• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Wednesday, September 10, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Biology

Breakthrough in fight against plant diseases

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
March 20, 2019
in Biology
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0
IMAGE
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

IMAGE

Credit: La Trobe University

A global research team including scientists from La Trobe University have identified specific locations within plants’ chromosomes capable of transferring immunity to their offspring.

The findings could lead to new ways of preventing disease in crops – of great potential benefit to farmers.

Led by the University of Sheffield (UK), the research team identified, for the first time, specific locations (loci) within a plant’s chromosomes that impart disease resistance to their offspring by undergoing a reversible biochemical modification known as DNA methylation, in response of pathogen attack.

Published in the journal eLife, the research identifies four DNA loci that control disease resistance against a common plant pathogen called downy mildew. Importantly, this resistance was not associated with any negative effects on growth or resistance against other environmental stresses.

La Trobe University Research Fellow Dr Ritushree Jain said that when plants are repetitively attacked by pathogens, they develop a ‘memory’ (known as priming in plants) of this encounter which enables them to fight efficiently when attacked again.

“One of the mechanisms for transferring this ‘memory’ to their next generation via seeds is DNA methylation,” Dr Jain said.

“It is an epigenetic phenomenon – meaning there is no change in the DNA sequence.”

Dr Jain explained the potential benefit to farmers these findings offer.

“Not only could this significant discovery lead to new ways of preventing disease in important crops, but it could also help reduce our reliance on pesticides,” Dr Jain said.

Lead researcher Professor Jurriaan Ton from the University of Sheffield’s P3 Plant Production and Protection Centre said findings from the study pave the way for further research into how epigenetics can help to improve disease resistance in food crops.

“We now hope to use this study to carry out further research to understand how these epigenetic loci control so many different defence genes,” Professor Ton said.

“We are also keen to participate in more translational studies, in order to find out whether epigenetics can be used to prime disease resistance in crops that are vital to food supplies around the world.”

Led by the University of Sheffield in the UK, the research was conducted in collaboration with La Trobe University, PSL University (Paris) and the Technical University of Munich (Germany).

The research paper, Identification and characterisation of hypomethylated DNA loci controlling quantitative resistance in Arabidopsis, was published in eLife.

###

Media Contact: Claire Bowers – [email protected] – 9479 2315 / 0437 279 903

Media Contact
Claire Bowers
[email protected]

Original Source

https://www.latrobe.edu.au/news/articles/2019/release/breakthrough-in-fighting-plant-disease

Related Journal Article

http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.40655.001

Tags: Agricultural Production/EconomicsAgricultureFertilizers/Pest ManagementGenesPlant Sciences
Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

Decoding Animal Decision-Making: NIH Funds Groundbreaking Research on Exploration vs. Exploitation

Decoding Animal Decision-Making: NIH Funds Groundbreaking Research on Exploration vs. Exploitation

September 9, 2025
Nitrogen Supplementation: Impact on Cattle Nutrition and Metabolism

Nitrogen Supplementation: Impact on Cattle Nutrition and Metabolism

September 9, 2025

Taenia Pisiformis Infection Alters Pregnant Rabbits’ Immune Response

September 9, 2025

Tracing the Origins of Wnt Signaling Uncovers a Protein Superfamily Spanning the Tree of Life

September 9, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • blank

    Breakthrough in Computer Hardware Advances Solves Complex Optimization Challenges

    151 shares
    Share 60 Tweet 38
  • New Drug Formulation Transforms Intravenous Treatments into Rapid Injections

    116 shares
    Share 46 Tweet 29
  • Physicists Develop Visible Time Crystal for the First Time

    51 shares
    Share 20 Tweet 13
  • First Confirmed Human Mpox Clade Ib Case China

    56 shares
    Share 22 Tweet 14

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Insatiable Star Devours Its Cosmic Twin at Unprecedented Rate

Breast Cell Changes During Motherhood Offer Insights into Breastfeeding Challenges

Strong Link Between Dementia Risk and Multiple Co-Existing Mental Health Disorders Revealed

  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.