According to Nguyen and Chhapekar, 95% of soybeans currently on the market with resistance are derived from limited genetic resources, and that means that the nematodes are adapting and steadily becoming   resistant to this  genetic source.

“Resistance from the existing mechanism is starting to break down,” Nguyen said, “so the next several  years, that is going to continue, and that makes this crucial to find additional resistance genes and incorporate them into new varieties for the farmers.”

With support from a $749,985  USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture grant, Nguyen and his team have identified what they believe is a new resistance mechanism — an alternative genetic source. They are now using  gene-editing techniques to express this gene, with hopes to understand the alternate genetic mechanism of SCN resistance  which will be integrated into soybean breeding program  to develop new SCN-resistant soybean varieties  . The project is carried out in collaboration with Gunvant Patil, Assistant Professor at Texas Tech University — a former post-doctoral scientist in Nguyen’s lab.

“Because we’re using  gene-editing methods, regulatory hurdles are lower, allowing us to accelerate this critical work,” Nguyen explained. “This will expand the genetic diversity of soybean breeding pools. Eventually, we can stack this new gene with existing resistance genes to create more durable plants, making it much harder for SCN to adapt and overcome.”