IGI Researchers Awarded $3.2 Million to Address Wheat Crop Diseases

Newly emerged pathogens can lead to disease epidemics that create severe crop losses and threaten food security. The Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) awarded a $900,000 Seeding Solutions grant to IGI researchers to address devastating disease epidemics through advanced gene-editing technologies. 2Blades Foundation and the IGI provided matching funds, for a total $3.2 million investment.

Currently, breeding plants for disease resistance is the most effective and ecologically sustainable way to control plant epidemics. To achieve this, scientists use traditional crop breeding to introduce, or stack, multiple resistance genes – though this is a time-consuming approach. Additionally, the effectiveness of stacking resistance genes in economically vital crops like wheat are often short lived as the pathogens are constantly evolving to overcome resistance.

“A virulent wheat pathogen would not only harm farmers, but can also result in food supply shortages, threatening food security,” said FFAR Executive Director Sally Rockey. “Thus, scientists need a new approach to breeding wheat crops with greater disease resistance.”

Pathogens have special proteins that can cause plant disease. IGI researchers, led by Brian Staskawicz and Ksenia Krasileva, are using gene-editing technology to stack resistance genes in the wheat crops that specifically recognize the pathogen’s proteins. By recognizing the pathogen’s proteins, the plant can fight the pathogen, even if the pathogen mutates.

In addition to using already cloned genes, this grant is also addressing the ability of combined computational and synthetic biology approaches to develop novel resistance genes. Outputs of the program will be advanced through The 2Blades Foundation’s wheat rusts consortium to ensure delivery of rust-resistant wheat.

“We are excited to employ gene editing in wheat, as it will allow us to reduce farm inputs and produce more sustainable wheat yields — more important than ever in the face of climate change,” said Staskawicz.

Ultimately, this project is accelerating the development of improved resistant wheat varieties and getting them to farmers. The resulting wheat varieties will have greater yields and require fewer chemical inputs. Improving the quality of wheat ensures the crop is robust enough to grow worldwide.

Media Contacts
Andy Murdock (IGI): andymurdock@berkeley.edu
Colleen Klemczewski (FFAR): cklemczewski@foundationfar.org
Michael Kelleher (2Blades): mk1@2blades.org