Molecular technique advances soybean rust resistance research

A new tool is available to select for soybean rust resistance in breeding populations, said Glen Hartman, University of Illinois professor of crop sciences and United States Department of Agriculture -ARS scientist. Hartman and his team of researchers successfully used quantitative polymerase chain reaction (Q-PCR) assays to assess fungal DNA in soybean leaf tissue to quantify the level of resistance in individual plants with resistance to soybean rust.

"This is not a new technique," Hartman said. "But it is a new tool for use in soybean rust resistance breeding, which has typically used phenotyping or visual assessment to measure resistance. We discovered that we can perform more precise and quicker assessments using this molecular technique." Read more ...

This blog is written by Martin Little, The Global Miller, published and supported by the GFMT Magazine and the International Milling Directory from Perendale Publishers