Saha to develop an experiential investigation into the Asian citrus psyllid genome to match current course learning outcomes. To implement this experience successfully in year three, the PIs worked to develop course materials, worksheets and instructional videos. Specifically, students will follow a guided electronic lab book that will facilitate their learning of the genome browser and analysis of gene models and molecular data (RNA-Seq, DNA-Seq, and BLAST reports). The students will connect main ideas of the central dogma of molecular biology (DNA replication, transcription and translation) to the structure of genes and the analysis of the proteins they encode. Students will complete worksheet style questions within the electronic lab book and record their research data. Goal 2: Increase student success in FANH/STEM disciplines at the baccalaureate level Objectives 1: Increase the percentage of students participating in CURE-infused courses in the BS Biology program at IRSC from 3.5% to 15% The genome annotation CURE that will be implemented for a second consecutive academic year during year three of the grant. . -The CURE will continue to be assessed through the EvaluateUR-CURE program. -The total number of students participating in the grant project CURE will be compared to those in the BS Biology program at IRSC and percentages will be recorded. Goal 2: Increase student success in FANH/STEM disciplines at the baccalaureate level Objective 2: Increase graduate completion for the biology program by 15% for students participating in the BS level CURE and annotation opportunities Students that complete the CURE will continue to be supported and mentored to select their next subsequent course to help them stay on track to complete their BS degree. -Students participating in the traditional undergraduate research annotation opportunities will be mentored to help them complete their BS degree. These students will also participate in research conferences and contribute to scientific reports, both as efforts to keep students engaged in their projects to promote degree completion. -Additional training resources will be produced to support student learning of genome annotation during the CURE. These will include updated, and new annotation guides, overviews and instructional videos. -The total number of students participating in the grant project CURE and the traditional undergraduate research annotation opportunities and subsequently completing their degree will be recorded to evaluate program success. Goal 2: Increase student success in FANH/STEM disciplines at the baccalaureate level Objective 3: Increase by 10% the number of students placed in continuing education or FANH/STEM careers from the current rate of 30% to 40% for students participating in the BS level CURE and annotation opportunities Students participants in the CURE and traditional undergraduate research annotation opportunities will continue to be provided career guidance and educational support. Students will meet with IRSC student success coordinator, with Dr. D'Elia and web meetings with Dr. Saha about opportunities for careers and additional education. -Participating students will attend scientific conferences and workshops that provide educational material about graduate school and job openings. -Previous graduates will be connected with current students to help mentor and guide students towards career and continuing educational opportunities. -Students will be offered career guidance and graduate education overview by professors at Cornell who have provided letters of support for the grant. The total number of students participating in the grant project CURE and the traditional undergraduate research annotation opportunities and subsequently completing their degree and placed in FANH/STEM careers or continuing education will be compared to the overall completion rate of students in the BS Biology program at IRSC and percentages will be recorded.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Year two of the Citrus Greening CURES project focused on three major outcomes. First, the CURE that was developed during year one was implemented in the biology bachelors degree program (goal two). Students completed an eight-week long research experience and were exposed to high-impact experiential learning process. The courses consisted of 31% percent Hispanic students. Each CURE course culminated in students presenting a research poster showcasing the results of their in-class research projects. The CURE was also part of an external national CURE assessment program that uses learning outcomes to direct assessment of students and promote development of metacognition. The assessment results have been used to improve pedagogy and re-evaluation of curricular materials available to students in the CURE. A second major outcome included the further development of the traditional undergraduate level research experiences (goal 2). These students are recruited from both our AA and BS level, including students that joined after participating in the CURE. A total of eighteen students participated in the independent research experience. Students in this group prepared eight presentations at scientific conferences and contributed as authors to six peer reviewed scientific publications. The third major objective was the development of an AA level CURE that will meet goal one objectives. Overall, through the supportive network of faculty, scientists and peer-mentors, students have been trained in bioinformatics to analyze genes, proteins and genomes to help provide scientists with a better understanding of the biology of the insect that spreads the devastating citrus greening disease. Students have already made direct scientific contributions through scientific presentations and publications. Through participation in this work, the students also learn foundational concepts in biology that complement their coursework and support their educational progress and success. Goal 1: Increase student success in FANH/STEM disciplines at the associate's level Objectives 1-4 for goal one require students to participate in a CURE that will be implemented during years 3 and 4, as per the Citrus Greening CUREs original proposal timeline. This means that no change in number is currently measurable for AA students that have completed a CURE in their course. However, during the second grant year the curriculum and course objectives for this AA level CURE have been developed with considerations based on the design of the BS level CURE (Goal 2) and results of the undergraduate research students that have begun their training and research projects. Furthermore, four AA level students participated in undergraduate research and have maintained their degree progress, either completing their AA or on track to complete on time. Two have successfully transferred to BS Biology degree programs at the University of Florida. The lessons learned from training AA level students in genome annotation will be applied to the AA level CURE design and will help increase student enrollment, completion and transfer, as outlined in objectives 1-4. Goal 2: Increase student success in FANH/STEM disciplines at the baccalaureate level Objectives1: Increase the percentage of students participating in CURE-infused courses in the BS Biology program at IRSC from 3.5% to 15% The Course-based undergraduate research experience that was developed during year 1 was implemented in BSC4434 Introduction to Bioinformatics in the fall of 2021 and spring of 2022. This course is an elective within the IRSC Bachelor's in Science Biology Degree program. A total of 32 students participated in this CURE. Compared to prior to implementation, a total of 66 IRSC bachelor's students participated in a CURE. This represents a 48% increase and substantially increases the number of students exposed to course-based research at IRSC. The courses consisted of 31% percent Hispanic students. Goal 2: Increase student success in FANH/STEM disciplines at the baccalaureate level Objective 2: Increase graduate completion for the biology program by 15% for students participating in the BS level CURE and annotation opportunities Graduation rates for students that participated in the BS level CURE for fall 2021 and spring 2022 were 41% and 70%, respectively. Students that participated in the annotation opportunities had a graduation rate of 36%. These numbers represent the number of students that completed the CURE or annotation independent research, and then graduated within one semester following their participation. For the two semesters that the CURE was offered, a total of 31% of the students that went on to graduate were hispanic. The graduation rate for the BS biology program at IRSC for the 2020-2021 academic year, prior to the grant related activities, averaged 8.2% for the fall and spring semesters. Not all students in the CURE or research are on track to graduate within the following semester. Two of the students that participated were at the associated degree level (sophomores) and successfully transferred to the University of Florida to complete their bachelor's degree in biological sciences. Goal 2: Increase student success in FANH/STEM disciplines at the baccalaureate level Objective 3: Increase by 10% the number of students placed in continuing education or FANH/STEM careers from the current rate of 30% to 40% for students participating in the BS level CURE and annotation opportunities For year two, student participants were placed in continuing education or FANH/STEM careers at a rate of 19% for BS level CURE and 29% for independent annotation research. For independent research students that have graduated, the placement rate is 80%. Student participants have entered the following programs or careers: NCSU Plant Pathology PhD program, UF entomology MS program, Medical School pre-acceptance to DO program, job with Florida Fish and Wildlife job, job with Medical examiner, UF Medical Entomology lab research assistant.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Teresa D. Shippy, Prashant S. Hosmani, Mirella Flores-gonzalez, Lukas A. Mueller, Wayne B. Hunter, Susan J. Brown, Tom DElia, Surya Saha, Annotation of Hox cluster and Hox cofactor genes in the Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri, reveals novel features, Gigabyte, 2022 https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.49.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Max Reynolds, Lucas De Oliveira, Chad Vosburg, Thomson Paris, Crissy Massimino, Jordan Norus, Yasmin Ortiz, Michelle Espino, Nina Davis, Ron Masse, Alan Neiman, Rachel Holcomb, Kylie Gervais, Melissa Kemp, Maria Hoang, Teresa D. Shippy, Prashant S. Hosmani, Mirella Flores-gonzalez, Kirsten Pelz-stelinski, Jawwad A. Qureshi, Lukas A. Mueller, Wayne B. Hunter, Joshua B. Benoit, Susan J. Brown, Tom DElia, Surya Saha, Annotation of putative circadian rhythm-associated genes in Diaphorina citri (Hemiptera: Liviidae), Gigabyte, 2022 https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.48
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Teresa D. Shippy, Sherry Miller, Blessy Tamayo, Prashant S. Hosmani, Mirella Flores-gonzalez, Lukas A. Mueller, Wayne B. Hunter, Susan J. Brown, Tom DElia, Surya Saha, Manual curation and phylogenetic analysis of chitinase family genes in the Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri, Gigabyte, 2022 https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.46
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Will Tank, Teresa Shippy, Amanda Thate, Crissy Massimino, Prashant S. Hosmani, Mirella Flores-gonzalez, Lukas A. Mueller, Wayne B. Hunter, Susan J. Brown, Tom DElia, Surya Saha, Ubiquitin-proteasome pathway annotation in Diaphorina citri can reveal potential targets for RNAi-based pest management, Gigabyte, 2022 https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.43
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Rebecca Grace, Crissy Massimino, Teresa D. Shippy, Will Tank, Prashant S. Hosmani, Mirella Flores-Gonzalez, Lukas A. Mueller, Wayne B. Hunter, Joshua B. Benoit, Susan J. Brown, Tom DElia and Surya Saha. Genomic identification, annotation, and comparative analysis of Vacuolar-type ATP synthase subunits in Diaphorina citri. Gigabyte. 2022, DOI: 10.46471/gigabyte.39
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Blessy Tamayo, Kyle Kercher, Chad Vosburg, Crissy Massimino, Margaryta R. Jernigan, Denisse L. Hasan, Douglas Harper, Anuja Mathew, Samuel Adkins, Teresa Shippy, Prashant S. Hosmani, Mirella Flores-gonzalez, Naftali Panitz, Lukas A. Mueller, Wayne B. Hunter, Joshua B. Benoit, Susan J. Brown, Tom DElia, Surya Saha, Annotation of glycolysis, gluconeogenesis, and trehaloneogenesis pathways provide insight into carbohydrate metabolism in the Asian citrus psyllid, Gigabyte, 2022 https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.41
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Teresa Shippy, Prashant S Hosmani, Mirella Flores-Gonzalez, Lukas A Mueller, Wayne B Hunter, Susan J Brown, Tom DElia, Surya Saha. Annotation of Hox cluster and Hox cofactor genes in the Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri, reveals novel features. 2021. bioRxiv 2021.10.09.463765; doi:https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.10.09.463765
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Max Reynolds, Lucas de Oliveira, Chad Vosburg, Thomson Paris, Crissy Massimino, Jordan Norus, Yasmin Ortiz, Michelle Espino, Nina Davis, Ron Masse, Alan Neiman, Rachel Holcomb, Kylie Gervais, Melissa Kemp, Maria Hoang, Teresa D. Shippy, Prashant S. Hosmani, Mirella Flores-Gonzalez, Lukas A. Mueller, Wayne B. Hunter, Joshua B. Benoit, Susan J. Brown, Tom DElia, Surya Saha. 2021. Annotation of Putative Circadian Rhythm-Associated Genes in Diaphorina citri (Hemiptera : Liviidae). bioRxiv 2021.10.09.463768; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.10.09.463768
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Teresa D. Shippy, Sherry Miller, Blessy Tamayo, Prashant S Hosmani, Mirella Flores-Gonzalez, Lukas A Mueller, Wayne B Hunter, Susan J Brown, Tom DElia, Surya Saha. Manual curation and phylogenetic analysis of chitinase family genes in the Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri. bioRxiv 2021.10.30.466601; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.10.30.466601
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Will Tank, Teresa Shippy, Amanda Thate, Crissy Massimino, Prashant S. Hosmani, Mirella Flores-Gonzalez, Lukas A. Mueller, Wayne B. Hunter, Susan J. Brown, Tom DElia, Surya Saha. Ubiquitin Proteasome Pathway annotation in Diaphorina citri can reveal potential targets for RNAi based pest management. bioRxiv 2021.10.11.464014; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.10.11.464014
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Rebecca Grace, Crissy Massimino, Teresa D. Shippy, Will Tank, Prashant S. Hosmani, Mirella Flores-Gonzalez, Lukas A. Mueller, Wayne B. Hunter, Joshua B. Benoit, Susan J. Brown, Tom DElia, Surya Saha. Genomic identification, annotation, and comparative analysis of Vacuolar-type ATP synthase subunits in Diaphorina citri. bioRxiv 2021.10.18.464890; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.10.18.464890
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Blessy Tamayo, Kyle Kercher, Chad Vosburg, Crissy Massimino, Margaryta R. Jernigan, Denisse L. Hasan, Douglas Harper, Anuja Mathew, Samuel Adkins, Teresa Shippy, Prashant S. Hosmani, Mirella Flores-Gonzalez, Naftali Panitz, Lukas A. Mueller, Wayne B. Hunter, Joshua B. Benoit, Susan J. Brown, Tom DElia, Surya Saha. Annotation of glycolysis, gluconeogenesis, and trehaloneogenesis pathways provide insight into carbohydrate metabolism in the Asian citrus psyllid.bioRxiv 2021.10.11.463922; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.10.11.463922
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: STUDENT ORAL PRESENTATION: Shedding light on Diaphorina citri: manual curation of 27 putative circadian rhythm associated genes. Lucas de Oliveira, Max Reynolds, Crissy Massimino, Surya Saha, PhD and Tom DElia, PhD. 2021 Indian River State College Undergraduate Research Symposium.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: STUDENT ORAL PRESENTATION: Leveraging Co-Expression Network Analysis to Establish Transcriptional Shifts in the Gut of the Asian Citrus Psyllid During Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus Infection., 115 July 2021. https://doi.org/10.3390/IECE-10515. Chang Chen, Josh Benoit PhD, Lukas Mueller PhD, Surya Saha PhD. The 1st International Electronic Conference on Entomology
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: FACULTY (PI) Public Webinar: Surya Saha. Webinar BTI Breaking Ground Series. BTI Breaking Ground with Surya Saha. 2022.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: FACULTY (PI) Oral Conference Presentation: Surya Saha. Workflows for rapid functional annotation of diverse arthropod genomes. BioDiversity Genomics 2021.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: FACULTY (PI) Oral Conference Presentation: Surya Saha. An open access resource portal for arthropod vectors and agricultural pathosystems: AgriVectors.org. Joint Entomological Society of America South Eastern Branch and American Phytopathological Society  Caribbean Division Meeting. 2022
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: STUDENT POSTER PRESENTATION: 2021: Validation, revision and characterization of phototransduction pathway genes in Diaphorinai citri genome 3.0. Michelle Espino, Lucas DeOliveira, Yasmin Ortiz, Alan Neiman, Crissy Massimino, Surya Saha and Tom DElia. IRSC Undergraduate Research Conference
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: STUDENT POSTER PRESENTATION 2022: Manual curation of Diaphorina citri genes associated with female reproduction. Yasmin Ortiz, Alan Neiman, Michelle Espino, Crissy Massimino, Surya Saha, Tom DElia. Florida Undergraduate Research Conference.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: STUDENT POSTER PRESENTATION 2022: Lucas de Oliveira, Max Reynolds, Crissy Massimino, Surya Saha and Tom DElia. Genome curation of 27 putative circadian rhythm associated genes in Diaphorina citri. Florida Undergraduate Research Conference.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: STUDENT POSTER PRESENTATION 2022: Manual curation of Diaphorina citri genes associated with female reproduction. Yasmin Ortiz, Alan Neiman, Michelle Espino, Crissy Massimino, Surya Saha, Tom DElia. Three-minute thesis competition. Life Sciences South Florida.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: STUDENT POSTER PRESENTATION 2022: Manual curation of Diaphorina citri genes associated with female reproduction. Yasmin Ortiz, Alan Neiman, Michelle Espino, Crissy Massimino, Surya Saha, Tom DElia. FIU Center for Translational Sciences Research Symposium.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: STUDENT POSTER PRESENTATION 2022: OrthoGroups: From function to gene annotation - limitations and highlights. Jasmine Hampson, Caroline Wattles, Lucas DeOliveria, Crissy Massimino, Surya Saha and Tom DElia?. IRSC Undergraduate Research Conference
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: STUDENT POSTER PRESENTATION 2022: Bioinformatic validation and characterization of actin genes in Diaphorina citri?. Stefan Klaesen, Lucas DeOliveria, Sarah Michels, Elizabeth Michels, Surya Saha and Tom DElia?. IRSC Undergraduate Research Conference

Progress 09/01/20 to 08/31/21

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience during this reporting period has been primarily undergraduate students from Indian River State College (IRSC), with additional undergraduate students and a graduate student from a collaborating institution, Kansas State University (KSU). Students from IRSC were from both the associates (AA) and bachelor's (BS) degree programs in biology. IRSC serves a community of underrepresented minority students and is designated a Hispanic Serving Institution. The approach has been to include both lower level students (freshman and sophomores) and upper level students in the undergraduate research as means to provide peer mentoring and to encourage retention in the biology program at IRSC. IRSC students participated in traditional undergraduate research on annotation of the Asian citrus psyllid genome. The students were research interns and the upper level students were enrolled in a senior capstone seminar series of courses. Overall IRSC student participants in year one: twelve current students, two former students. Five IRSC students that are AA level Two are dual enrollment high school students Seven IRSC students in the BS program in biology Additionally, two IRSC bachelors in biology program alumni participated and helped with mentoring and guidance on courses and provided their experience with job search and graduate school. Scientific data collected has been used to generate peer reviewed publications and data that is available in the open access community database on citrusgreening.org. Therefore, the communities involved in citrus, arthropods and genomics research from academia, industry and government are included in the target audience. The students also have presented their scientific work to this same scientific audience. Outcomes from the curriculum and pedagogy development have been disseminated and shared with the academic community and other educators through peer reviewed publications and early release pre-prints. Efforts: Student Recruitment: Biology students at the AA and BS level were recruited through development and dissemination of promotional materials, including flyers, video overview and emails, to participate in undergraduate research experience in genome annotation of the Asian citrus psyllid. Coordinate IRSC student training: PIs Drs. D'Elia and Saha worked with lead IRSC student to develop a working schedule for the twelve IRSC student participants and faculty. Virtual training (videoconferencing) was conducted in early fall 2020 and transitioned to face to face. An online communication portal was built using the application Discord to share and disseminate training and scheduling information. Training guides, worksheets and instructional videos (YouTube) were developed and a central depository was set up online in Google Drive so all students could access the training resources. Coordinate training among collaborators: Biweekly video conferences were attended by PIs from IRSC and Boyce Thompson Institute. Students and scientists also joined from Kansas State University and University of Cincinnati. Meetings provided student training and support in genome annotation, students presented updates to the larger annotation team and students and faculty worked on preparing data and writing of manuscripts. Curriculum Design for year two Course Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE): Development and design of BSC4434 Introduction to bioinformatics CURE in genome annotation for year two of the grant. Drs. D'Elia and Saha had videoconference meetings to begin the development of the curriculum for the CURE. Decided on gene families that students would annotate and the semester timeline that would be most impactful for student learning. The annotation goals for the semester were aligned with research objectives of the larger psyllid genome annotation project to allow for continuous feedback from and interaction with external scientists. D'Elia developed new instructional materials, PowerPoints and worksheets, to match the learning outcomes of the CURE and the newly adjusted semester timeline. D'Elia worked with IRSC students to develop annotation worksheets, overviews and instructional videos that will be used in the CURE during year 2 of the grant. Assessment of the CURE: Grant PIs Drs. D'Elia and Saha worked with Dr. Jil Singer from EvaluateUR-CURE (NSF funded CURE assessment program; https://serc.carleton.edu/evaluateur/cure/index.html) on setting up the assessment program for the CURE. D'Elia and Saha applied and their citrus greening CURE was selected to participate in the EvaluateUR-CURE assessment program. EvaluateUR-CURE is a program that evaluates course based undergraduate research experiences. It utilizes instructor-selected learning outcomes that direct the targeted assessment of the student's progress. The program improves student understanding of their research strengths and weaknesses by facilitating discussions between students and faculty on the outcomes of the assessments. The program also focuses on developing and enhancing student metacognition. Grant PIs Drs. D'Elia and Saha attended a virtual introductory workshop on the EvaluateUR-CURE program and videoconferences to help set up the online assessment portal in advance of offering the CURE during year two of the grant. During the 2020-2021 IRSC faculty (D'Elia) began the process to offer the Biotechnician Assistant Credentialing Exam (BACE) at IRSC. This certification is an industry-recognized exam that was developed at the University of Florida and vetted by BioFlorida, which represents over 3,000 companies. The rationale to offer this credentialing exam was twofold. First, the exam would provide participating IRSC students the opportunity to gain a valuable certification to help make them more competitive as they enter the job market. Secondly, the credentialing exam serves as a recruitment tool to retain students at IRSC, to interest them in participating in the Citrus CUREs grant as interns, and to promote the courses at IRSC that will have the HSI grant CUREs as part of the curriculum. Review materials were developed for students and an online support system was developed for the first cohort of seven students to take the exam. Two of the interns from this grant completed the certification, and additional members will be eligible next year. Work related to this grant, including discussion with scientists at the USDA and collaborators, and attending the professional conference (virtually), were very valuable when designing the study material related to biotech industrial processes and applications of research methods. Changes/Problems:No major changes to grant objectives. Adjustments are ongoing related to adapting to COVID-19, but we have developed many resources that allow for multiple modes of teaching and mentoring of students that are based on videoconferencing, online tools and updated curriculum. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project team held training sessions for IRSC students in genome annotation. The training included virtual workshops to introduce students to genome annotation. Students meet weekly virtually or in person in the fall of 2020 and then weekly in person through the spring and summer of 2021. Students also were further trained in genome annotation through biweekly videoconference meetings with collaborating scientists and students from Boyce Thompson Institute, Kansas State University, University of Cincinnati and the USDA-ARS. IRSC students also attended additional training workshops on using the Apollo software platform to conduct genome annotation. These workshops were offered by the National Agricultural Library (NAL) by a supporting scientist that also provided a letter of support for our grant initiatives related to student training. Project team members and students were able to gain professional development through attendance and presentations at the following professional conferences and meetings: 2021 Florida Phytopathological Society meeting 2021 Florida Academy of Sciences meeting Biodiversity Genomics 2021 Students at IRSC attended webinars on biotechnology and agriculture: 2021: Dr. Wayne Hunter from the USDA-ARS on the use of biotechnology in agriculture and about jobs in science and agriculture. 2021: InnovATEBIO National Biotechnology Education Center (NSF) and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory webinar on Agricultural Biotechnology How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Dr. D'Elia has participated on the St. Lucie County School District advisory board for biotechnology programs. Through this network, administrators, teachers and staff are made aware of the IRSC biotechnology program, including the development of the course-based undergraduate research and the highly collaborative genome annotation community. The goal is to help recruit students to the IRSC programs and help provide support to area high schools. Dr. D'Elia has presented the overview of the citrus greening CURES and community annotation research at Florida Academy of Sciences council meetings to begin the opportunity to expand the annotation instruction at additional institutions. Recruitment efforts to get students to join the grant-supported activities during year one included production of flyers and a video overview that were widely distributed beyond IRSC science majors to help more students know about the opportunities available at IRSC and the steps to get involved. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Goal 1: Increase student success in FANH/STEM disciplines at the associate's level Objectives 1: Increase the number of AA students enrolled in CURE-infused courses with FANH/STEM focus from 0 to 320. 2: Increase the number of students that complete CURE and take the next course in the series (BSC2011) by 15% as compared to students who did not take the CURE course. 3: Increase by 10% the number of IRSC students completing associate degrees from the current rate of 50% of students who take non-CURE courses to 60% taking the CURE course. 4. Produce a 15% increase in transfer into the IRSC biology or FANH baccalaureate program for AA students completing CURE compared to non-CURE students. For goal 1, objectives 1-4: The design and development of the AA level CURE will be completed during year two. IRSC faculty and grant PIs will produce course materials, worksheets and instructional videos. Update and modify the semester syllabus to include course-based research into the current curriculum. Design assessments that measure students' learning to evaluate the impact of the annotation CURE related to students' understanding of molecular biology. Work with IRSC staff to track the progress of students that complete CURE and their subsequent course registration and/or program completion or transfer. Goal 2: Increase student success in FANH/STEM disciplines at the baccalaureate level Objective 1: Increase the percentage of students participating in CURE-infused courses in the BS Biology program at IRSC from 3.5% to 15% The genome annotation CURE that was designed for year one will be implemented in year two. The CURE will be assessed through the EvaluateUR-CURE program. The total number of students participating in the grant project CURE will be compared to those in the BS Biology program at IRSC and percentages will be recorded. Objective 2: Increase graduate completion for the biology program by 15% for students participating in the BS level CURE and annotation opportunities Students that complete the CURE will be supported and mentored to select their next subsequent course to help them stay on track to complete their BS degree. Students participating in the traditional undergraduate research annotation opportunities will be mentored to help them complete their BS degree. These students will also participate in research conferences and contribute to scientific reports, both as efforts to keep students engaged in their projects to promote degree completion. Additional training resources will be produced to support student learning of genome annotation during the CURE. These will include updated, and new annotation guides, overviews and instructional videos. The total number of students participating in the grant project CURE and the traditional undergraduate research annotation opportunities and subsequently completing their degree will be compared to the overall completion rate of students in the BS Biology program at IRSC and percentages will be recorded. Objective 3: Increase by 10% the number of students placed in continuing education or FANH/STEM careers from the current rate of 30% to 40% for students participating in the BS level CURE and annotation opportunities Students participants in the CURE and traditional undergraduate research annotation opportunities will be provided career guidance and educational support. Students will meet with IRSC student success coordinator, with Dr. D'Elia and web meetings with Dr. Saha about opportunities for careers and additional education. Participating students will attend scientific conferences and workshops that provide educational material about graduate school and job openings. Students will be offered the opportunity to participate in the BACE biotechnology certification examination as a way to make them more competitive for careers and continuing education. Students will be offered career guidance and graduate education overview by professors at Cornell who have provided letters of support for the grant. The total number of students participating in the grant project CURE and the traditional undergraduate research annotation opportunities and subsequently completing their degree and placed in FANH/STEM careers or continuing education will be compared to the overall completion rate of students in the BS Biology program at IRSC and percentages will be recorded.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The Citrus Greening CURES project has provided a pathway to increase the overall success and retention of Hispanic students in the Indian River State College (IRSC) biology program at both the associate and baccalaureate levels by providing inquiry-based research experiences as part of students' courses and opportunities for undergraduate research. Educational literature strongly supports that both course-based traditional undergraduate research promote retention in the sciences and increase learning gains in underrepresented minority students. The two goals of the Citrus Greening CURES project are to: 1) Increase student success in FANH/STEM disciplines at the associate's (AA) level; and 2) Increase student success in FANH/STEM disciplines at the baccalaureate level. Two major efforts have been completed during year one to reach the project goals. The first effort included the design of a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE). Students that participate in the CURE will be exposed to high-impact experiential learning activities based on our well established and collaborative community genome annotation program. Instructional materials, worksheets, videos and curricular updates were completed to prepare for year two implementation bachelor's level CURE. Further development of an associate's level CURE has also begun. Our project was selected for a national CURE assessment program that uses learning outcomes to direct assessment of students and promote development of metacognition. Participation in the CURE and utilizing the assessment results will increase student success and achievement of objectives stated in goals one and two. The second major effort of the CUREs project completed over year one was to provide research experiences to students that build a pathway to increase success, retention and completion. During year one, we have continued to build on our partnerships between IRSC and Boyce Thompson Institute, Kansas State University, University of Cincinnati and the USDA-ARS, providing students the opportunity to conduct research on the Asian Citrus Psyllid genome, an organism of immense agricultural and research importance due to the citrus greening disease. An overview of our design of the collaborative undergraduate annotation research community and how to maintain high quality of instruction and peer mentoring was published by the PIs and collaborators in a special issue (Teaching in a Time of Crisis) of the Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education. Participants during year one have included two dual-enrollment high school students (associates level), three college students at the associates level and seven students at the bachelors level. Through the supportive network of faculty, scientists and peer-mentors, students have been trained in bioinformatics to analyze genes, proteins and genomes to help provide scientists with a better understanding of the biology of the insect that spreads the devastating citrus greening disease. Students have already made direct scientific contributions during year one of the project. The work completed by the students has led to students included as authors on four peer reviewed manuscripts. The students also prepared six presentations for scientific conferences to share their research results. Through participation in this work, the students also learn foundational concepts in biology that complement their coursework and support their educational progress and success. Goal 1:Increase student success in FANH/STEM disciplines at the associate's level Objectives: 1: Increase the number of AA students enrolled in CURE-infused courses with FANH/STEM focus from 0 to 320. 2: Increase the number of students that complete CURE and take the next course in the series (BSC2011) by 15% as compared to students who did not take the CURE course. 3: Increase by 10% the number of IRSC students completing associate degrees from the current rate of 50% of students who take non-CURE courses to 60% taking the CURE course. 4. Produce a 15% increase in transfer into the IRSC biology or FANH baccalaureate program for AA students completing CURE compared to non-CURE students. Objectives 1-4 for goal one require students to participate in a CURE that will be implemented years 3-4, as per the Citrus Greening CUREs original proposal timeline. This means that no change in number is currently measurable for AA students that have completed a CURE in their course. During the first grant year the curriculum and course objectives for this AA level CURE are being developed with considerations based on the design of the BS level CURE. Five AA level students have been recruited to participate in undergraduate research and have maintained their degree progress; either completing their AA or on track to complete, three have transferred to the IRSC BS biology program and two are transferring to BS level university STEM programs. Goal 2:Increase student success in FANH/STEM disciplines at the baccalaureate level Objective 1:Increase the percentage of students participating in CURE-infused courses in the BS Biology program at IRSC from 3.5% to 15% Objective 1 for Goal 2 requires students to complete the CURE-infused course which will be implemented during years 2-4, as per the Citrus Greening CUREs original proposal timeline. This means that no change in number is currently measurable for BS students that have completed a CURE in their course. Drs. D'Elia and Saha worked together to develop CURE course curriculum, identify genes students will annotate, and prepare instructional PowerPoints, worksheets, YouTube videos, and online shared resources (Google Drive and virtual lab books). Work was also completed to set up the evaluation of the CURE through a national CURE assessment program (EvaluateUR-CURE), which focuses on learning outcomes, facilitating faculty/students interactions and building metacognition. Through this assessment program, an online portal for data collection has been built by the assessment team. Assessment data will be used to accurately evaluate the impact of the CURE on students' success and learning. Dr. D'Elia has begun offering the Biotechnician Assistant Credentialing Exam (BACE) at IRSC. This certification is an industry-recognized exam that was developed at the University of Florida and vetted by BioFlorida, which represents over 3,000 companies. The BACE exam functions to help recruit students to the CURE course and undergraduate research annotation opportunities. Students are encouraged to take the CURE course to help their preparations for the BACE exam. Review videos, worksheets and in person review sessions were offered. During year one, seven students completed the exam. Objective 2:Increase graduate completion for the biology program by 15% for students participating in the BS level CURE and annotation opportunities Seven IRSC students from our bachelors level biology program have completed undergraduate annotation research during year one. By including research as an important component of a capstone seminar series, three additional students were able to participate. The BS level CURE will be offered during year two of the grant, as outlined in the grant timeline. Therefore, the number of students participating in BS level CURE was not determined for year one. Objective3: Increase by 10% the number of students placed in continuing education or FANH/STEM careers from the current rate of 30% to 40% for students participating in the BS level CURE and annotation opportunities During year one, we specifically recruited students for annotation opportunities that would not graduate during year one. This allows for a longer training and mentoring period in addition to increased interaction with scientists from other institutions. Therefore, no student participants have completed the program or been placed in continuing education or careers during year one.

Publications

• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Surya Saha, Amanda M Cooksey, Anna K Childers, Monica F Poelchau and Fiona M McCarthy. Workflows for rapid functional annotation of diverse arthropod genomes. Biodiversity Genomics 2021 Virtual Event.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Lucas de Oliveira, Max Reynolds, Crissy Massimino, Thomson Paris, Surya Saha and Tom DElia. Pathway revision in of circadian rhythm gene models in Diaphorina citri genome 3.0 improves upon previous annotations Florida Phytopathology Society 2021 17th Biennial Conference
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Lucas de Oliveira, Max Reynolds, Crissy Massimino, Surya Saha and Tom DElia. A revised circadian rhythm pathway based on the Diaphorina citri genome version 3.0 through collaborative manual curation Biodiversity Genomics 2021 Virtual Event. Student Video Presentation: https://youtu.be/trYnlI-6vO0
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Michelle Espino, Crissy Massimino, Surya Saha, and Tom DElia. Updated annotation of the phototransduction pathway in Diaphorina citri genome version 3.0 results in improved gene models. Florida Phytopathology Society 2021 17th Biennial Conference
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Michelle Espino, Crissy Massimino, Surya Saha, and Tom DElia. Updated annotation of the phototransduction pathway in Diaphorina citri genome version 3.0 results in improved gene models. Biodiversity Genomics 2021 Virtual Event
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Crissy Massimino, Chad Vosburg, Teresa Shippy, Prashant S. Hosmani, Mirella Flores-Gonzalez, Lukas A. Mueller, Wayne B. Hunter, Joshua B. Benoit, Susan J. Brown, Tom DElia, Surya Saha. Annotation of yellow genes in Diaphorina citri, the vector for Huanglongbing disease. Gigabyte.1:2021 https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.20.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Chad Vosburg, Max Reynolds, Rita Noel, Teresa Shippy, Prashant S. Hosmani, Mirella Flores-Gonzalez, Lukas A. Mueller, Wayne B. Hunter, Susan J. Brown, Tom DElia, Surya Saha. Utilizing a chromosomal-length genome assembly to annotate the Wnt signaling pathway in the Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri. Gigabyte.1:2021 https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.21
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Sherry Miller, Teresa D. Shippy, Blessy Tamayo, Prashant S. Hosmani, Mirella Flores-Gonzalez, Lukas A. Mueller, Wayne B. Hunter, Susan J. Brown, Tom DElia, Surya Saha. Annotation of chitin biosynthesis genes in Diaphorina citri, the Asian citrus psyllid. Gigabyte. 1:2021 https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.23.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Sherry Miller, Teresa D. Shippy, Blessy Tamayo, Prashant S. Hosmani, Mirella Flores-Gonzalez, Lukas A. Mueller, Wayne B. Hunter, Susan J. Brown, Tom DElia, Surya Saha. In silico characterization of chitin deacetylase genes in the Diaphorina citri genome. Gigabyte. 1:2021 https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.25
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Sherry Miller, Teresa D. Shippy, Prashant S. Hosmani, Mirella Flores-Gonzalez, Lukas A. Mueller, Wayne B. Hunter, Susan J. Brown, Tom DElia, Surya Saha. Annotation of segmentation pathway genes in the Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri. Gigabyte. 1:2021. https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.26.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Undergraduate virtual engagement in community genome annotation provides flexibility to overcome course disruptions. 2020. Surya Saha, Teresa D Shippy, Susan J Brown, Joshua B Benoit and Tom DElia. Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education. Special edition: TEACHING IN A TIME OF CRISIS. January/February, 2021. 22:1. ev22i1.2395 https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.v22i1.2395.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Massimino C, Vosburg C, Shippy T, Hosmani PS, Flores-Gonzalez M, Mueller LA, Hunter WB, Benoit JB, Brown SJ, DElia, Saha S (2020). Annotation and analysis of yellow genes in Diaphorina citri, vector for the Huanglongbing disease. bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.12.22.422960
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Vosburg C, Reynolds M, Noel R, Shippy T, Hosmani PS, Flores-Gonzalez M, Mueller LA, Hunter WB, Brown SJ, DElia T, Saha S. 2020. Characterization of Wnt signaling genes in Diaphorina citri. 2020. bioRxiv 2020. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.09.21.306100
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Miller S, Tamayo B, Shippy TD, Hosmani PS, Flores-Gonzalez M, Mueller LA, Hunter WB, Brown SJ, DElia T, Saha S. 2020. Chitin biosynthesis genes in Diaphorina citri. bioRxiv 2020.https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.09.22.309211
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Miller S, Shippy T, Tamayo B, Hosmani PS, Flores-Gonzalez M, Mueller LA, Hunter WB, Benoit JB, Brown SJ, DElia, Saha S (2020). Characterization of chitin deacetylase genes in the Diaphorina citri genome. bioRxiv, 2020.12.22.424074. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.12.22.424074
• Type: Other Status: Other Year Published: 2020 Citation: Miller S, Shippy T, Hosmani PS, Flores-Gonzalez M, Mueller LA, Hunter WB, Benoit JB, Brown SJ, DElia, Saha S (2020). Segmentation pathway genes in the Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri. bioRxiv. bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.12.24.424320
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Lucas de Oliveira, Max Reynolds, Crissy Massimino, Surya Saha and Tom DElia. Improving annotation through in silico validation of the circadian rhythm pathway in Diaphorina citri. Florida Academy of Sciences 2021 84th Annual Conference. a. Student won first place Biology Division: Outstanding Oral Paper, Undergraduate. b. Listed in Florida Scientist. 2021. 84:4. ISSN:0098-4590
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Chang Chen, Joshua B. Benoit, Lukas A Mueller, and Surya Saha. Leveraging co-expression network analysis to establish transcriptional shifts in the gut of the Asian citrus psyllid during Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus infection 1st International Electronic Conference on Entomology Virtual Event.