Projects

  • soybean infected

    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.

  • soybeanrust

    SBR is caused by Phakopsora pachyrhizi, which is an obligate biotrophic fungus. The primary source of inoculum is urediniospores produced on infected soybeans or on alternative legume hosts. This disease has been particularly destructive in Brazil, where in the second year the disease was present it caused an estimated US$2 billion in economic losses, and it threatens soybean production in the United States.

  • Ormv

    The vast majority of plant viruses are very simple entities comprising a nucleic acid genome encoding from 4 to 10 proteins needed for multiplication, systemic spread within the host plant, and transmission to a new plant. Since the late 1800’s viruses have been recognized as significant pathogens of plants, and they lead to numerous diseases that cause significant yield losses in a variety of crops.