RESEARCH-PGR: Uncover new molecular mechanisms of cyst nematode resistance in wild soybean with systems biology and genome editing

大豆是一种重要的豆科作物，供应世界一半以上的植物油和蛋白质。大豆孢囊线虫是世界范围内危害最大的大豆害虫，每年给美国大豆生产造成15亿美元以上的损失。部署抗SCN大豆品种是控制SCN危害的最有效和最环保的策略。但这一策略具有挑战性，因为SCN种群进化迅速，目前抗SCN的大豆品种正在失去抗性。要解决这一重大问题，关键的第一步是鉴定具有广谱SCN抗性的新遗传资源，并揭示其潜在的分子机制。这个项目召集了一个跨学科的研究小组，他们拥有各种尖端植物生物学的专业知识，包括多重组学、系统生物学、功能遗传学、植物生理学、表型和计算生物学。本研究的主要目的是揭示栽培大豆的野生祖先野生大豆对广谱线虫抗性的新分子机制。这一结果将为开发具有广泛线虫抗性的大豆新品种提供参考，这将对美国和世界的农业和环境可持续性产生重大积极影响。这项研究还将为培训支持组学的植物生物学家和高中教师提供机会。该项目将利用新发现的具有广谱大豆孢囊线虫(SCN)抗性的野生大豆(Glycinsoja)基因来揭示其广泛抗性的分子机制。初步研究表明，目前已知的大豆品种对大豆赤霉病的抗性机制不能解释野生大豆对SCN的抗性，这表明了新的防御机制。这项创新性的研究将聚焦于多种研究较少但分布广泛的SCN类型，而不是针对一种研究得很好的SCN类型。这是首次将群体基因组学、多组学、系统分析和基因组编辑相结合，剖析野生大豆对SCN广泛抗性的新机制。这些结果将加深我们对植物线虫防御的分子机制的理解，并为开发具有广谱线虫抗性的大豆品种提供参考。此外，我们将利用这项研究来展示作物野生近缘、进化原理和系统生物学工具包在改善作物的抗逆性和增加产量方面的效用。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Soybean is an important legume crop that supplies more than half of the world’s vegetable oil and protein. Soybean cyst nematode (SCN) is the most damaging soybean pest worldwide, causing over $1.5 billion yearly yield loss in U.S. soybean production. Deploying SCN-resistant soybean varieties is the most efficient and environmentally friendly strategy for managing SCN damage. But this strategy is challenging because SCN populations evolve rapidly, and the current SCN-resistant soybean varieties are losing resistance. To solve this significant problem, the critical first steps are to identify new genetic resources with broad-spectrum SCN resistance and to uncover its underlying molecular mechanism. This project convenes an interdisciplinary group of researchers with expertise in various cutting-edge plant biology, including multi-omics, systems biology, functional genetics, plant physiology, phenotyping, and computational biology. The main objective is to uncover novel molecular mechanisms of broad nematode resistance in wild soybean (Glycine soja), the wild ancestor of cultivated soybeans. The results will inform the development of new soybean varieties with broad nematode resistance, which has a significant positive impact on agriculture and environmental sustainability in the U.S. and the world. This research will also provide opportunities to train omics-enabled plant biologists and high-school teachers.This project will leverage the newly identified wild soybean (Glycine soja) genotype with broad-spectrum soybean cyst nematode (SCN) resistance to unravel the molecular mechanisms underlying its broad resistance. Preliminary studies showed that the well-known mechanisms in the current soybean cultivars could not explain the wild soybean resistance, indicating novel mechanisms for defending against SCN. Rather than targeting a single well-studied SCN type, this innovative research will focus on multiple less-studied, but widespread SCN types. This is the first study to dissect the novel mechanisms of broad SCN resistance in wild soybean through integrating population genomics, multi-omics, systems analyses, and genome editing. The results will deepen our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying plant nematode defense and inform the development of soybean varieties with broad-spectrum nematode resistance. Additionally, we will use this study to showcase the utility of crop wild relatives, evolutionary principles, and systems biology tool-kit in improving crops for stress resilience and increased yield.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.