Location: Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research
Project Number: 2054-21220-006-010-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Sep 1, 2025
End Date: Aug 31, 2027
Objective:
Evaluate beet leafhopper virus acquisition, transmission, and performance when leafhoppers are subjected to sugar beet CRISPR interference (CRISPRi) and Arabidopsis plants with resistance genes for beet curly top virus and beet leafhopper.
Approach:
Cooperator will screen CRISPRi sugar beet plants targeting beet curly top virus (BCTV) and Arabidopsis plants expressing a dry bean gene for resistance to beet curly top virus (BCTV) and beet leaf hopper (BLH). The plants will be subjected to BCTV acquisition and transmission assays to determine reduction in virus levels in the leafhoppers. Leafhoppers nymphs and adults will be given 48 h virus acquisition on transgenic plants and then moved to healthy sugar beets for 48 h. Three weeks following insect transfer, virus levels in the plant will be assessed using RT-qPCR analysis. In addition, insects will be subjected to RNA-seq and proteomics to understand the mechanism of virus reduction. In addition, survival of BLH will be measured daily for 14 days, and offspring production will be recorded every two days for 14 days. The research will identify new mechanisms for sugar beet resistance to BCTV, which is a major disease in semi-arid production regions and impacts other crops like peppers and dry beans.