SBIR-STTR Award

Soilborne fungal pathogens Rhizoctonia and Pythium are major yield limiting factors in cereal production systems in the Pacific Northwest with an estimated $101 million loss per year due to th ese pathogens. The expected outcome is a more effective management system for these pathogens that provides risk models to the grower clientele. This will allow growers to choose disease resistant varieties according to the information through the growers risk advisory. OBJECTIVES: The Phase I proposal seeks to examine the technical feasability of adapting quantitative real time PCR assays for enhanced throughput analysis of three types of Rhizoctonia and three species of Pythium that are most pathogenic to PNW cereals. The expected output will be commercialization of the real time PCR technology developed in the laboratories of Dr. Pat Okubara and Dr. Tim Paulitz at the USDA-ARS Root Disease and Biological Research Unit at Pullman, Washington