THE IDENTIFICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF SOUTHERN LEAF BLIGHT RESISTANCE GENES

The main objective of the proposed research project is to identify southern leaf blight (SLB) resistance genes and work toward elucidating their function. The specific objectives are: 1. Infect 10 highly resistant and 10 highly susceptible maize inbred lines with southern leaf blight (SLB). 2. Perform RNAseq analysis and combine results with the PI's global metabolomics data to perform multi-omic analyses. 3. Identify and functionally characterize candidate genes involved in maize resistance to SLB using mutants in genes of interest from publicly available collections such as the UniformMu population.