Norwich, United Kingdom
January 23, 2015
Micrograph of rust-spores being produced inside a infected soybean leaf - credit Dr Tolga Bozkurt.
The newly formed Norwich Rust Group aims to develop durable resistance in crops. Exploiting advances in genomics, scientists will investigate how parasitic rust fungi invade and feed off plants. They will also use these new techniques to locate genes in some varieties of crops which are able to resist invasion. There are more than 7,000 species of rust fungi, some of which are among agriculture’s most devastating pathogens, causing diseases such as Wheat Stem Rust, Wheat Yellow (Stripe) Rust, Asian Soybean Rust and Coffee Rust.
Rust fungi cause billions of pounds of losses every year worldwide. Counter-measures to control rust diseases rely on fungicides, which are highly regulated, environmentally unfriendly and expensive. In the developing world where growers often cannot afford fungicides, rust fungi have the potential to cause rising food prices, hunger and malnutrition.
It is estimated that the annual global loss of flour as a result of wheat stem rust alone would almost meet the annual calorie needs of the entire undernourished population of sub-Saharan Africa**.
The biology of rust fungi has been poorly understood compared with other important plant pests, mostly because they only grow and spread on a living host making it harder to conduct research in a laboratory. Also, rust fungal genomes are large compared to other pathogenic fungi, which has made genetic studies expensive and impractical. However, recent advances in sequencing technology have allowed researchers to obtain the genomes of many rust fungi and their respective hosts. This has revolutionised the way scientists carry out their research; it is now possible to understand the mechanisms these fungi use to infect plants, as well as key genes that plants have to resist infections.
The Norwich Rust Group comprises Drs Peter van Esse, Ksenia Krasileva, Matthew Moscou, Benjamin Petre, Diane Saunders, Cristobal Uauy and Brande Wulff. Their combined research interests range from detailed understanding of how pathogens cause disease through to the breeding of resistance in the host plants. They specifically focus on rust pathogens that infect agriculturally and economically important plants such as wheat, barley and soybean. Recognising the need for research in this field, The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) funds a large number of research projects that are carried out by the Norwich Rust Group.
The Norwich Rust Group (NRG) aims to become a hub for rust research and already has 52 collaborators in 23 countries around the world - all driven to develop new technologies and approaches to combat rust fungi efficiently.
Professor Dale Sanders, Director of the John Innes Centre, said: “This is a very exciting collaboration between three institutes with world-leading scientific expertise in genetics, plants and plant pathogens. The fact that the seven scientific teams in the Norwich Rust Group are within walking distance of each other on the Norwich Research Park means they can work as a single force, with open access to each other’s complementary expertise and technologies.”
Professor Cyril Zipfel, Senior Group Leader and Head of TSL, said: “Worldwide, the many different varieties of fungal rust cost billions annually in crop losses and fungicidal treatments. In developing countries, they can lead to hunger and malnutrition. Until recently we simply didn’t have the technology to understand how they worked. Advances in genomics and scientific research in this area mean we are able to get a better grip of rust pathogens and to investigate how to make plants resistant to them.”
Dr Mario Caccamo, Director of TGAC, said:“This collaboration will be complemented by access to scientific teams working on state-of-the-art technology platforms. Scientific and technological advances in DNA sequencing and computational tools will play a key role in developing refined approaches to combat the effect of these devastating crop pathogens.”
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* UN Food and Agriculture Organisation report: Wheat Rust Disease Global Programme, 2008 http://www.fao.org/3/a-i0378e.pdf
P2: “In Kenya, field trials have shown UG99 (a new virulent strain of wheat stem rust) to cause yield losses of up to 80 percent. Moreover, the cost of a 10 percent loss in areas immediately at risk is estimated to exceed USD 7 billion.”
**Measuring the Global Occurrence and Probabilistic Consequences of Wheat Stem Rust, April 10, 2013 by Jason M. Beddow, Terry M. Hurley, Darren J. Kriticos, and Philip G. Pardey. http://croppest.org/doc/Beddow_et_al_2013_HC--Stem_rust_tech_note(20130411a).pdf
P18: “Appendix: Undernourishment and Wheat Loss
USDA‐ERS (2012) reports that 1 million kg of hard spring flour has a grain equivalent of 1.370 million kg. Thus, about 73 percent of wheat grain converts to flour. Beginning with an annual global wheat loss estimate of 6.2 MT, we therefore estimate that about 4.526 MT of wheat flour is lost, with a caloric value of 16.475 trillion kcal. World Bank (2012) reports that about 22 percent of the Sub‐Saharan African population was undernourished in 2008, with a daily calorie deficit of 243 kcal per capita. Given a Sub‐Saharan African population of about 854.227 million, this implies that the undernourished population is about 187.939 million, with a total annual calorie deficit of 16.681 trillion kcal. Thus, the caloric content of the 6.2 MMT annual wheat loss is almost sufficient to meet the Sub‐Saharan African calorie deficit.”
For more information on the partners go to www.norwichrustgroup.com. Follow them on Twitter @norwichrust.
You can view and link to JIC's video explaining the impact of one crop rust: wheat yellow rust and why we need to tackle it at http://youtu.be/-KKFgowm7ME
About TGAC
The Genome Analysis Centre (TGAC) is a world-class research institute focusing on the development of genomics and computational biology. TGAC is based on the Norwich Research Park and receives strategic funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council (BBSRC) - £7.4M in 2013/14 - as well as support from other research funders. TGAC is one of eight institutes that receive strategic funding from BBSRC. TGAC operates a National Capability to promote the application of genomics and bioinformatics to advance bioscience research and innovation.
TGAC offers state of the art DNA sequencing facility, unique by its operation of multiple complementary technologies for data generation. The Institute is a UK hub for innovative Bioinformatics through research, analysis and interpretation of multiple, complex data sets. It hosts one of the largest computing hardware facilities dedicated to life science research in Europe. It is also actively involved in developing novel platforms to provide access to computational tools and processing capacity for multiple academic and industrial users and promoting applications of computational Bioscience. Additionally, the Institute offers a Training programme through courses and workshops, and an Outreach programme targeting schools, teachers and the general public through dialogue and science communication activities.www.tgac.ac.uk
About the John Innes Centre
Our mission is to generate knowledge of plants and microbes through innovative research, to train scientists for the future, to apply our knowledge of nature’s diversity to benefit agriculture, the environment, human health and well-being, and engage with policymakers and the public.
To achieve these goals we establish pioneering long-term research objectives in plant and microbial science, with a focus on genetics. These objectives include promoting the translation of research through partnerships to develop improved crops and to make new products from microbes and plants for human health and other applications. We also create new approaches, technologies and resources that enable research advances and help industry to make new products. The knowledge, resources and trained researchers we generate help global societies address important challenges including providing sufficient and affordable food, making new products for human health and industrial applications, and developing sustainable bio-based manufacturing.
This provides a fertile environment for training the next generation of plant and microbial scientists, many of whom go on to careers in industry and academia, around the world.
About The Sainsbury Laboratory (TSL)
The Sainsbury Laboratory (TSL) is a world-leading research centre focusing on making fundamental discoveries about plants and how they interact with microbes. TSL not only provides fundamental biological insights into plant-pathogen interactions, but is also delivering novel, genomics-based, solutions which will significantly reduce losses from major diseases of food crops, especially in developing countries. TSL is an independent charitable company and receives strategic funding from the Gatsby Charitable Foundation with the balance coming from competitive grants and contracts from a range of public and private bodies, including the European Union (EU), Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and commercial and charitable organisations www.tsl.ac.uk
About BBSRC
The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) invests in world-class bioscience research and training on behalf of the UK public. Its aim is to further scientific knowledge, to promote economic growth, wealth and job creation and to improve quality of life in the UK and beyond.
Funded by Government, and with an annual budget of around £467m (2012-2013), it supports research and training in universities and strategically funded institutes. BBSRC research and the people it funds are helping society to meet major challenges, including food security, green energy and healthier, longer lives. Research investments underpin important UK economic sectors, such as farming, food, industrial biotechnology and pharmaceuticals.
For more information about the BBSRC, its science and its impact see: http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk
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