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

豆类是豆类作物，即豌豆、豆类和小扁豆的可食用谷物(种子)，是印度13亿人口的主要食物来源。豆类是约三分之一印度人口饮食中非肉类蛋白质的主要来源，由于印度人口不断扩大，需求不断增长。豆类的蛋白质含量很高(23%)，还含有丰富的膳食纤维、维生素B和矿物质，特别是铁、钾、镁和锌，脂肪含量低。尽管铁的含量很高，但在过去的十年里，铁引起的贫血仍然是印度残疾的首要原因。因此，豆类提供了显著的营养和健康益处，补充了穷人的小麦和大米饮食，包括印度和亚洲其他国家的素食人口。与其他豆科作物一样，豆类作物能够通过其特定根部细菌的共生组合来固定大气中的氮，这些细菌可以改善土壤肥力(绿肥)，为后续作物提供更高的产量，从而减少化肥需求，从而减少温室气体排放和水污染，从而减少对环境的影响。绿豆是印度种植和消费的最重要的豆类作物之一。在当地，它被称为绿豆，是一种古老的作物，大约350万年前在印度驯化，目前在印度种植的所有豆类中排名第三，仅次于鹰嘴豆和木豆。它是一种多才多艺的作物，只需60-65天就能收获；此外，绿豆不仅是为了种子而种植，也是作为饲料(牛的饲料)种植的。然而，印度对绿豆的需求大大超过了印度目前的产量水平，印度现在直接进口绿豆来满足其需求。尽管有高产绿豆品种可用，但缺乏生产力是印度粮食不安全(无法可靠地获得足够数量的负担得起的营养食品)和最贫穷人口营养不良的原因之一。印度农民普遍认为，这些高产品种的绿豆产量潜力不到一半，这往往是由于包括尾孢叶斑病和白粉病在内的绿豆病害导致的减产。因此，总部设在印度的合作伙伴(BHU和OUAT)和RRES的这个合作项目将解决这两种对经济危害最大的真菌疾病。我们将采取综合的方法，包括最新的遗传学(遗传变异研究)和基因组学(遗传物质研究)工具，以帮助开发具有更高抗病能力的绿豆新品种。我们将使用DNA测序技术来表征导致这些疾病的真菌病原体和绿豆品种的遗传组成，这将使我们能够准确地确定DNA中分别对病原体和植物的致病和抗病做出贡献的区域。利用这些知识，我们将使用最先进的生物技术工具将广谱的、可能持久的抗病基因培育成新的品种。因此，该项目的结果将为我们提供大量关于致病真菌如何与绿豆植物相互作用的新的基本信息，将有助于提供最佳的病害管理策略，并帮助植物育种人员培育抗病绿豆品种。

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.