Brown rust fungus poses a serious threat to Louisiana’s nearly $1 billion sugarcane industry. Thanks to funding from the American Sugar Cane League, LSU AgCenter molecular biologist Niranjan Baisakh is studying DNA markers in sugarcane associated with resistance to the fungus. He hopes to help sugarcane breeders develop varieties that block the fungus at the molecular level.
Scientists have been studying sugarcane resistance to brown rust fungus for more than 20 years, Baisakh said, but a gene called Bru1 is the only indicator of resistance located so far in sugarcane. The frequency of Bru1 in Louisiana sugarcane varieties is low, meaning it has not been used effectively as a means of breeding resistant varieties, he said.
However, there are some varieties resistant to the fungus that do not contain Bru1.
Baisakh’s goal is to track DNA characteristics of fungus-resistant varieties to determine genetic components of resistance. Once resistance genes besides Bru1 are discovered, varieties containing them can be crossed with those with Bru1 to form “gene pyramids” that force the fungus to overcome multiple genes instead of one.
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It is important to identify these alternate resistance genes because brown rust fungus often adapts to sugarcane varieties as acreages increase.
Read the full original article: Researcher Works to Make Sugarcane Resistant to Brown Rust Disease
