USA: New research reveals mutation responsible for disease resistance in cassava

Groundbreaking research led by Rebecca Bart, PhD, associate member, Nigel Taylor, PhD, associate member, Dorothy King, distinguished investigator, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, and their collaborators at ETH Zurich, University of California Los Angeles, and the National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI) in Uganda, has identified a genetic mutation that confers resistance to cassava mosaic disease (CMD). Their findings have significant implications for improving cassava yield and sustaining farmer income in the face of a widespread disease, and their discovery could also shed light on disease resistance in other major crops. This seminal work, Mutations in DNA polymerase δ subunit 1 co-segregate with CMD2-type resistance to cassava mosaic geminiviruses, was recently published in the scientific journal Nature Communications. Farmers in Africa, India, and Southeast Asia – some of the largest cassava-producing regions in the world – too often suffer huge yield losses ...