Area firms sequence genome of soybean pest

Monsanto Inc. and Divergence Inc., both based in Creve Coeur, said Thursday they have cracked the genetic code of a soybean pest that causes $1 billion worth of crop loss in the United States each year.

The companies said they completed a draft sequence of the genome of the soybean cyst nematode, which is the most economically significant pest for U.S. soybean production. The nematode invades and drains nutrients from soybean roots, reducing yield.
The genome sequence helps scientists understand how the pest functions and grows, providing insight into how to combat it.

It “is a tremendous step forward in our process of developing a product to help farmers protect their soybean crops against a devastating pest,” said Steve Padgette, Monsanto’s vice president of biotechnology.

Monsanto in 2004 partnered with Divergence, a startup that recently graduated from the Nidus Center for Scientific Enterprise business incubator. The partnership was extended last year, but terms were not disclosed.

The draft sequence will be made available to the public through the National Center for Biotechnology Information website, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.

The companies are patenting certain discoveries made through the genome sequence. But they said that opening it up to the academic community will spur additional research and innovation.