Control of Crop Fungal Disease

Background: Brassica crops, such as broccoli, canola, cauliflower, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, lettuce, and mustard, are susceptible to fungal diseases. Although using fungicides could be a quick solution to contain the infection, there are always concerns over the emergence of new fungicide-resistant strains as well as the potential environmental and health hazards after fungicides have been continuously administered. Therefore, it is desirable to develop a genetically modified crop that is highly resistant to fungal infections.

Technology: UCSD investigators have created transgenic Brassica plants with increased ability to resist fungal diseases. For example, when grown adjacent to each other, wild type plants are seriously attacked by powdery mildew, whereas the multiple transgenic lines are not. In addition to increasing disease resistance to pathogens, these transgenic Brassica plants showed significant reduction of pod shatter, thus preventing premature release of seeds prior to harvest and increasing the yield of ripe seed.

Advantages:

  • Resistance to fungal infection
  • Reduction of seed loss

Case No: SD2005-143
Keywords: Brassica, infection, transgenic, disease resistance, powdery mildew, pod shatter
Inquiries To:  invent@ucsd.edu