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Two new studies on Soybean Cyst Nematode

The findings of two new genetic studies into Soybean Cyst Nematode research could lead to the development of more SCN resistant soybean varieties.

University of Illinois researchers worked with those at the Universities of Nebraska and Wisconsin to find the DNA sequence of a gene that is responsible for natural nematode resistance in soybeans.

Matt Hudson is an associate professor of crop sciences at the University of Illinois, who worked on the study.  He tells Brownfield Ag News, “We hope that there’s going to be implications of this research that are going to make it into breeding programs fairly rapidly. They could make impacts on the kind of yields people who – particularly those seeing heavy nematode pressure are getting within a few years.”  A United Soybean Board grant helped fund the research.

Meanwhile, researchers with the University of Missouri say they have cracked the genetic code of another soybean gene related to nematode resistance.

The U of I research is published in Science Express. The M-U research is in the journal, Nature.  Soybean Cyst Nematode does upwards of 1-Billion dollars of damage, on average, to the U.S. soybean crop each year.