The Agricultural Biotechnology Department of Ondokuz Mayıs University's (OMÜ) Faculty of Agriculture has had its research project accepted for support under the TÜBİTAK COST 2519 (1001) Program.

The project, "Development of a Tomato Genotype Tolerant to the Tomato Moth [Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae)] Using the CRISPR System," is led by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Musa Kavas from the Plant Biotechnology Department. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kubilay Yıldırım from the Faculty of Science's Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, and Assoc. Prof. Dr. İslam Saruhan from the Faculty of Agriculture's Department of Plant Protection are also contributing researchers.

Aim: Developing a Tomato Plant Tolerant to the Pest

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Musa Kavas explained the project's goal is to develop a tomato plant tolerant to the tomato moth, a significant pest in both open field and greenhouse tomato cultivation. "The moth's larvae damage all parts of the tomato plant, except the root, at every stage. They feed on the fruit, leaves, stems, and shoots after emerging from the egg. The larvae feed between the two epidermis layers of the tomato leaves, creating galleries. This pest can cause up to 50% or even 100% crop loss in dense populations. The pest's entire life cycle can occur on tomato fruits, making it easily transferable via tomato fruits, seedlings, transport materials, and vehicles. This TÜBİTAK-funded project aims to develop a moth-tolerant tomato plant using CRISPR genome editing technology."

Another Project Also Receives Support

In addition to this project, another initiative funded under the TÜBİTAK 1001 program is underway. Using the CRISPR-Combo system, this project focuses on developing tomato plants tolerant to root-knot nematodes, also conducted by the Department of Plant Biotechnology in the Agricultural Biotechnology Department.