
Read: an
article on this research in Agricultural Research. Genetic Study
Aims to Protect Beans Against White MoldBy Kathryn Barry
Stelljes March 14, 2001A research agreement between the
Agricultural Research Service and
Syngenta (formerly Novartis Seeds, Inc.)
seeks to breed snap beans that fare better against white mold, the most serious
disease threatening bean production. White mold--caused by the fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum--destroys
up to 15 percent of the world's snap bean crop each year. In the United States
alone, the disease costs bean growers $18 million annually in lost yield and
fungicide sprays. The fungus also infects many other crops, including lettuce,
soybean, alfalfa, potato, pea, canola and sunflower. Some bean breeding lines already have partial resistance to white mold. ARS
geneticist Phillip Miklas is working with Syngenta scientists to isolate the
genes responsible for that resistance. Miklas is at the ARS
Vegetable and Forage Crop Research
Unit in Prosser, Wash. Each team will use a partially resistant breeding line developed at
Cornell University as one of the parents.
For the other parents, they'll use different commercial snap bean varieties
that are susceptible to white mold. By comparing the offspring of these
crosses, they hope to narrow down the location and number of genes responsible
for the resistance. While the genes themselves would probably apply only to beans, it is
possible that information obtained by Miklas may help researchers working with
other crops affected by the disease. An article on this research appears in the March issue of Agricultural Research, the
agency's monthly magazine. ARS is the chief scientific research agency of the
U.S. Department of Agriculture. Scientific contact: Phillip N. Miklas, ARS Vegetable and Forage
Crop Research Unit, Prosser, Wash., phone (509) 786-9258, fax (509)
786-9277, [email protected].
Story contacts Phillip N Miklas U.S. Department of Agriculture |