HARNESSING GENOMIC RESOURCES FOR DISEASE RESISTANCE AND MANAGEMENT IN CUCURBIT CROPS – BRINGING THE TOOLS TO THE FIELD
Non Technical Summary
Producers and processors of cucurbit crops (watermelons, melons, cucumbers, winter and summer squashes) consistently identify diseases as their primary constraint. These diseases cause severe reductions in yield and quality, increased labor and expenses for disease control, negative environmental impacts from application of pesticides, loss of profitability, and potential outright loss of the crop in the field or at point of sale. The most cost-effective, environmentally desirable solution is disease-resistant cultivars deployed with effective integrated disease management strategies. To achieve this outcome, CucCAP2 will develop and deliver: advanced genomic, bioinformatic, and breeding tools; disease resistant materials; and disease management strategies and economic analyses for critical diseases threatening cucurbit production. Four crop teams (watermelon, melon, cucumber, squash) together with genomics/bioinformatics, and integrated disease management teams, will take an integrated research and extension/outreach approach to: develop novel bioinformatic, pan-genome and genetic mapping tools; utilize genomic approaches to identify, map, and develop markers for resistances to priority diseases identified by cucurbit industries; introduce and combine resistances in advanced breeding lines; and perform multi-location, multi-isolate trials of resistances to improve integrated disease management and assess economic impacts. This project will expand on the nation-wide, interdisciplinary collaborations established in CucCAP1, bringing together bioinformaticians, genomicists, geneticists, breeders, plant pathologists, and economists, to provide genomic tools for public and private breeders to accelerate breeding for disease resistance in cucurbit crops, and develop and provide readily accessible disease control information, disease management strategies, and estimates of economic net returns for cucurbit producers. This project also will benefit the larger scientific and private breeding and crop production communities by providing transdisciplinary STEM training for undergraduate, graduate students and post-doctoral researchers, including participants from Historically Black (HBCU) and Hispanic-Serving (HIS) universities.
