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	View Edit Domain: GreenBio Title: * Body: Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists have analyzed rust fungi from more than 160 sugarcane samples from 25 countries to provide a valuable resource for plant breeders and pathologists who are searching for genetic resistance to the deadly orange and brown rusts.<br /> <br /> These diseases are a major concern for the sugarcane industry, so correctly diagnosing which rust is present is key, according to Lisa Castlebury, a mycologist at the ARS Systematic Mycology and Microbiology Laboratory in Beltsville, Md. Accurately distinguishing rust isolates by appearance alone is difficult, since their form and structure are very similar.<br /> <br /> The rust known as “orange rust,” different from the standard “brown rust” that is common in U.S. sugarcane production, was found in Florida in 2007. With orange rust, a minimum of three fungicide applications are needed to still achieve acceptable yields, and those applications cost growers an estimated $40 million annually in Florida, the only U.S. cane-producing state that has this rust so far.<br /> <br /> The study started as a simple request to Castlebury from ARS research plant pathologist Jack Comstock in Canal Point, Fla. Castlebury led a scientific team to genetically analyze and compare DNA sequences from sugarcane rust fungi. In the study, now in its third year, samples have been also been analyzed with light microscopy to spot the subtle differences between the two rusts. Postdoctoral research associate Linley Dixon at the Beltsville lab also participated in the study.<br /> <br /> Castlebury and APHIS mycologist John McKemy identified the new orange rust found in a sugarcane-growing area in Florida, the first find in the Western Hemisphere. Now the study has turned into a global analysis of rust fungi affecting sugarcane cultivars, in collaboration with Comstock and ARS research molecular biologist Neil Glynn in Canal Point. The majority of the sugarcane samples Castlebury receives come from the Americas, Asia, Australia, and, to a lesser extent, Africa.<br /> <br /> The results of the scientific team’s genetic sequences have been added to GenBank, the National Institutes of Health’s genetic sequence database, for use by plant pathologists and plant breeders.<br /> <br /> ARS is the chief intramural scientific research agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This research supports the USDA priority of promoting international food security.<br /> <br /> Copyright ©2010 U.S. Department of Agriculture<br /> Captcha: Please Enter Code : * Time Zone: * Select the time zone Vocabularies Newsletter: Domain: Show summary in full view Input format Filtered HTML Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically. Lines and paragraphs break automatically. Full HTML Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically. Lines and paragraphs break automatically. news_filter Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically. More information about formatting options			Related Articles "Super wheat" resists devastating rust Dow AgroSciences, BioDuro to Collaborate on Crop Protection ... New study reignites debate over GMO safety Molecular technique advances soybean rust resistance researc... All wheat varieties will have to be replaced DuPont and BSES Limited Partner to Improve Sugarcane Plantin... Teaming Up to Create a Successful Forage Grass ICRISAT-led global team cracks pigeonpea genome Monsanto Company to invest in technologies for sugarcane wit... Australian OGTR: DIR 096 - Limited and controlled release of... Top GreenBio Articles

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