Transfer of a NLR gene from pigeonpea into soybean confers resistance to Asian soybean rust
H. VAN ESSE (1), C. Kawashima (2), J. Jones (3), S. Brommonschenkel (4), E. al (5) (1) The 2Blades Foundation - The Sainsbury Laboratory, United Kingdom; (2) The 2Blades Foundation -The Sainsbury Laboratory, United Kingdom; (3) The Sainsbury Laboratory, United Kingdom; (4) Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Brazil; (5) N/A, United Kingdom

The fungus Phakopsora pachyrhizi is the causal agent of Asian soybean rust (ASR). In Brazil, the second largest producer of soybean in the world, the direct and indirect losses incurred by this pathogen are estimated at approximately 2 Billion US$ per year. Since there are currently no commercial soybean cultivars that have durable resistance against P. pachyrhizi, frequent fungicide applications are the way to control the disease. Genetic resistance is highly desirable given the high cost to growers and the environmental impact of current ASR control strategies. Eight major loci for resistance against the disease have been identified, however none of the causal genes have been cloned. In addition, many of these loci have been introduced into commercial soybean cultivars individually. As a consequence, P. pachyrhizi isolates that have overcome these introduced loci can be readily identified in the field. We have cloned a P. pachyrhizi resistance gene from pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan) and named it CcRpp1 for Cajanus cajan Resistance against Phakopsora pachyrhizi 1. The CcRpp1 gene confers full resistance to P. pachyrhizi when introduced into soybean. Our findings show that legume species related to soybean such as pigeonpea, cowpea, common bean and others could provide a valuable and diverse pool of resistance traits for crop improvement.

Abstract Number: S4-1
Session Type: Special Session