SBIR Phase I: Identification of disease resistance traits to improve the productivity and sustainability of soybean cultivation

小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是提高大豆种植的生产率和环境可持续性。大豆是美国种植最广泛的作物，种植面积近9000万英亩。大豆是食品体系的关键组成部分，每年产生220亿美元的出口收入。大豆生产面临的最大威胁之一是被称为亚洲大豆锈病的真菌病原菌。目前的商品大豆品种对这种病原菌没有抵抗力，每年在杀菌剂上花费超过20亿美元来控制这种疾病。虽然大豆对这种疾病高度敏感，但许多野生植物物种对这种病原菌具有天然的抗性。该项目旨在确定野生植物物种中自然产生的抗病机制，可用于开发抗病大豆品种。这些品种的采用预计将为大豆行业带来超过40亿美元的价值，同时提高产量和减少杀菌剂的使用。SBIR第一阶段项目的智力优势是识别对由真菌病原菌Phakopsora pachyRhi引起的亚洲大豆锈病具有抗病能力的植物免疫受体蛋白。决定一种植物是否对特定病原体具有抵抗力的一个关键因素是该植物是否有一种合适的免疫受体蛋白能够识别入侵病原体的存在。一旦被激活，植物免疫受体就会触发植物防御反应，这通常会导致免疫。该项目将使用反向遗传和生化方法来鉴定对亚洲大豆锈病具有抗性的植物免疫受体蛋白。初步工作确定了Phakopsora中的几个分子可以在非寄主植物物种中引发免疫反应。目标是识别同源免疫受体并测试它们的充分性，以实现对亚洲大豆锈菌激发子分子的免疫激活。这项研究将使未来开发抗亚洲大豆锈病的大豆品种的工作成为可能。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。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to improve the productivity and environmental sustainability of soybean cultivation. Soybean is the most widely grown crop in the United States with nearly 90 million acres under cultivation. Soybean is a key part of the food system and generates $22 billion in export revenue each year. One of the greatest threats to soybean production is the fungal pathogen known as Asian Soybean Rust. Current commercial soybean varieties have no resistance to this pathogen and over $2 billion is spent annually on fungicides to control this disease. While soybean is highly susceptible to this disease, many wild plant species have natural resistance to this pathogen. This project seeks to identify the naturally occurring mechanisms of disease resistance in wild plant species that can be used to develop disease-resistant soybean varieties. Adoption of these varieties is expected to bring more than $4 billion in value to the soybean industry while improving productivity and reducing fungicide use.The intellectual merit of this SBIR Phase I project is to identify plant immune receptor proteins that confer disease resistance to Asian Soybean Rust, which is caused by the fungal pathogen Phakopsora pachyrhizi. A key determinant of whether or not a plant is resistant to a particular pathogen is whether the plant has an appropriate immune receptor protein capable of recognizing the presence of the invading pathogen. Once activated, plant immune receptors trigger plant defense responses that typically result in immunity. This project will use reverse genetic and biochemical approaches to identify plant immune receptor proteins that confer resistance to Asian Soybean Rust. Preliminary work identified several molecules from Phakopsora that elicit an immune response in non-host plant species. The goal is to identify the cognate immune receptors and test them for sufficiency to enable immune activation in response to Asian Soybean Rust elicitor molecules. This research will enable future work to the development soybean varieties with resistance to Asian Soybean Rust.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.