The Indo-French Centre for the Promotion of Advanced Research (IFCPAR/CEFIPRA) has sanctioned an advanced research project to study Corynespora leaf fall disease of natural rubber in collaboration with the Rubber Board.
The research project entitled ‘Dissecting the complex plant pathogen interaction network through a multi-omics integrative approach’to understand the Corynespora leaf fall disease development in rubber and identify candidate genes for molecular breeding’ is for a period of three years, and the sanctioned amount is ₹1.62 crore.
Corynespora leaf disease of the rubber tree is caused by the fungus Corynespora cassiicola, a major threat to natural rubber production in Asia. The susceptibility of high-yielding rubber clones is a major constraint as it causes yield loss due to repeated leaf fall.
The Indo-French collaborative research project adopts a Multi-omics approach (transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics) to investigate complex biological processes in the host generated by the pathogen and regulated at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels during the host-pathogen interactions.
The project aims to identify and discard rubber clones carrying susceptibility factors that could favour an epidemic burst of the disease under specific environmental conditions.
The principal investigators of the project are Bindu Roy (Principal Scientist, Rubber Research Institute of India- RRII) and Valerie Pujade Renaud (Senior Scientist, French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development).