Developing Branched Broomrape-Resistant Tomato
Generating Thriving Production Systems Solutions
Generating Thriving Production Systems Solutions
Dr. Neelima Roy Sinha
University of California, Davis
Year Awarded 2023
FFAR award amount $232,728
Total award amount $465,456
Location Davis, CA
Program Seeding Solutions
Matching Funders University of California, Davis
Harmful Weed Threatens Popular Crop
Branched broomrape is a parasitic weed that threatens the United States’ supply of processing tomatoes – canned tomatoes and those used to create products like ketchup. Despite strong mitigation efforts, the weed has been detected in several counties in California, a state that grows 90% of the country’s processing tomatoes.
Current processing tomato varieties are not resistant to the weed and several features of branched broomrapes’ life cycle make them especially pernicious. They are not photosynthetic, and instead derive nutrients and water by attaching to tomato plants’ root cells, which limits crop growth. As the parasitism occurs underground, treating crops with herbicides is not effective. Additionally, branched broomrapes’ flowers make thousands of seeds, which can remain dormant and viable in soil for more than twenty years, potentially jeopardizing future processing tomato crops. These factors make combatting this weed especially difficult.
To address these challenges, researchers at the University of California, Davis led by Dr. Neelima Roy Sinha, professor of plant biology, are developing a tomato crop with branched broomrape resistance.
The processing tomato industry is severely impacted by field broomrape infestations. Funding from FFAR will allow us to accelerate gene discovery and use CRISPR mutagenesis to develop resistant tomato varieties.
Dr. Neelima Roy Sinha
Professor, UC Davis
Preventing Crop Devastation & Ensuring Supply
Growing and harvesting processing tomatoes is a $1.17 billion industry in California. For these growers, branched broomrape is a threat in both the short and long term. The presence of the weed in a field can lead to an immediate, complete economic loss for growers, with potentially longer-term economic impacts if growers are forced to plant lower-value crops to replace tomato in a location due to the ongoing presence of branched broomrape seeds.
This weed could also compromise the supply of processing tomatoes that other companies depend on to produce tomato-based products consumers expect to see on store shelves. In addition to disrupting the supply chains for tomato-based products, shortages caused by this parasitic weed could also increase prices of common culinary products.
Developing tomato varieties that are resistant to branched broomrape could help growers protect their crops and ensure their livelihood while also protecting the supply of tomato-based products for consumers.
Details about this research
Finding Genetic Bases for Resistance
When branched broomrape attaches to tomato plants’ roots, the weed stimulates the formation of a bridge between the weed and plant that allows the weed to access the tomatoes’ nutrients and water. In response to broomrape’s attachment, many tomato genes increase their activity, which facilitates the attachment. If researchers can develop tomato varieties that do not turn on these genes when the parasitic weed attaches to the roots, these plants could be resistant to the infection or inhibit parasite growth after the attachment.
Objectives
This research grant aims to:
- Identify the genes that allow parasitic attachment in multiple processing tomato varieties both in greenhouses and fields.
- Assess whether natural resistance in some tomato varieties to the related weed Egyptian broomrape can provide additional genetic resources to combat branched broomrape.
- Generate branched broomrape-resistant tomato varieties using CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology to prevent gene expression.
How This Research Contributes to Our Mission: Tools & Information That Benefit Farmers
FFAR funding is filling critical a research gap regarding branched broomrape, providing direct benefit to tomato breeders and growers. The outcomes of this project could allow researchers to create resistance in other crop species to infestation by parasitic plants, helping to ensure thriving farms and production systems. Preventing crop loss preserves farmers’ profits while ensuring consumers have ready access to nutritious or popular products.
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