Scientists have achieved a breakthrough in molecular plant pathology, allowing for new genetic strategies to protect crops from disease
Australia’s national science agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), has developed a rapid-gene screening platform.
This can identify avirulence (Avr) effector genes in organisms which cause plant diseases, known as plant pathogens.
According to CSIRO, rust pathogens reduce agricultural productivity and are a threat to global food security, leading to annual crop losses of US$1 billion worldwide.
“Our advanced screening technology represents a technological leap forward in our ability to study the processes that give plants enduring resistance to disease, enabling new genetic strategies to safeguard crop production and disease management in Australia and abroad,” project co-lead Peter Dodds says.
“This method enables high-throughput screening of complex genetic libraries in a plant’s cellular environment at an unprecedented speed. This enhances the ability to select more disease-resistant crops and aids efforts in pathogen surveillance.
“We have been able to identify several new fungal Avr effector genes in the wheat stem rust pathogen, reducing the time from years or even decades to mere months.”
Effector genes in plant pathogens, like rust fungus, encode proteins that suppress plant immune responses, CSIRO says.
If the plant recognises these pathogen proteins, they can activate plant defence mechanisms and stop widespread infection.
Thomas Vanhercke, who also co-led the project, says that while this study examined Avr genes in a rust fungus which affects wheat, the same technique can be applied to other crops and pathogens.