GetGenome to partner in Wheat Pathogen Surveillance collaboration

Through a new Call For Projects campaign, GGSponsoredProjects, GetGenome can announce they will be contributing to one of the world’s largest crop pathogen surveillance systems as part of an international collaboration constituting 23 institutes.

CIMMYT launched the Wheat Disease Early Warning Advisory System (Wheat DEWAS), funded through a $7.3 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, to enhance crop resilience to wheat diseases. GetGenome is a named partner on the project and will support the genomics efforts.

The combination of rapid identification of emerging variants together with pathotyping to assess the variants’ potential to impact the plant will inform stakeholders of the risks variants pose to wheat production. This information will also inform the generation of a list of "variants of concern". This data will be shared with project partners and contribute to the deployment of effective disease management strategies as well as contribute to the growing body of openly-accessible resources available to the research community.

Cover image taken by Matt Heaton