Location: Sugarbeet and Bean Research
Project Number: 5050-21220-017-020-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Aug 25, 2026
End Date: Mar 31, 2029
Objective:
Identify resistance genes in ARS beet breeding programs and determine where genetic gaps occur in each program's collection to better create disease resistant beets. Classical resistance (R) genes are highly repetitive in structure, making them challenging to differentiate using traditional long or short-read sequencing techniques.
Approach:
We will identify the R genes present in each of the ARS sugar beet breeding programs and compare those with the total R genes found in the ARS GRIN repository. Using RenSeq, we will preferentially target and enrich our sequencing samples for R genes, and using PacBio long-reads will sequence full length R genes from each public sugar beet breeding program in the US. We will compare these results with our current work identifying all of the R genes in the ARS GRIN Beta repository to identify genetic gaps in each program's breeding materials.