Investigating Gene Function in the Rice Blast Fungus by Next Generation DNA Sequencing.

该项目旨在了解稻瘟病的生物学，稻瘟病是世界上最严重的农作物疾病之一，每年摧毁的大米足以养活6000多万人。迫切需要新的战略来控制植物病害，以确保未来的全球粮食安全。据估计，到2030年，大米收成需要增加近40%，才能养活地球上不断增长的人口。因此，了解和控制植物病害是一个重要的挑战。在本研究中，我们提出利用“下一代DNA测序”技术，为稻瘟病菌的遗传分析提供一种快速的新方法。下一代测序仪使科学家能够比以前更快地确定序列，速度至少是以前的100倍。我们的目标是通过绘制分子标记并使用它们来定位影响稻瘟病菌致病能力的突变的位置，从而对稻瘟病菌进行遗传分析。通过这种方式，我们将能够识别新的基因，这些基因限制了真菌入侵宿主植物并导致疾病的能力。通过对真菌生物学的新认识，我们希望能够确定持久疾病控制的新目标。该项目将与工业合作伙伴先正达进行，那里的科学家正在试图开发新的杀菌剂，这种杀菌剂是安全的，对环境的影响更小，比目前的治疗方法更有效。该项目将为确定新的潜在杀菌剂的作用模式提供一种新的方法，使先正达的研究人员能够开发最有前途的化学品，并了解更多关于它们的作用方式。因此，当一起考虑时，该项目承诺提供关于这种疾病的基本新信息，这对其长期控制将是重要的，同时也提供了一种对英国农业生物技术行业具有直接价值的新方法。

This project aims to learn about the biology of rice blast disease, one of the world's most serious crop diseases, which each year destroys enough rice to feed more than 60 million people. There is an urgent need for new strategies to control plant diseases in order to ensure global food security in the future. It is estimated that the rice harvest needs to increase by almost 40% by 2030 to feed the planet's growing population. Understanding and controlling plant diseases is therefore an important challenge. In this study, we propose to use 'next generation DNA sequencing' to provide a rapid new method for carrying out genetic analysis in the rice blast fungus. Next generation sequencers allow scientists to determine sequences at least a hundred times more quickly than has previously been possible. We aim to carry out genetic analysis of the rice blast fungus by mapping molecular markers and using them to pinpoint the location of mutations that affect the ability of the fungus to cause disease. In this way we will be able to identify new genes which condition the ability of a fungus to invade and cause disease in a host plant. By gaining new insight into the biology of the fungus we hope to be able to identify new targets for durable disease control. The project will be carried out with an industrial partner, Syngenta, where scientists are attempting to develop new fungicides, which are safe, have less environmental impact and work more effectively than current treatments. This project will provide a new method for determining the mode of action of new potential fungicides, enabling researchers at Syngenta to develop the most promising chemicals and learn more about how they work. When considered together the project therefore promises to provide fundamental new information about this disease, which will be important for its long term control, while also providing a novel method which is of immediate value to the agricultural biotechnology industry in the UK