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ARS Home » Plains Area » Fargo, North Dakota » Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center » Cereal Crops Improvement Research » Research » Research Project #447469

Research Project: Characterization of Necrotrophic Effectors in the Parastagonospora nodorum-wheat Interaction

Location: Cereal Crops Improvement Research

Project Number: 3060-22000-051-010-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Jan 1, 2025
End Date: Jun 30, 2026

Objective:
The objectives of this cooperative research project are to: 1) Conduct a survey of barley fields for presence of economically important viruses on barley in North America. 2) Develop inoculation protocols for BYDV as well as BaYMV and BaMMV if identified in US samples. 3) Identify eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF) genes in barley to determine potential targets for resistance using CRISPR based technology.

Approach:
Viral diseases of cereals cause millions of dollars of annual losses to growers through loss of yield and quality as well as added production costs. Understanding these viral diseases is critical to their control in the field. Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus (BYDV), Barley Yellow Mosaic Virus (BaYMV), and Barley Mild Mosaic Virus (BaMMV) are all major contributors to yield loss where they are found. A highly motivated and skilled post-doctoral scientist will join our research team focused on the study of barley viruses. This project offers an exciting opportunity to contribute to cutting-edge research aimed at understanding the molecular mechanisms, transmission dynamics, and control strategies of viruses that affect barley worldwide. The post-doc will identify and functionally characterize virulence and the corresponding targets in barley conditioning virus resistance or susceptibility. Potential avenues of research include a survey of US barley growing regions for viruses affecting barley, advanced research on the molecular biology and epidemiology of BaYMV and BaMMV, investigation on BaYMV and BaMMV transmission and disease progression in barley, and the evaluation of BYDV and BaMMV variants for virulence/aggressiveness on barley lines, as well as the investigation and implementation of novel control methods for these viruses by targeting the eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF) class of barley genes.