Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists have bred new disease-resistant sugarbeet lines using cutting-edge genome mapping technologies. By adapting these new genomic lines and genomic tools, plant breeders are now able to greatly improve the sugarbeet’s tolerance to disease.
Fusarium Yellows is one of many fungal diseases that can result in extensive damage to the sugarbeet crop yield. The soil-borne fungus triggers wilting, yellowing, loss of leaves and a plant’s death. In 2023, Fusarium caused over $31 million dollars in economic losses for U.S. sugarbeet farmers, according to Kevin Dorn, a geneticist at the Soil Management and Sugarbeet Research Unit in Fort Collins, CO.
“Improving genetic resistance to disease has been the focus of ARS sugarbeet research for decades,” Dorn said.
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