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2018-09-27T04:00:00.0000000Z
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Tomatoes 'mixing chemical cocktails': Early detection of disease resistance in food crops
Phys.Org
https://phys.org/news/2018-09-tomatoes-chemical-cocktails-early-disease.html
University of Johannesburg
Bacterial wilt devastates tomato crops world-wide. So far farmers had to wait for mature plants to observe resistance to the disease. Now research shows a possible way of saving time and reducing risk significantly for farmers and plant …more Bacterial wilt devastates food crops all over the world. It destroys major crop plants such as tomatoes, potatoes, bananas, ginger and pepper. It occurs in many countries and attacks over 200 plant species. The bacterium which causes the disease lingers in soil, seeds and plant material for years. It can infect water and farming equipment, as well.
Plant breeders and farmers would like to know how resistant a cultivar is to the bacterium as early as possible. But so far, they have had to plant—and then wait for mature plants to observe resistance in the fields. Now, research shows a possible way of saving time and reducing risk significantly for farmers and plant breeders. A new approach promises to forecast cultivar resistance much earlier than was possible before. Researchers can now analyse cultivar resistance at seedling stage for a range of threats. They use plant metabolomics and statistical modeling to decode the plants' chemical defences.
Combined with genetic methods, the approach will be useful to identify resistance which depends on several genes, a longstanding challenge in plant breeding.
Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2018-09-tomatoes-chemical-cocktails-early-disease
Bacterial wilt devastates tomato crops world-wide. So far farmers had to wait for mature plants to observe resistance to the disease. Now research shows a possible way of saving time and reducing risk significantly for farmers and plant …more Bacterial wilt devastates food crops all over the world. It destroys major crop plants such as tomatoes, potatoes, bananas, ginger and pepper. It occurs in many countries and attacks over 200 plant species. The bacterium which causes the disease lingers in soil, seeds and plant material for years. It can infect water and farming equipment, as well.
Plant breeders and farmers would like to know how resistant a cultivar is to the bacterium as early as possible. But so far, they have had to plant—and then wait for mature plants to observe resistance in the fields. Now, research shows a possible way of saving time and reducing risk significantly for farmers and plant breeders. A new approach promises to forecast cultivar resistance much earlier than was possible before. Researchers can now analyse cultivar resistance at seedling stage for a range of threats. They use plant metabolomics and statistical modeling to decode the plants' chemical defences.
Combined with genetic methods, the approach will be useful to identify resistance which depends on several genes, a longstanding challenge in plant breeding.
Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2018-09-tomatoes-chemical-cocktails-early-disease