“Transgenic Approaches In Managing Sudden Death Syndrome In Soybean”

Our long-term goal is to create soybean cultivars resistant to soybean sudden death syndrome (SDS). Soybean is one of the world’s most valuable crops and the U.S. is the world leader in soybean production. In 2010 the U.S. soybean crop value was over $38.9 billion. Soybean suffers yield suppression from various biotic stresses, including SDS, which in 2010 caused losses valued at $0.82 billion.

The transdisciplinary project team consists of experts from states and countries where soybean is an important crop: Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Brazil and Argentina.

Objectives are:

1. Apply transgenic approaches to i) suppress fungal growth through RNA interference, ii) generate antibodies against toxins that induce SDS, iii) overexpress maize carbonic anhydrase and Arabidopsis nonhost resistance genes to enhance SDS resistance, and iv) express an effector protein under regulation of a F. virguliforme-infection inducible promoter.
2. Incorporate successful transgenes and novel SDS resistance genes into elite soybean lines.
3. Determine the use of transgenes against a diverse collection of SDS pathogen isolates.
4. Evaluate economic and social impact of transgenes.
5. Provide education and research experience to 6-12 grade teachers and undergraduate minority students.
6. Educate stakeholders and youth via extension programming on the use of transgenic technology to ensure sustainable soybean yield.

Outcomes include enhanced profitability for soybean growers and a secure, sustainable supply of soybean for the 21st century.