Prof HJ. Atkinson & Dr. P. Urwin, CPS
email: h.j.atkinson@leeds.ac.uk; p.e.urwin@leeds.ac.uk
lab page: http://www.biology.leeds.ac.uk/nem

Prof Baoge ZHU, IGDB,CAS
email: bgzhu@genetics.ac.cn
lab pages: http://www.genetics.cas.cn/zhubaoge

Plant parasitic nematodes are major crop pathogens. We have several lines of research that focus on fundamental understanding of nematode interactions with the plant host. Arabidopsis can serve as a host for many nematode species and such model systems can be used to derive a wealth of information about the host /pathogen interaction. Current research in the laboratory is defining which of those interactions characterised in the model system pertain to crop plants and their nematode pathogens. The focus for this work is potato and the potato cyst nematode, Globodera.

In the collaborative project with CAS we will determine if similar interactions occur in the soybean and its primary nematode pathogen, Heterodera glycines. The project will bring together the soybean transformation skills of CAS and the nematode expertise of Leeds. In the immediate future a Ph.D. student from Leeds will visit CAS to facilitate building momentum of the project.

The joint project will also have biotechnological aspects: Constructs will be transformed into soybean that have been shown to be effective in delivering resistance to nematodes parasitic upon other crop hosts. The technology will be evaluated in soybean for resistance to H. glycines.