AHRI seminar now available online - Harnessing genomics to improve weed management
Western Australia
April 5, 2023
Can sprayable nucleic acids kill weeds or reverse herbicide resistance?
Last week, AHRI hosted Dr Todd Gaines for a seminar on the topic 'Harnessing genomics to improve weed management'.
Dr Todd Gaines is an associate professor in the Department of Agricultural Biology at Colorado State University. His specialisation is in molecular weed science and functional weed genomics. He completed his PhD at CSU, followed by post-docs in Western Australia (Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative with Prof. Stephen Powles) and Germany (Bayer CropScience). Todd is currently at UWA and AHRI as a visiting scientist on sabbatical leave from CSU.
While herbicides are the most effective and widely adopted weed management practice, the evolution of multiple herbicide resistance in damaging weed species threatens the yield and profitability of many crops.
This seminar discusses how genomics and molecular biology can contribute to improving weed management.
The International Weed Genomics Consortium (IWGC) is a public-private collaboration with the vision to 1) develop genomics resources for major weed species, 2) make the data and analysis tools broadly available, and 3) to foster networking and training for weed scientists to use genomics tools.
Through the IWGC and collaborating groups, 26 weed species now have high-quality annotated reference genomes. The availability of this information provides opportunities for future research, with three specific areas to be discussed.
The first area is developing and improving rapid, in-field herbicide resistance diagnostics to assist on-farm decision-making.
The second area is developing next-generation herbicides using sprayable RNA-targeting technology.
The third area is using advances in understanding of herbicide resistance mechanisms to develop strategies to overcome or reverse resistance, whether through herbicide mixtures, RNA-targeting, or chemical inhibitors of herbicide metabolism.
About Associate Professor Todd Gaines
Dr Todd Gaines is an associate professor in the Department of Agricultural Biology at Colorado State University. His specialisation is in molecular weed science and functional weed genomics. He completed his PhD at CSU, followed by post-docs in Western Australia (Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative with Prof. Stephen Powles) and Germany (Bayer CropScience). Todd is currently at UWA and AHRI as a visiting scientist on sabbatical leave from CSU.
Topics
Species
