An integrated genomics/genetics approach for development of mungbean varieties with improved disease resistance

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Pulses, are edible grains (seeds) of leguminous crops i.e. peas, beans and lentils, and are a staple food source for the majority of India's 1.3 billion people. Pulses are a main source of non-meat protein in the diet for approximately 1/3 of the Indian population, with demand growing due to the expanding Indian population. Pulses have a high protein content (23%), are also rich in dietary fibre, B vitamins, and minerals, particularly iron, potassium, magnesium and zinc, and are low in fat. Despite being high in iron, iron-induced anaemia has remained a top cause of disability in India for the past decade. Therefore, pulses offer significant nutritional and health benefits that supplement wheat and rice based diets of the poor, including the vegetarian populations of India and other countries across Asia. Like other legumes, pulse crops are able to fix atmospheric nitrogen through their symbiotic association of specialized root bacteria that can improving soil fertility (green manure) for subsequent crops that contribute to the higher yields of succeeding cereal crops such as wheat or rice, thus reducing fertilizer requirements and thus impact on the environment by reducing greenhouse gas emission and water pollution. Mungbean, is one the most important pulse crops grown and consumed in India. Locally it is known as green gram, and is an ancient crop that was domesticated in India some 3,5 million years ago, and currently ranks third among all pulses grown within India after chickpeas and pigeonpeas. It is a versatile crop that only takes 60-65 days to harvest; in addition, mungbeans are not only grown for their seeds but also as forage (fodder for cattle). However, demand for mungbean, in India significantly exceeds current Indian production levels, where India now directly imports mungbean to meet its demand. And although high yielding mungbean varieties are available, lack of productivity has contributed to Indian food insecurity (the state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food) and malnutrition of the poorest populations. Indian farmers generally see less than half of the mungbean yield potential of these higher yielding varieties, which is often due to the yield reducing mungbean diseases that include Cercospora leaf spot and powdery mildew. Therefore, this collaborative project of partners based in India (BHU and OUAT) and RRes will tackle the these two most economically damaging fungal diseases. We will take an integrated approach that will involve the most up to date genetics (study of genetic variation) and genomics (study of genetic material) tools will be employed to aid development of new mungbean varieties that have improved disease resistance. We will characterise the genetic composition using DNA sequencing technology of both the fungal pathogens responsible for these diseases and mungbean varieties that will allow us to pinpoint the regions of the DNA that contribute for pathogenicity (causes disease) and for disease resistance of the pathogens and the plant, respectively. Using this knowledge, we will use state of the art biotechnology tools to engineer broad spectrum, and likely durable disease resistance into new varieties. Therefore, the results of this project will provide us a wealth of novel fundamental information on how the disease-causing fungus interacts with the mungbean plant, will help inform the best disease management strategies and help plant breeders to produce disease resistant mungbean varieties.