Location: Crop Improvement and Protection Research
Project Number: 2038-22000-019-052-T
Project Type: Trust Fund Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Feb 1, 2024
End Date: Apr 30, 2026
Objective:
The objective of the project is to investigate the relationship between a sugar beet virus and its fungal vector (Polymyxa betae) on viral transmission to host plants.
Approach:
Several different research approaches will be followed to attain the objectives of this project: Partial genome assemblies of Polymyxa betae were used to design genotypic markers for different strains of the pathogen. PCR primers were designed to amplify these regions from DNA extracted from infected plants and soil from infested fields. A metagenomic approach will be used to study the fungal genotype present in the soil; amplicons will be sequenced by Illumina MiSeq and the millions of resulting sequence reads analyzed to identify genotypic differences. Experiments to evaluate differences in the ability of different pathogen genotypes to transmit the virus BNYVV to sugar beet and spinach will be conducted.
