Scientists in the United Kingdom have pioneered a new gene-detecting technology which could bring higher yields and ‘vastly’ reduce the need for agro-chemical applications.
The scientists at the John Innes Centre (JIC) and The Sainsbury Laboratory (TSL) developed the new technology called ‘MutRenSeq’ which accurately pinpoints the location of disease resistance genes in large plant genomes and which has reduced the time it takes to clone these genes in wheat from 5 to 10 years down to just two.
A resistance gene acts like a simple lock keeping the pathogen from infecting the plant. Over time, as many breeders and growers have found, pathogens can adapt to overcome an individual resistance gene and infect the plant. A stack of multiple genes acts like a multi-lever lock, making it much harder for new pathogens to evade the crop’s defenses.