Using state-of-the-art genomics techniques, a team of scientists from the Agricultural Research Service, Iowa State University and Brazil have identified a cluster of soybean genes that provide resistance to the fungus which causes Asian Soybean Rust.
They say this discovery will help defend the $US27 billion United States soybean crop against ASR, through conventional breeding or biotechnological means.
Screening of 15,000 accessions in the ARS soybean germplasm collection revealed how uncommon resistance is.
Less than 5pc of the accessions are resistant.
In sequencing the Rpp4 locus, researchers identified a cluster of candidate genes that confer ASR resistance.
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