Soybean is the second most economically important row crop species in the United States, but very little information is available on the specific genes that regulate soybean defenses. The soybean crop is perennially subjected to attack by a variety of pathogens, and the average estimated annual soybean yield loss due to disease in the United States is over 400 million bushels. Knowledge of defense-related genes in model plants combined with the genome sequence information available to soybean provides the opportunity to define the networks of genes that control the defenses of soybean plants in response to a variety of important pathogens. To facilitate the dissection of these gene networks, we have developed and utilizied a high throughput RNA silencing technology platform based on a technique called virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS). VIGS is a rapid, transient assay that can be used to knock out or knock down the expression of specific genes so that their contribution to a particular phenotype can be determined. VIGS in soybean is based upon a vector derived from Bean pod mottle virus that has been adapted for high throughput cloning and efficient inoculation. Fragments of soybean genes are cloned into the viral genome and as the virus spreads throughout the infected plant, the messenger RNA corresponding to the soybean gene fragment become silenced. The soybean genes that are targeted in our various projects are selected from a variety of experimental and bioinformatic criteria including information from soybean gene expression studies, resistance gene mapping studies, and soybean homologs of key genes that regulate defense responses in Arabidopsis.
Duration: 06/13/2017