Understanding nutrient uptake and molecular interaction between roots and beneficial microorganisms
The goal of this project is to identify soybean lines that can efficiently uptake and utilize nutrients that are available in the soil. These lines can ultimately reduce the excess application of fertilizers and micro-nutrient in the farmer’s field. The long-term goal is to discover genomic loci, pinpoint the genes and understand the mechanism of selective nutrient uptake in soybean. This research will lay a foundation to develop soybean lines with nutritional seeds and higher yields. With continued support from SSRP and based on the preliminary data, we will be able to discover novel traits to secure higher yields and create a balanced nutritional profile.
Figure: (TOP) Nutrient element analysis in diverse Soybean Germplasm. (Bottom) analysis of single-cell transcriptome during nodule and AMF symbiosis.
Supported By: Texas Tech University, United Soybean Board, and Southern Soybean Research Program.
Development of a robust regeneration and transformation system in crops
Genetic variation is the source and basis of plant breeding and crop improvement. However, creating novel genetic variation in crops is largely limited to classical mutagenesis, interspecific crossing, and genomics-assisted breeding methods. Creating a target-specific mutation in a functional gene or regulatory element offers great potential for accelerating translational research and crop improvement. However, this process can be accomplished via genetic transformation either Agrobacterium or direct delivery method. Several economically important crops (including soybean, cotton, sorghum, chickpea, common bean, etc.) are difficult to transform and are genotype-dependent for genetic transformation, plant regeneration, and also lack robust and efficient delivery of gene-editing reagents. These bottlenecks have impeded the use of gene-editing on a larger scale. To overcome these technological barriers, we aim to develop a robust and widely applicable genetic transformation system in these crops and simultaneously expand the use of this newly developed technology for editing the cotton genome to create novel quantitative variants.
Supported By: Texas Tech University, USDA-NIFA, and TTU-BASF (Project Revolution)
Next generation soybeans with durable resistance to multiple soybean cyst nematode (SCN) races through genome engineering
The soybean varieties carrying the commonly used rhg1 from PI 88788 are losing the war with SCN in the field. On the other hand, the resistance derived from Peking, which contains Rhg4, works very well in the field. Our recent study (Patil et al. 2019, Plant Biotechnology Journal) also indicates that higher copy numbers of Rhg4 in PI 437654 lead to higher expression of Rhg4 and therefore stronger resistance to multiple SCN races. Therefore, the proposed project aims to develop innovative genetic strategies for enhancing soybean resistance to multiple SCN races by increasing the Rhg4 expression via over-expression and promoter editing using CRISPR/Cas9 to improve resistance to multiple SCN races.
Supported By: United Soybean Board and Texas Tech University
Patil Lab 