For the past four years, a team of researchers at the University of Georgia (UGA), the University of Missouri and USDA have committed their time to the discovery of the GmSNAP02 gene in soybeans. What does this mean for farmers? As the costliest pest in the U.S. for soybeans, this breakthrough means there will finally be options to develop new soybean varieties with enhanced SCN resistance. The overuse of known resistance genes and limited control options have amplified SCN-related losses to the tune of billions of dollars every year.
The team of researchers used CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing technology to detect resistance to SCN in edited plants.
“Here we used CRISPR-Cas9 technology as a more precise way to confirm GmSNAP02 function in soybean resistance to SCN,” says Vinavi Gamage, a doctoral candidate at UGA’s Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics (IPBGG) and co-first author of the study, in a press release from the University of Georgia. “What’s exciting is that our discovery has not only identified a new resistance gene but a gene editing-amenable resistance gene, opening the door for CRISPR-Cas9 technology that may make it easier and potentially faster for breeders to develop soybean cultivars with enhanced resistance to SCN.”
This gene has also given researchers new insight into how SCN overcomes genetic resistance.
“A better understanding of how SCN circumvents the soybean plant’s resistance response is necessary for enhancing the durability of resistance genes by providing soybean farmers with more prescriptive management approaches,” says Melissa Mitchum, professor in the department of plant pathology and IPBGG at UGA’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
The research team was led by Mitchum and Andrew Scaboo, assistant professor in the division of plant science and technology at the University of Missouri.
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