The world’s food supply got a little more plentiful thanks to a scientific breakthrough.
Eduard Akhunov, associate professor of plant pathology at Kansas State University, and his colleague, Jorge Dubcovsky from the University of California-Davis, led a research project that identified a gene that gives wheat plants resistance to one of the most deadly races of the wheat stem rust pathogen — called Ug99 — that was first discovered in Uganda in 1999. The discovery may help scientists develop new wheat varieties and strategies that protect the world’s food crops against the wheat stem rust pathogen that is spreading from Africa to the breadbaskets of Asia and can cause significant crop losses.
Other Kansas State University researchers include Harold Trick, professor of plant pathology; Andres Salcedo, doctoral candidate in genetics; and Cyrille Saintenac, a postdoctoral research associate currently working at the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique in France. The project was funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Borlaug Global Rust Initiative.
The team’s study, “Identification of Wheat Gene Sr35 that Confers Resistance to Ug99 Stem Rust Race Group,” appears in the journal Science.
It identifies the stem rust resistance gene named Sr35, and appears alongside a study from an Australian group that identifies another effective resistance gene called Sr33.
“This gene, Sr35, functions as a key component of plants’ immune system,” Akhunov said. “It recognizes the invading pathogen and triggers a response in the plant to fight the disease.”
Wheat stem rust is caused by a fungal pathogen. According to Akhunov, since the 1950s wheat breeders have been able to develop wheat varieties that are largely resistant to this pathogen. However, the emergence of strain Ug99 in Uganda in 1999 devastated crops and has spread to Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan and Yemen, though has yet to reach the U.S.
“Until that point, wheat breeders had two or three genes that were so efficient against stem rust for decades that this disease wasn’t the biggest concern,” Akhunov said. “However, the discovery of the Ug99 race of pathogen showed that changes in the virulence of existing pathogen races can become a huge problem.”
As a first line of defense, wheat breeders and researchers began looking for resistance genes among those that had already been discovered in the existing germplasm repositories, he said.
“The Sr35 gene was one of those genes that was discovered in einkorn wheat grown in Turkey,” Akhunov said. “Until now, however, we did not know what kind of gene confers resistance to Ug99 in this wheat accession.”
To identify the resistance gene Sr35, the team turned to einkorn wheat that is known to be resistant to the Ug99 fungal strain. Einkorn wheat has limited economic value and is cultivated in small areas of the Mediterranean region. It has been replaced by higher yielding pasta and bread wheat varieties.
Researchers spent nearly four years trying to identify the location of the Sr35 gene in the wheat genome, which contains nearly two times more genetic information than the human genome.
Once the researchers narrowed the list of candidate genes, they used two complimentary approaches to find the Sr35 gene. First, they chemically mutagenized the resistant accession of wheat to identify plants that become susceptible to the stem rust pathogen.
“It was a matter of knocking out each candidate gene until we found the one that made a plant susceptible,” Akhunov said. “It was a tedious process and took a lot of time, but it was worth the effort.”
The Latest Bing News on:
Resistance gene
- Colossal Biosciences' Thylacine Gene-Editing Technologies Provide Hope for Australia's Endangered Northern Quollon May 7, 2024 at 10:07 pm
Today scientists from Colossal Biosciences, the world's first de-extinction company, and the University of Melbourne announce a major step forward in the effort to save Australia's endangered northern ...
- Study Quantifies Cost of Pesticide Resistance, while Advocates Chart a Course Beyond Pesticideson May 7, 2024 at 3:54 am
The marginal user costs of pesticide resistance for chemical-intensive farmers and the pest management industry are significantly affected by pesticide costs, density dependence and dominating genetic ...
- Raw meat-based diet for pets linked to drug-resistant bacteria, prompting concerns over public health riskson May 5, 2024 at 10:51 pm
Study reveals that raw meat-based pet diets (RMBDs) often harbor multidrug-resistant bacteria, posing significant health risks to both pets and humans, unlike conventionally processed pet foods.
- Unraveling the roles of non-coding DNA explains childhood cancer's resistance to chemotherapyon May 4, 2024 at 11:01 am
The study serves as a proof of principle of how to take non-coding DNA variants and mechanistically connect them to a trait, such as chemotherapy resistance. That has been a long-standing issue ...
- Fungal resistance in plants associated with heritable differences in microbiota abundanceson May 1, 2024 at 6:43 am
Sunflowers aren't just beautiful symbols of summer—they are also economically significant, ranking as the fourth most important oilseed crop in the world, and new research suggests that some bacteria ...
- Study reveals genetic divergence and drug resistance mechanisms in two critical superbugson April 30, 2024 at 12:01 pm
Infectious diseases caused by pathogenic strains of bacteria are a global cause of morbidity and mortality. Hospital-acquired infections caused by Klebsiella pneumonia and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were ...
- Gene seekers discover atypical genes that control multiple valuable soybean traitson April 30, 2024 at 1:27 am
A team led by Purdue University soybean geneticist Jianxin Ma has developed a new biotechnological tool for the domestication of desirable traits from wild soybeans, such as resistance to leafhopper ...
- CRISPR-Cas Gene Editing Help Combat Antimicrobial Resistanceon April 29, 2024 at 11:08 am
Despite rising global antimicrobial resistance (AMR), researchers highlight CRISPR/Cas systems' potential in antimicrobial agent development.
- Can CRISPR-Cas gene editing tech fight antimicrobial resistance?on April 28, 2024 at 11:18 am
CRISPR-Cas, the Nobel Prize-winning gene-editing technology, has the potential to target resistance genes and make bacteria sensitive to first-line antibiotics again, according to a study.
- Experts developing way to harness Nobel Prize winning CRISPR technology to deal with antimicrobial resistance (AMR)on April 25, 2024 at 5:00 pm
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is continuing to increase globally, with rates of AMR in most pathogens increasing and threatening a future in which every day medical procedures may no longer be ...
The Latest Google Headlines on:
Resistance gene
[google_news title=”” keyword=”Resistance gene” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
The Latest Bing News on:
Sr35 gene
- Gene Therapy Newson April 27, 2024 at 5:00 pm
Apr. 22, 2024 — Clarifying the cause of a skin disease led to the discovery of a new disease-causing gene, a new category of diseases, and new perspectives for both counseling and therapy.
- Gene Parkon April 25, 2024 at 5:00 pm
Gene Park is a reporter for The Washington Post, covering video games and gaming culture. He joined The Post in 2015 as audience editor, and is a former reporter in the West Coast and Pacific region.
- Gene Therapy, DNA's Past, RNA's Future: A New Wave Of Hopeon April 11, 2024 at 8:04 am
I include a full spectrum of chemical, gene, and protein-based medicines, cell-based therapies, and biomechanical interventions that achieve that goal. In this subseries, we focus specifically on ...
- This overlooked feature turns your portable music player into the ultimate desktop hi-fi deviceon March 27, 2024 at 1:06 am
The Award-winning Astell & Kern A&norma SR35 is another player that can act as a Bluetooth DAC/headphone amp, as well as accept PC/laptop/computer audio via its USB-C input. Meanwhile, our ...
- Getting into hi-res audio? This is the hi-res player and headphones I recommendon March 23, 2024 at 3:18 am
On top of all of that, I plugged their 4.4mm balanced output into Astell & Kern's most 'entry-level' player, the Astell & Kern A&norma SR35. I put the term in quotation marks because using it at ...
- CRISPR Gene Editing Newson October 22, 2023 at 5:00 pm
Researchers Develop DANGER Analysis Tool for the Safer Design of Gene Editing Oct. 23, 2023 — A team of researchers has developed a software tool that provides a way for the safer design of ...
- Gene Expressionon November 22, 2021 at 3:54 am
How Is Gene Expression Regulated? The amounts and types of mRNA molecules in a cell reflect the function of that cell. In fact, thousands of transcripts are produced every second in every cell.
- Gene therapyon October 27, 2020 at 6:16 pm
Gene therapy uses molecular tools to change the genetic code in cells and correct DNA mutations with the goal of curing diseases, including cancers and inherited genetic disorders such as ...
- Environmental Influences on Gene Expressionon August 16, 2020 at 11:30 pm
Internal and external environmental factors, like gender and temperature, influence gene expression. Sex-limited traits are also autosomal. Unlike sex-influenced traits, whose expression differs ...
- The Gene Explainedon August 9, 2020 at 10:48 pm
Your body is filled with them. You look the way you do because of them. But do you really know what a gene is? This animated series won’t get you a PhD, but it does clear up a few mysteries ...
The Latest Google Headlines on:
Sr35 gene
[google_news title=”” keyword=”Sr35 gene” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]