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, 2028
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:
AMD02*****
Until a BYDV infectious clone is available, the only high throughput, reliable way to screen barley lines is in a field nursery that is infected with BYDV infected aphids. We will prepare seed of the Barley Mini Core collection for planting in an inoculated barley nursery in Nebraska. The Barley MiniCore collection is a selection of lines from the Barley Core Collection that covers the majority of the diversity in barley. Approximately 180 barley lines will be evaluated for BYDV resistance levels in the field as well as ELISA and RT-PCR for confirmation.
AMD01*****
Currently, aphids are required to infect barley with BYDV using field nurseries naturally infected with aphids harboring BYDV or BYDV-infected aphids maintained in chambers. To prevent such a labor-intensive procedure and facilitate screening for BYDV resistance in barley, we are developing an aphid-free inoculation method using BYDV infectious clones.
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.