The microbial saccharification technology will apply as a research subject and lead the project, and advancement will render through corporate collaboration. With the economic development of developing countries, agricultural waste has also made its diversification, and our research will focus on the utilization of waste containing protein components from the food processing industry. This research will reveal the efficient decomposition mechanism of agricultural waste containing proteins that cannot be decomposed by ordinary cellulolytic bacteria. Therefore, we invite a researcher from developing regions to accelerate this research and improve the skills of invited researcher and utilizing the value of agricultural waste in their home country and revitalization of research fields.

The BNI function of maize was discovered and elucidated during the previous MLTP, and further identification of hydrophobic BNI compounds was achieved. However, since maize BNI is still an emerging stage, we had fewer baseline data on maize BNI. At the same time, double haploid (DH) populations are being developed (under CRP-MAIZE) for identifying genetic markers linked with ‘zeanone’, a powerful hydrophobic BNI compound released from maize roots.  We are aiming to develop applicable maize BNI technology from scientific findings, therefore we need to obtain a basic understanding of maize BNI function, including nitrogen metabolism using parental lines used for developing DH population and germplasm for further development of maize BNI technology. Since the “BNI-system” project has activities on BNI compounds of maize, we aim for synergistic collaboration with the fellowship activities.

JIRCAS and its collaborators have reported the draft genome sequence of quinoa for the first time in the world (Press release 2016), revealed the genotype-dependent phenotypic landscape of quinoa in salt tolerance and key growth traits (Press release 2020), and developed the virus-mediated transient expression system that enables functional genomics studies in quinoa (Press release 2021). In this project, we will utilize these world-leading research bases to elucidate the mechanism in response to drought and high salinity stresses in quinoa, focusing on ABA signaling, which plays a key role in stress responses. There is an urgent need worldwide to train researchers who can elucidate the molecular basis for advanced crop design technology and lead to the development of crop design materials. 

JIRCAS has developed a method to evaluate resistance against Cercospora Leaf Blight (CLB) and identified some resistance soybean germplasm (Kashiwa et al. 2021). In the proposed research, we will conduct a genetic analysis of CLB resistance in some soybean genetic resources as candidates for differential varieties of CLB. Regarding the resistance of soybean to the pathogen: Cercospora kikuchii, the resistance locus, Rpss to the disease of the grains, is known, but there is no report for the resistance loci against leaf disease: CLB, which is one of the major problems of soybean cultivation in South America. Thus, if we can detect a new locus, the impact of the research will be significant. 

The aim of our research is to develop resilient soybean breeding materials with attractive agronomic traits for soybean producers. As yet, we have detected a QTL for increasing seed weight and biomass from wild soybean. In this study, by using a large segregation population, we will perform fine-mapping of the QTL for growth-promoting trait that is extremely attractive for soybean producers, and aim to identify the candidate gene underlying the QTL. In addition, the effect of the target gene for improving the yield potential will be evaluated under field conditions using the near-isogenic lines produced by DNA marker-assisted selection. Under such a case, we are planning to invite a researcher from the developing countries to accelerate this research, and to improve the skills of the invited researcher by learning the advanced crop generation technology and the genetic analysis methods for important agronomic traits. 

In the Africa rice farming system project, JIRCAS will seek microbial materials that contribute to improve the productivity of vegetables and legumes and develop the utilization technologies with the aim of increasing farmer’s income and nutrition besides reducing the environmental impact. This research theme will use microbial materials such as filamentous fungi that promote phosphorus absorption in cruciferous vegetables under phosphorus deficiency, narrow down the soil conditions and crop species for which these materials are effective, and establish a screening method for determining the presence or absence of the effect. The obtained results will play a vital role as basic knowledge for achieving the search for microbial materials and the development of utilization technologies.