Award details

Exploiting RPW8-mediated resistance for crop protection

Reference	BB/C524354/1
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Professor John Turner
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors
Institution	University of East Anglia
Department	Biological Sciences
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	58,180
Status	Completed
Type	Research Grant
Start date	01/07/2005
End date	30/06/2006
Duration	12 months

Abstract

Powdery mildews are fungal diseases that significantly reduce yield of a wide range of crops of economic importance. Prevention and control is traditionally through fungicides but these have yielded inconsistent results providing little economic benefit. An alternative method for controlling powdery mildew disease has been identified and developed by John Turner's laboratory at the University of East Anglia. In BBSRC-funded research, Professor Turner's group identified a novel class of disease resistance gene RPW8 from Arabidopsis that confers resistance to broad range of powdery mildew pathogens. Transferring the RPW8 locus to tobacco yielded powdery mildew resistance plants. This implies that RPW8 genes may enhance crop resistance to powdery mildew. His recent BBSRC-funded research indicates that RPW8 also confers resistance to other pathogens. Funding is requested to add value to the RPW8 technology by (1) incorporating RPW8 into a commercial variety of the cucurbit squash, widely grown as a GM food crop in the US, and demonstrating that the plants have enhanced resistance to powdery mildew, and (2) demonstrating that squash and tobacco plants carrying the RPW8 genes have enhanced resistance to a range of other pathogens and pests besides powdery mildews.

Summary

Powdery mildews are fungal diseases that significantly reduce yield of a wide range of crops of economic importance. Prevention and control is traditionally through fungicides but these have yielded inconsistent results providing little economic benefit. An alternative method for controlling powdery mildew disease has been identified and developed by John Turners laboratory at the University of East Anglia. In BBSRC-funded research, Prof Turner's group identified a novel class of disease resistance gene RPW8 from Arabidopsis that confers resistance to a broad range of powdery mildew pathogens. Transferring the RPW8 locus to tobacco yielded powdery mildew resistant plants. This implies that RPW8 genes may enhance crop resistance to powdery mildew. His recent BBSRC-funded research indicates that RPW8 also confers resistance to other pathogens. Funding is requested to add value to the RPW8 technology by (1) incorporating RPW8 into a commercial variety of the cucurbit squash, widely grown as a GM food crop in the US, and demonstrating that the plants have enhanced resistance to powdery mildew, and (2) demonstrating that squash and tobacco plants carrying the RPW8 genes have enhanced resistance to a range of other pathogens and pests besides powdery mildews.

Committee	Closed Committee - Agri-food (AF)
Research Topics	X – not assigned to a current Research Topic
Research Priority	X – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative	Follow-On Fund (FOF) [2004-2015]
Funding Scheme	X – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme

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