Aimed at helping the natural rubber sector to develop management practices in disease control, an Advanced Molecular Plant Pathology Laboratory has been opened at the Rubber Research Institute of India, Kottayam.
Inaugurating the facility recently, K.N. Raghavan, executive director, Rubber Board, said the unit would be helpful in developing techniques for early detection of pathogens. The state-of-the-art facility comprises advanced equipment such as real-time PCR machine, high-speed centrifuge, gel documentation system, etc., for advanced research in the area of plant pathology.
The Plant Pathology Division, one of the earliest disciplines in the institute here, conducts research on identifying genes involved in disease resistance for their in cooperation in developing genetically modified (GM) rubber trees.
The works at the unit also include development of markers for disease tolerance and molecular exploration on plant-beneficial microbe interplay , among others.
