New method provides a tool to develop nematode-resistant soybean varieties
Saturday, October 8, 2016 - 05:02
in Health & Medicine
Many soybean varieties have a naturally occurring genetic resistance to the soybean cyst nematode, a major pest affecting the crop. The number of copies of the resistance gene varies among cultivars; a new method is able to efficiently quantify this variation for the first time. The new method has been tested in greenhouse trials to show that the more copies of the gene, the greater the resistance to soybean cyst nematode. Breeders can use this method to develop new soybean varieties with greater and more reliable resistance.