Hutton researchers identify key component in a spray to combat cereal disease in an environmentally friendly way
Scientists at The James Hutton Institute are one step closer to identifying a spray that can ‘silence’ genes on a type of blight that impacts many of our cereal crops and whose frequency and severity has been increasing in recent years.
Fusarium head blight is a major disease affecting cereal crops, including wheat, barley, rye, oats and maize. It is normally caused by the fungus Fusarium graminearum, which infects the spikes and thereby reduces grain yield and quality, threatening global food security.
Dr Steve Whisson, Molecular Plant Pathologist at The James Hutton Institute, has been working with researchers from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) on spray-induced gene silencing, a new technique that could be used to tackle this disease
He said, “Spray induced gene silencing control of plant diseases can be extremely specific, only targeting the disease-causing fungus without affecting beneficial environmental microbes.
“It can also be readily adapted for other crop diseases.”
The technique involves spraying the crop with a preparation containing double-stranded ribonucleic acid (RNA) that is designed to silence specific genes that the pathogen uses to attack the crop.
“We use a type of double-stranded RNA that regulates or blocks the pathogen’s production of certain proteins that it needs to infect the plant,” explained Dr Ramesh Vetukuri, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Plan Breeding, SLU, who led the work.
“Spray induced gene silencing control of plant diseases can be extremely specific, only targeting the disease-causing fungus without affecting beneficial environmental microbes.”
Dr Steve Whisson, Molecular Plant Pathologist
The research team studied how spray-induced gene silencing affects the microbial communities which live on the surface of cereal crops and should preferably not be disturbed.
A screening of all microbial genomes on crop surfaces showed that the treatment led to minor changes in the diversity and structure of the bacterial communities, and that fungal communities remained relatively unchanged. The double-stranded RNA thus appears to have reached its targets without disrupting critical microbial communities, so using it to combat Fusarium head blight will not compromise the balance in this ecosystem.
This study bridges a significant gap in research on spray-induced gene silencing and demonstrates its potential to revolutionise crop protection with minimal ecological impact that will provide a much-needed environmentally friendly alternative to chemical fungicides and genetically modified crops. It is an exciting development for sustainable agriculture, furthering our understanding of the broader ecological impacts of innovative plant protection strategies.
The method can now be tested in field trials as a step towards more sustainable agricultural systems.
