PSP RESEARCH OVERVIEW - CROP TRANSFORMATION

The control of nematode pests in rice, potato and banana.

Root knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) account for the majority of the $100 billion (US) of annual loss attributed to nematode damage in crops. In the tropics, average crop production is reduced by 11-25% as a result of damage by nematodes. Crop resistance is a low-cost option for nematode control in subsistence agriculture. It does not impose unwanted changes on traditional agronomic practices. The range of single traits available for breeding programmes currently limits the number of nematode-resistant crops available. In addition, pathotypes, or species that overcome resistance, often challenge the utility of resistance.

The DFID Plant Sciences Research Programme (PSP) has now reduced some of these constraints in two ways. We have established the molecular mapping techniques and strategy to identify the location of genes in West African rice landraces that confer resistance to nematodes. The value of additive natural and transgenic resistance has also been demonstrated, providing a more robust defence. The use of transgenes broadens crop resistance by protecting plants from nematodes for which natural resistance genes are unavailable. Broadly based nematode resistance also avoids the need for farmers to recognise and distinguish nematode species.

Visit the PSP project database and virtual library for further details of the above and other projects.

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