Fighting Disease Losses with the Multi-Disease Resistance Trait

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The Multi-Disease Resistance (MDR) trait is a novel approach developed by Corteva Agriscience for breeding disease-resistant corn hybrids. This innovative trait expected to launch late decade, pending regulatory approval, addresses growers’ top disease management concerns and offers several key benefits:

  1. Enhanced disease resistance: The MDR trait delivers dominant resistance against several major corn diseases, including northern corn leaf blight (NCLB), southern rust, gray leaf spot and anthracnose stalk rot. This results in a two-point improvement in NCLB resistance and a three-point improvement in southern rust resistance.1
  2. Sustainability benefits: By helping reduce the need for fungicide applications, this trait offers potential sustainability benefits. Growers can decrease equipment use for spraying fungicides, leading to lower fuel consumption and reduced environmental impact.
  3. Increased plant health and yield potential: Improved resistance to multiple diseases enhances overall plant health, which can result in increased yield potential. Healthier plants are better able to withstand disease pressures and environmental stressors, contributing to higher productivity. 
  4. Breeding flexibility: The MDR trait allows breeders to focus on increasing yield potential and selecting hybrids with other performance characteristics important to growers. This f lexibility enables the development of elite hybrids that meet diverse agricultural needs.

Proprietary technology

The MDR trait is a proprietary technology developed by Corteva. It represents a significant advancement in corn breeding, providing a comprehensive solution for managing multiple diseases in corn. By integrating this trait into elite hybrids, Corteva is helping growers achieve better disease control, improved sustainability and higher yield potential. Pending regulatory approval, the MDR trait is expected to launch around the end of the decade. 

Accelerating native genetics for disease control 

The MDR trait leverages the assembly of native resistance genes co-located at a single targeted location in the genome. This approach builds off germplasm advantages and improves genetic gain by unlocking the additional power of native genetics through gene editing.

By targeting multiple diseases with multiple native genes for each disease, this method enhances resistance and adds durability to the hybrids. Simplified genetics, assembled through gene editing, accelerate the plant breeding process and simplify grower product selection. This streamlined approach not only improves the efficiency of breeding programs but also ensures that growers have access to robust, diseaseresistant hybrids that meet their specific needs.

 

1 Proof of concept 9-point scale. 

2 Corteva Agriscience research study, 2023 Union City, TN. Non-edited isogenic hybrid vs hybrid containing edits for northern corn leaf blight and southern rust resistance, natural southern rust resistance inoculation.

 

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