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Double trouble for soybean cyst nematode, study finds

Double trouble for soybean cyst nematode, study finds

Posted: Wednesday, November 7, 2012 8:00 pm

When it comes to soybean cyst nematode (SCN), which costs U.S. soybean farmers $1 billion annually in crop losses, farmers can never have enough potential solutions. Twice recently, research funded by the United Soybean Board (USB) and soy checkoff has yielded potential breakthroughs in fighting off this devastating disease.
In a paper titled “A Soybean Cyst Nematode Resistance Gene Points to a New Mechanism of Plant Resistance to Pathogens,” scientists reveal that they identified and validated the gene at the Rhg4 locus, a major driver in a soybean plant’s resistance to SCN.
“The checkoff has a number of projects that aim to identify the genes in a soybean plant that can effectively control SCN,” says USB Production program Chair Jim Schriver, a soybean farmer from Bluffton, Ind. “Even though there are different types of SCN, if we could take advantage of those genes that control resistance, it would be effective for all types of SCN.”
The study, published recently in the online journal Nature, is the first to identify the gene and its mechanism for creating resistance, according to the article’s lead authors. Published in The WCP 11.6.12

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