Soybean to Resist Roundworm with its Own Gene

Soybean cyst nematodes (SCN) is one of the most devastating pest of soybean in the USA that leads to around US$1 billion loses annually. The nematodes are wormlike pests that live in the soil that feed, mate and lay eggs on soybean roots leading to the obstruction of nutrient and water flow to the rest of the plant. Chemical control is costly and resistant varieties are available but virulent new races eventually develop, thus SCN is hardly controlled.

The United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service plant pathologist Ben Matthews and colleagues in Beltsville, Maryland explored the use of biotechnology to possibly control the pest. They engineered soybean plants to contain a DNA copy of one of the nematode’s own protein-making genes. Nematodes that ingest the DNA copy will deactivate the expression of the pest’s corresponding gene leading to the arrest of its own protein-making machinery. Greenhouse trials in the Soybean Genomics and Improvement Laboratoy in Beltsville showed that 80% to 90% of the juvenile female nematodes that fed on transgenic soybean roots died or failed to mature by 30 days. Further studies are focused on another greenhouse trial and a search for the identity of the SCN protein gene using Caenorharbditis elegans.

See press release at http://www.ars.usda.gov/News/docs.htm?docid=1261 for more details