Sustainable solutions to combat Downy Mildew pathogen of pea

豌豆是全球重要的豆科作物，因其在土壤固氮、可持续农业和提供丰富的植物蛋白质来源方面的作用而受到重视。由于最近广泛使用的含甲氨酰m的室外播种杀菌剂被撤回，作物产量和质量受到霜霉病（DM）病原菌的高风险，影响了英国的葡萄和组合豌豆。该项目的目的是利用基因组工具了解病原体多样性及其在疾病流行中的作用，发现并验证对糖尿病的新遗传抗性来源。为此，我们将评估包含栽培品种、地方品种和野生物种的遗传多样性Pisum种质收集，以寻找新的抗性来源，并利用突变体、双亲本群体和/或基因编辑验证发现的候选基因的潜力。我们将与工业合作伙伴利马格兰合作，利用标记辅助选择技术，将鉴定出的抗性转移到优质豌豆品种中，学生将有机会在利马格兰进行为期三个月的实习。病原体多样性也将被遗传表征，以开发一种诊断工具，用于快速识别病原体种族，并绘制其在英国的分布地图，以帮助种植者在品种选择方面做出明智的决定。

Pea is a globally important legume crop valued for its role in soil nitrogen fixation, sustainable agriculture and providing a rich source of plant protein. The crop yield and quality are at a high risk from Downy Mildew (DM) pathogen, affecting both vining and combining peas in the UK, due to the recent withdrawal of the widely used metalaxyl-M containing fungicides for outdoor sowing of seeds. The aim of this project is to use genomic tools to understand the pathogen diversity and its role in disease epidemics, find and validate novel sources of genetic resistance to DM. To this end, we will evaluate a genetically diverse Pisum germplasm collection containing cultivars, landraces and wild species for novel sources of resistance and validate the potential of discovered candidate genes using mutants, biparental populations and/or gene editing. Identified resistances will be transferred into elite pea varieties, using marker-assisted selection in collaboration with our industrial partner, Limagrain, where the student will have the opportunity to undertake a three-month placement. The pathogen diversity will also be genetically characterized to develop a diagnostic tool for the rapid identification of pathogen races and map their distribution across UK to help the growers make an informed decision in the variety selection.