"SCN has been devastating soybeans ever since I've been involved
in the industry," says Jim Schriver, chair of USB's production
program and a farmer from Indiana. "This is a great use of
biotechnology that can help farmers break through yield barriers
so we can continue to increase production and meet demand." For
years farmers have been planting soybeans containing a genetic
structure called Rhg1, the top defense against SCN. But ways to
further improve that resistance have eluded plant scientists. In
a study recently published in the journal Science, however,
researchers reveal that Rhg1 is actually three genes located
next to each other on the chromosome, that work together to make
a plant more resistant to SCN. Even more intriguing, SCN-
resistant varieties carry multiple copies of this multi-gene
block. This discovery allows researchers to quickly find soybean
varieties that include these repeated three-gene blocks. It also
allows researchers to work with those genes to develop new SCN-
resistant varieties