PLANT
BREEDING NEWS
EDITION 151
23 November 2004
An Electronic Newsletter of Applied Plant Breeding
Sponsored by FAO and Cornell University
Clair H. Hershey, Editor
CONTENTS
1. NEWS, ANNOUNCEMENTS AND RESEARCH NOTES
1.01 The Father of Rice Revolution:
Dr Gurdev Singh Khush
1.02 The Next Green Revolution
1.03 The Global Crop Diversity
Trust enters into force
1.04
Consultation on proposed amendments to the Plant Breeders' Rights Act of Canada
1.05
India's new patent regime may pose challenges to farm sector
1.06
Plants and Intellectual Property: An International Appraisal
1.07
Wheat, maize and food security
1.08
Conventional plant breeding in US Senate draft appropriations bill
1.09
Brazilian farmers will be allowed to plant genetically modified soybeans
1.10 China
could release GMO rice as early next year
1.11 Transgenic
crop planting area in China approaches 3 million hectares
1.12 ICRISAT
'harnesses biotech for the poor'
1.13 AgBioForum
special issue: Progress, achievements and constraints for plant biotechnology
in developing countries
1.14 Invitation to support an open
letter to DG of FAO
1.15
Fortified Food: Complex Regulatory Issues Make It A Distant Dream
1.16 Scottish
Crop Research Institute scientists boost potato carotenoid levels almost
6 fold
1.17
Warning issued on GM maize imported to Mexico
1.18 U.S.
calls NAFTA Environmental Report "flawed, unscientific"
1.19 CGIAR draft guidelines for
GMO detection in genebanks
1.20 Sterile
male potatoes 'make GM field trials safe'
1.21
Fungus resistance genes found in tomatoes
1.22
Possible aphid resistance in soy traced to gene
1.23 USDA confirms soybean rust in United States
1.24 Defense mechanisms in some plants believed
bred out by humans
1.25 Scientists using DNA to detect pathogens on
seeds - New method will be much quicker and more accurate than existing techniques
1.26 Understanding how plants silence their attackers
1.27 Gene found to help soybeans repel aphids
1.28 Key Plant Enzyme Defends Against Multiple Infections
1.29 Eco-friendly disc to store data on corn
1.30 New Way to Boost Grain Crops Drought Tolerance
1.31 Precision breeding: a new genetic technique
providing international opportunities for crop improvement
1.32 Conversion of flower organs into leaves
1.33 Researchers can cross non-interbreeding plants
1.34 Aluminium tolerance gene from wheat will accelerate
the development of crops that can handle soil acidity problem
1.35 Researchers uncover how infections combat plant
immune responses
1.36 Gene exchange between species is aided by parasitism
1.37 Latin American potato network to help Africa
and Asia
1.38 Strengthening Agricultural Research in Africa
1.39 Harnessing the power of partnership in wheat
improvement
1.40 National Barley Breeding Program to be created
in Australia
1.41 Update 10-2004 of FAO-BiotechNews
1.42 Update 11-2004 of FAO-BiotechNews
2. PUBLICATIONS
2.01 Mendel in the Kitchen: A Scientists View of
Genetically Modified Foods
2.02 Maintaining the genetic integrity of CIMMYT
seed collections: new maize and wheat gene bank operations manual
3. WEB RESOURCES
3.01 Overhauled site for Plantbreeding.org
3.02 The Sesame and Safflower Newsletter
3.03 Manihot illustrations available
4 GRANTS AVAILABLE
4.01 (None posted)
5
MEETINGS, COURSES AND WORKSHOPS
6
EDITOR'S NOTES
=========================
1. NEWS, ANNOUNCEMENTS AND RESEARCH NOTES
1.01 The Father of Rice Revolution: Dr Gurdev Singh
Khush
Dr Khush is one of the global leaders on crop breeding and a major brain
behind the development of productive rice varieties and the Green Revolution
in plant breeding. Born in the
Dr Khush, who joined the IRRI after postdoctoral studies on tomato breeding,
became principal plant breeder and head of the Plant Breeding, Genetics, and
Biochemistry Division, and took IRRI to the vanguard of developing 300 new
rice varieties and trigger the green revolution in
http://www.biospectrumindia.com/content/shakers/10410051.asp
Source: BioSpectrum (
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1.02 The Next Green Revolution
As a result of the Green Revolution in the 1960's, 70's and 80's, crop yields
soared in
Tropical
For better harvests,
Unlike the Green Revolution of the 60's, an African Green Revolution doesn't
have to be based on technologies and practices that hurt the environment.
Land can be reclaimed not only through appropriate fertilization but through
more environmentally sensitive techniques. For starters, there's agro-forestry,
which involves planting trees that replenish the soil with nutrients like
nitrogen. Farmers could also learn low-till or no-till farming techniques
and be encouraged to plant pest-tolerant crops, which would cut down on insecticide
and pesticide use.
What's more, small-scale irrigation projects like ones under way in northern
Ethiopia can bring water to parched areas more effectively and economically
than the large, expensive dam projects of old. Finally, after soil and water
are taken care of, biotechnology can help, by fortifying African food crops
against droughts and pests, and by increasing the nutritional content of staple
foods.
A rise in crop yields would do more than end hunger. Raising the productivity
of Africa's villages would also raise the status of the women on the continent.
Women do much of the farming in Africa today, growing 80 percent of the food
there - and they work mostly without tools or modern technologies. If farming
was easier, women would be freer to find work off the farm, more girls would
be able to stay in school and children would have better food to eat. History
has shown that women's empowerment in turn leads to lower population growth
and to advances in children's health and education. In addition, using locally
grown foods in feeding programs for infants and children will generate additional
demand, helping African agriculture to strengthen itself.
Given the possible rewards of African renewal, the price tag is small. Key
investments on the order of $50 per person per year in tropical African villages
would put the continent on the path to long-term sustainable development.
Additional annual aid from the developed world might therefore be around $25
billion, a small fraction of what we spend over the long run on emergency
food aid, disease epidemics and fighting terrorism and violence in failed
states.
If we take these simple steps - and promote good governance in African countries
- the continent has the potential to go from basket case to trading partner.
A sign I saw at a Florida bait shop says it all: "Give people a fish
and they will eat for a day; teach people how to fish and they will eat for
their lifetime and ...they will buy fishing equipment."
Pedro Sanchez, a 2004 MacArthur fellow, directs the Tropical Agriculture Program
of the Earth Institute at Columbia University.
Source: New York Times, via AgBioView
6 October 2004
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1.03 The Global Crop Diversity Trust enters into
force
Rome, Italy - -The Global Crop Diversity Trust, an initiative to conserve
in perpetuity the Earth's most crucial agricultural biodiversity, entered
into force on 21 October 2004 as an independent international organization.
-Link to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization: http://www.fao.org
-Link to the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)
http://www.cgiar.org
-Link to International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) http://www.ipgri.cgiar.org
-Link to the Global Crop Diversity Trust: http://www.startwithaseed.org
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1.04 Consultation on proposed amendments to the
Plant Breeders' Rights Act of Canada
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency
(CFIA) has launched an internet-based public consultation on proposed amendments
to the Plant Breeders' Rights Act. A consultation discussion paper
is available for review on the CFIA Web site at www.inspection.gc.ca/english/plaveg/pbrpov/pbrpove.shtml.
Plant Breeders' Rights (PBR) is a form of intellectual property rights that
provides plant breeders with exclusive rights to produce and sell propagating
material, e.g. seed, cuttings, etc., of their new plant varieties. Amendments
to the PBR Act are necessary for Canada to ratify the 1991 Convention of
the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants
(UPOV). Canada is one of 57 countries which are members of UPOV, including
the United States, Australia, United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands and
Japan. The PBR Act is administered in Canada by the CFIA.
The issues presented in the discussion paper include, among others:
-extending the minimum period of variety protection;
-extending rights to include cleaning, exporting and importing propagating
material of a variety;
-allowing one year of sale of a variety prior to application;
-allowing commerical sales of a variety under interim protection while the
application is pending; and
-exceptions to the breeders right (e.g. farmers' right to save seed for their
own use, and the use of protected varieties for plant breeding and research)
The consultation discussion paper was prepared in consultation with the Minister
of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's PBR Advisory Committee, which assists
in the application of the PBR Act. The Advisory Committee includes representatives
of the Agricultural Institute of Canada, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture,
the Canadian Seed Growers' Association, the Canadian Seed Trade Association,
the Research Branch of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the Canadian Horticultural
Council, Flowers Canada, and the Canadian Ornamental Plant Foundation.
All comments received during the 60-day consultation period will be reviewed
and considered in assessing the feasibility of proceeding with amendments
to the PBR Act.
Source: SeedQuest.com
8 November 2004
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1.05 India's new patent regime may pose challenges
to farm sector
India is set to amend its Patent Act, 1970 for the third time with a view
to meet its commitments to WTO by January 1, 2005. The amendments are proposed
to be consistent to the agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual
Property Rights (TRIPS - 1994).
Patent Act, 1970 was amended for the first time in 1999 and for the second
time in 2002 which came into effect from May 20, 2003. The third amendment
is slated to provide patent product regime in pharmaceuticals, food and chemicals,
including agro-chemicals. Granting patent rights over micro-organisms, microbiological
and non-biological processes for production of plants and animals are also
likely to be covered under the third amendment.
Though India opted for sui generis system for protection of varieties and
enacted a law for the purpose, it is likely that the transgenic seeds developed
through human intervention may be covered under the new patent regime. The
biotech industry in the country is eager to seek such a protection citing
Article 27 of the TRIPS agreement. The TRIPS agreement has stipulated three
criteria for patent rights namely novelty, inventive step and utility. In
tune with Article 27, the second amendment to the Patent Act effected from
May 20, 2003 has inserted a new definition of invention which reads : invention
means new product or process involving an inventive step and capable of industrial
applications.Though the second amendment has excluded plants from the patent
regime, it says that biotechnological processes to develop unique plants can
be covered under patents.
Keeping in view the past events and likely developments in the near future,
the upcoming third amendment to the Patent Act may, therefore, pose new challenges
before the farm sector. In this context, the policymakers has a duty to ensure
that several protections given to farmers like for saving seeds for the next
season under the Plant Varieties Protection & Farmers Rights Act are not
diluted. Similarly the community rights ensured under National Biodiversity
Act should not be ignored. The challenge, therefore, before the government
is to develop a holistic view of the entire intellectual property rights (IPR)
regime in the country. The second amendment to the Patent Act has a provision
for disclosure of the geographical origin of the biological material and notifying
certain depositories for biological inventions.
The TRIPS agreement has not defined micro-organisms and microbiological processes.
Here the question is whether the micro-organisms existing freely are patentable
or their mere isolation in pure form are patentable or human intervention
in establishing a level of novelty in the discovered micro-organism is needed
for patenting. The USPTO verdict of the case Diamond vs Chakraborty in 1980
establishes that human intervention leading to a novelty in expression can
be patented. It says : respondent's mico-organism plainly qualifies as patentable
subject matter. His claims is not to a hitherto unknown natural phenomenon,
but to a non-naturally occurring manufacture or composition of matter - a
product of human ingenuity having a distinctive name, character and use...
His discovery is not nature's handiwork, but his own...
Next question is whether a product produced by a micro-organism which is known
can be patentable or the process is patentable. In absence of clear definition
of micro-organism and micro-biological process in the TRIPS agreement, the
country's policymakers need to drawn a distinctive line between the product
of human intervention leading to novelty and those freely occurring in nature.
Claims in gene patent applications may pertain to genes or partial DNA sequences,
proteins encoded by these genes, vectors used for transfer of genes, genetically
modified micro-organisms, cells, plants and animals and the process of developing
a transgenic product. These may lead to multiple rights owned by multiple
actors called patent thickets over a final product. Hence there are problems
of not only patent thickets, but also of royalty stacking and reach-trough
claims. Reach-through claims are research tool patents such as patents on
markers, assays, receptors, transgenic animals. Reach-trough claims results
in royalty stacking. These complexities need to be resolved so that the farmers
does not end up paying heavy sum in royalty.
The food sector in the country will also have to face new challenges in the
new patent regime.
Different processes and products will become patentable. There is, therefore,
a need to document all the traditional processes as well as products with
a view to reduce the number of controversies over claims for patent rights.
Source: Financial Express
via SeedQuest.com
10 November 2004
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1.06 Plants and Intellectual Property: An International
Appraisal
The journal Science has just published
an article on intellectual property rights and their impact on agriculture
in developing countries. The lead author is IFPRI
research fellow Bonwoo Koo.
"Plants and Intellectual Property: An International Appraisal"
ABSTRACT
Much of the debate on the implications of intellectual property (IP) for protecting
plant varieties occurs in the absence of an understanding of the specifics
of the rights in particular jurisdictions, a practical sense of the rights
claimed or granted, and their evolution over time. Moreover, existing information
highlights rich-country developments, with little attention to developing
countries. This Policy Forum reviews the approaches to plant-related IP protection
worldwide, with data on the applications of plant breeders' rights, and discusses
possible implications of IP protection for food production and human health.
The briefs are available for download in PDF format as an entire document
or by individual brief.
Entire Set of Six Briefs
(PDF 1.6MB)
Brief 1: Policy, National Regulation, and International Standards for GM
Foods
by Peter W. B. Phillips
(PDF 72K)
Brief 2: Biotechnology, Trade, and Hunger
by Eugenio Díaz-Bonilla and Sherman Robinson
(PDF 57K)
Brief 3: Intellectual Property and Developing Countries: Freedom to Operate
in Agricultural Biotechnology
by Philip G. Pardey, Brian D. Wright, Carol Nottenburg, Eran Binenbaum,
and Patricia Zambrano
(PDF 93K)
Brief 4: Accessing Other People's Technology
by Carol Nottenburg, Philip G. Pardey, and Brian D. Wright
(PDF 92K)
Brief 5: Infringement of Intellectual Property Rights: Developing Countries,
Agricultural Biotechnology, and the TRIPs Agreement
by Konstantinos Giannakas
(PDF 66K)
Brief 6: Conserving Genetic Resources for Agriculture: Counting the Cost
by Bonwoo Koo, Philip G. Pardey, and Brian D.Wright
(PDF 94K)
For more information on this subject from IFPRI: http://www.ifpri.org/pubs/rag/br1001.htm
Source: SeedQuest.com
November 19, 2004
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1.07 Wheat, maize and food security
The International Maize and Wheat improvement Centre (CIMMYT) promotes
research on wheat and maize to increase food security in developing countries.
In this article, Masaru Iwanaga, CIMMYT's director-general, discusses
the importance of pushing research on the two cereals further, and of setting
up appropriate regulatory frameworks for genetically modified wheat and maize
crops.
Iwanaga describes the technological challenges that agricultural researchers
face, the role the private sector plays in bringing improved crops to poor
farmers, and how to overcome the public controversy surrounding genetically
modified crops. On this last point, he says biosafety regulations that are
the same across national borders are of key importance.
Link
to the full IFPRI Forum article
Source: SciDev.net
29 October 2004
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1.08 Conventional plant breeding in US Senate draft
appropriations bill
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=108_cong_reports&docid=f:sr340.108
Competitive Research Grants.--The Committee supports the National Research
Initiative Competitive Grants Program [NRI] and provides funding of $183,000,000
for the program, an increase of $18,973,000 from the fiscal year 2004 level.
The Committee includes a general provision to make 20 percent of these funds
available for a program under the same terms and conditions as those provided
in Section 401 of the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform
Act of 1998.
The Committee remains determined to see that quality research and enhanced
human resources development in the agricultural and related sciences be a
nationwide commitment. Therefore, the Committee continues its direction that
not less than 10 percent of the competitive research grant funds be used for
USDA's agricultural research enhancement awards program (including USDA-EPSCoR),
in accordance with 7 U.S.C. 450i.
(The following section by AMT)
Classical research.The committee notes the substantial increase in public
and private sector research related to genomics, genetics, and other breakthrough
biotechnology developments. However, this shift in emphasis has resulted in
a decline in classical research in the animal and plant sciences. The committee
encourages the department, especially in the establishment of priorities within
the national research initiative, to give consideration to research needs
related to classical plant and animal breeding.
Contributed by Ann Marie Thro
CSREES, USDA
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1.09 Brazilian farmers will be allowed to plant
genetically modified soybeans
SAO PAULO, Brazil -- Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva was
cited as approving a controversial executive order late Thursday allowing
farmers, just as the planting season in the world's second-largest soy producer
goes into high gear. The story says that the measure, published in an official
government newspaper Friday was contested by environmentalists, who want to
keep Brazil's ban on genetically modified crops because of fears they harm
the environment. The story says that the move was a victory for agriculture
biotechnology giant Monsanto Co., which needed the order to collect royalties
from Brazilian farmers who use cloned or smuggled versions of the company's
popular Roundup Ready seeds to cut production costs. The story explains that
after losing profits for years from widespread illicit use of genetically
modified soy seeds in Brazil, U.S.-based Monsanto started collecting the royalties
last year when a similar executive order was passed. Greenpeace was cited
as stating that Silva's government for again finding a way to legalize a crop
banned in 2000, adding, "It is a sign of disrespect to Brazilian society
to allow a variety of GM to continue being cultivated that hasn't passed an
adequate environmental review." The story adds that experts estimate
about 30 percent of Brazil's soy is grown with genetically engineered seeds,
but the figure is near 90 percent in Brazil's southernmost state, where the
seeds were first introduced in the 1990s after being smuggled in from neighboring
countries with no bans on them.
Source: Associated Press, October 15, 2004
Contributed by Elcio Guimaraes
FAO-AGPC
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1.10 China could release GMO rice as early
next year
China, the world's top producer and consumer of rice, could release its
genetically modified rice as early as next year, as pressure mounts to boost
domestic production and spur farmer income.
China has long been seen as the pioneer in GMO rice, while the plant has slipped
off the priority lists of Western private researchers who have focused their
efforts on other commodities such as soybeans, corn, cotton or wheat.
"This technology is more or less ready for commercialisation," Jikun
Huang, a director of the Centre for Chinese Agricultural Policy at the Chinese
Academy of Science, told Reuters.
"You cannot hold it back too long when you have invested a lot of money.
It would boost Chinese agricultural productivity and increase farmers' income,"
he said from Beijing.
Scientists in China believe Beijing is likely to give the green light for
commercialisation of insect and disease-resistant GMO rice as soon as next
year after more than six years of trials.
The move would be in stark contrast to Monsanto Co's decision in June to halt
controversial plans to introduce the world's first GMO wheat in Canada and
the United States
An official at the Ministry of Agriculture in Beijing declined to elaborate
but said field studies would take at least a year and there was no timetable
set for the commercialization.
Greenpeace is already concerned about China's next move, however.
"GMO rice poses risks to human health and irreversible environmental
threats," said Greenpeace spokesman Sze Pang Cheung.
"It can reproduce and interbreed with natural organisms, spreading to
new environments and future generations in an unpredictable and uncontrollable
way," he said in a statement.
GRAIN SHORTAGE WOES
China is already the world's top grower of insect resistant GMO cotton, known
as bacillus thuringiensis cotton, which has been effective in controlling
damage from the bollworm pest.
Dayuan Xue, professor at the Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences,
is concerned about GMO rice after studying the environmental impact of BT
cotton in China.
He fears GMO rice pollen could contaminate the other 75,000 conventional rice
varieties in China, the birthplace of rice.
"We are concerned about the commercialisation," he said. "The
gene-flow is a problem and it is dangerous."
Pressure to launch GMO rice comes at a time when Beijing faces a tough task
in raising the country's grain output and in narrowing the income gap between
farmers and urban citizens.
After 2003 grain production slid to 435 million tonnes from 457 million tonnes
the previous year and a record 512 million in 1998, Beijing is encouraging
farmers to grow more grain, such as rice or wheat.
China's 2004 rice crop is expected to rise to about 180 million tonnes from
about 161 million last year, the lowest since 1994. The output is helped by
many farmers in the south resuming growing early rice, but China still has
a supply deficit of about 10 million tonnes.
Some pro-GMO scientists believe biotechnology could really help Beijing's
efforts to boost production if it allows hybrid rice varieties, including
BT rice, cowpea trypsin inhibitor gene rice and disease resistant Xa21 rice.
Huang said field trials in Hunan and Fujian provinces showed GMO rice boosted
yields by 4 to 8 percent, and allowed an 80 percent drop in pesticide use,
he said.
"I estimate if China commercialises GMO rice now, by the year 2010 China
can gain nearly $4 billion per year," he said. "Consumers also get
benefits. When production rises, prices drop ... half of the benefit would
go to consumers."
Huang estimated China has spent 1.6 billion yuan ($193 million) on biotech
research in 2003 - double the figure three years earlier, with 200 million
yuan going on rice. But Xue was not as convinced
"Benefits would not be so big," he said. "The rice bollworm
is a problem in some provinces of China but not everywhere." (Additional
reporting by Niu Shuping in Beijing).
Source: Reuters via SeedQuest.com
19 October 2004
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1.11 Transgenic crop planting area in China
approaches 3 million hectares
The acreage planted to transgenic crops in China has increased sharply
since 1998 to reach nearly 3 million hectares by the end of 2003.
Most countries and areas in the world now plant transgenic crops, of which
the United States, Argentina, Canada, Brazil and China rank forefront.
According to Luo Yunbo, president of the Food College of the Chinese University
of Agricultural Sciences, the main transgenic crops in China are cotton, sweet
pepper, tomato and animal microorganism. At present, about 90 percent of the
cotton crop is from transgenic plants.
The transgenic crop planting areas mainly locate in East China's Anhui Province,
Beijing, North China's Hebei Province, central China's Henan Province, southeast
China's Fujian Province and East China's Jiangsu Province.
Recently, China has formulated 25 transgenic crop test standards and safety
evaluation standards, and 15 more are being formulated. China will also build
42 transgenic crop test institutions. The National Agricultural Transgenic
Plants Safety Office was established in 2001, responsible for transgenic food
safety.
Source: Xinhua News Agency via SeedQuest.com
1 November 2004
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1.12 ICRISAT 'harnesses biotech for the poor'
The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)
based in Hyderabad, India, is using biotechnological tools to improve the
performance of orphan and poor man's crops like groundnut, pearl millet, chickpea,
and pigeonpea. Dr. Farid Waliyar, head of the biotechnology program at ICRISAT,
told South Asia journalists attending a media workshop that transgenic work
is being done only for major and widely distributed stresses, and when no
sources of resistance are available in cultivated germplasm.
Waliyar enumerated ICRISAT's biotech research projects, among them being
enhanced drought tolerance of mandated crops; improved crop resistance to
pests (shoot fly, stem borer, Striga in cereals; pod borers in legumes); increased
crop resistance to viral, bacterial, and fungal plant pathogens; better food,
feed, and fodder quality plus efficient hybrid seed production systems; and
more efficient conservation and utilization of germplasm resources.
Dr. Kiran Sharma, head of the transformation laboratory, reported that the
first ICRISAT transgenics are now in contained field trials. These are groundnut
transgenics with resistance to the Indian peanut clump virus, and pigeonpea
transgenics for legume pod borer. For more information on ICRISAT's work on
transgenic crops, email Kiran Sharma at k.Sharma@cgiar.org.
Source: Crop Biotech Update, www.isaaa.org/kc
October 15, 2004
Contributed by Elcio Guimaraes
FAO-AGPC
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1.13 AgBioForum special issue: Progress,
achievements and constraints for plant biotechnology in developing countries
http://www.agbioforum.org
Guest editors: Nigel Taylor, Lawrence Kent, and Claude Fauquet Volume 7, Number
1 & 2, 2004
Preface: Continuing the Effort - R.N. Beachy
Plant Biotechnology in Asia - R.A. Hautea & M. Escaler
The Status of Plant Biotechnology in Africa - J.A. Thomson
Agricultural Applications of Biotechnology and the Potential for Biodiversity
Valorization in Latin America and the Caribbean - W. Roca, C. Espinoza, &
A. Panta
Prospects for Bt Cotton Technology in India - R.B. Barwale, V.R. Gadwal, U.
Zehr, & B. Zehr
Global Impact of Insect-Resistant (Bt) Cotton - J.P. Purcell & F.J. Perlak
Rice Biotechnology: A Need for Developing Countries - S.K. Datta
Transgenic Papaya in Hawaii and Beyond - D. Gonsalves
The Potato Story - W.K. Kaniewski & P.E. Thomas
The Challenges and Potential for Future Agronomic Traits in Soybeans - T.
Conner, E.H. Paschal, A. Barbero, & E. Johnson
Progress and Challenges for the Deployment of Transgenic Technologies in Cassava
- N. Taylor, L. Kent, & C. Fauquet
Transgenic Cotton in Mexico - G. Traxler & S. Godoy-Avila
What's the Holdup? Addressing Constraints to the Use of Plant Biotechnology
in Developing Countries - L. Kent
Consumer Acceptance of Genetically Modified Food Products in the
Developing World - K.R. Curtis, J.J. - McCluskey, & T.I. Wahl
Social Constraints on Crop Biotechnology in Developing Countries - G.D. Stone
Why We Partner: Collaborations Between the Private and Public Sectors for
Food Security and Poverty Alleviation through Agricultural Biotechnology -
R. Horsch & J. Montgomery
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1.14 Invitation to support an open letter to DG
of FAO
The International Consortium on Agricultural Biotechnology Research has
taken the initiative of writing an open letter to the DG of FAO in support
of a recent report that this organization has produced on agricultural biotechnology.
Up to now this letter has been subscribed by almost 700 scientists (economists
and biologists ).The letter and the list of current signatories can be found
at the following web page: We are still collecting supporting signatures.
http://www.economia.uniroma2.it/conferenze/icabr2004/
From this page it can be downloaded also the FAO's Report on biotech (Sosa
2003 - 2004).
Prof. Vittorio Santaniello
Department of Economics and Institutions
University of Rome " Tor Vergata "
Via Columbia 2
00133, Rome
Italy
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1.15 Fortified Food: Complex Regulatory Issues Make
It A Distant Dream
Biofortified foods research in the country might see the fruits only after
a decade. It might be a distant dream to have fortified foods for the poor.
Complex regulatory issues are among the reasons behind the delay, experts
say.
While the agenda is indeed to provide food to the poor, having the tools of
biotechnology through tissue culture, marker-assisted selection, comparative
and functional genomics and genetic engineering, which are the inevitable
waves of the future, it might take long before it fructifies, according to
Dr KK Sharma, scientist, at the International Crops Research Institute for
the Semi-arid Tropics (ICRISAT). There were many issues in plant genetic engineering
which were yet to be discussed, he said.
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), in coordination with the
Directorate of Rice Research, along with few state agricultural universities
is working to develop Golden Rice containing higher levels of Beta Carotene
targeting Vitamin A deficiency among the masses.
Under the HarvestPlus programme, ICRISAT has also proposed to work on edible
vaccines for rabies and Vitamin A for improving Beta Carotene levels in groundnut
and improving sulphur amino acids in pigeonpea.The research aimed to make
not only "Golden Rice", but also Golden Mustard and Golden Peanuts,
he said.
Highlighting transgenics, Dr Sharma pointed out the next generation of transgenic
crops will be marker-free transgenic plants, plant-based vaccines, enhanced
nutritional content, plant-derived plastics and polymers, besides controlled
gene expressions.
While agricultural biotechnology has the potential to reduce levels of natural
toxins in plants, provide simpler and faster ways to identify and remove pathogens
and increase food supply to support growing world population and decreasing
agricultural space, Dr Sharma also cautions on the risk assessment of transgenics.
There has to be precision in plant breeding, which will take care of deploying
transgenics else the risks might be very high, he said.
Dr Sharma informed that some of the bottlenecks are lack of efficient protocols
for transformation and genomics, availability of novel genes and effective
promoters, lack of scientists, research facilities and lack of proper biosafety
regulations in most developing countries of Asia and Africa. http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=71162
Source: Financial Express (India), via AgBioView
12 Oct 2004
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1.16 Scottish Crop Research Institute scientists boost potato
carotenoid levels almost 6 fold
Invergowrie, Scotland
Various fruits and vegetables are attractive to consumers due to their eye-catching
colours. The idea that some of these self-same colours might be indicators
of health giving or protective properties is being studied at the Scottish Crop Research Institute.
The red, orange and yellow colours of fruit and vegetables, such as carrots,
citrus fruits, peppers and tomatoes are mainly due to pigments called carotenoids
Carotenoids are believed to protect against cancer, heart disease and deterioration
of eyesight in the aged. More than 250 million people mostly in the third
world are deficient in carotenoids such as beta-carotene, increasing risks
of child blindness, immune problems and other serious conditions. Potatoes
are eaten daily by millions worldwide, yet the vast majority of varieties
have zero or very low levels of carotenoids, hence the white or very pale
yellow colouration.
A scientific paper just published in the Journal
of Experimental Botany describes how scientists at SCRI have used biotechnology
to boost potato carotenoid levels almost 6 fold, increasing the amount of
beta-carotene to levels higher than in Golden Rice which is also being developed
to aid nutrient deficiencies in the third world.
SCRI scientists hope to transfer improvements in the nutritional fortificationof
potato to developing countries if a multi million dollar bid to the Bill and
Melinda Gates Global Challenge in Human Health Programme is successful.
Professor Howard Davies, one of the co-ordinators of a European Commissions
SAFE FOODS consortium and leader of the Gates Foundation bid said Where potato
is an important staple crop nutritional enhancement will provide major
benefits. This is not always possible using traditional breeding approaches.
However, it is up to individual developing countries to decide how to use
the technologies.
Dr Mark Taylor, the research leader for this project at SCRI, said This development
is a breakthrough and shows the potential we have to use biotechnology to
improve levels of important nutrients in a staple part of our diet.
Publication details of the scientific paper:
Metabolic engineering of high carotenoid potato tubers containing enhanced
levels of beta-carotene and lutein.
Laurence J.M. Ducreux, Wayne L. Morris, Peter E. Hedley, Tom Shepherd, Howard
V. Davies, Steve Millam and Mark A. Taylor (2004)
JXB Advance Access published on November 8, 2004 doi:10.1093/jxb/eri016
Source: SeedQuest.com
November 15, 2004
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1.17 Warning issued on GM maize imported to Mexico
Genes from genetically modified (GM) maize imported into Mexico from the
United States have entered local varieties, are likely to spread, and will
be very difficult to remove, according to a major report released this week.
It says that while there is no evidence that the genes pose threats to human
health or the environment, action should be taken to reduce the risk of them
spreading and to conserve the biodiversity of maize varieties in Mexico.
The report was released on Monday (08 November) by the North American Commission
for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), which was set by the North American Free
Trade Agreement and reports to the governments of Canada, Mexico and the United
States. The CEC estimates that 25-30 per cent of maize imported into Mexico
for human or animal consumption is genetically modified. It warns that small-scale
farmers could experimentally plant the grain that government agencies have
distributed to rural communities. The resulting plants could then pollinate
local varieties growing nearby.
Any genes transferred in this way could persist indefinitely if they are beneficial
or neutral to the local varieties and their removal "is likely to be
very difficult and may in fact be impossible", says the report.
However, it notes that it is unlikely that the transfer of a small number
of individual genes have any "major biological effect" on the genetic
diversity of Mexican maize. It goes on to say that transgenic maize did not
appear to have any effect on other plants and animals such as insects found
in Mexican maize fields, but that specific studies have still to be conducted.
The CEC's 16-member panel which includes a former executive of the Monsanto
company and the chair of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
made a series of unanimous recommendations.
The panel said transgenic maize imported to Mexico should be labelled, and
milled at the point of entry to prevent genes from spreading to native varieties.
The genetic modification of maize to produce pharmaceuticals or industrial
compounds that are incompatible with food and feed should also be prohibited,
they say.
Efforts to protect Mexican maize varieties should be supported, according
to the CEC. To this end it recommends the development of a quality assured
seed programme from which farmers could not only acquire seeds but could also
have their own seeds tested for presence of foreign genes.
In a joint statement issued in response to the CEC report, the US Environmental
Protection Agency and the United States Trade Representative called the report
"fundamentally flawed and unscientific".
"Key recommendations are not based on sound science, and are contradicted
by the report's own scientific findings," says the statement. "Implementing
many of the report's recommendations would cause economic harm to farmers
and consumers in all NAFTA countries and restrict international trade."
Source: SciDev.net
10 November 2004
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1.18 U.S. calls NAFTA Environmental Report "flawed,
unscientific"
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,Washington, D.C.
Office of the U.S. Trade Representative,Washington, D.C.
Joint statement
November 8, 2004
Washington, D.C. -- (November 8, 2004)
The United States issued the following Administration statement regarding
the Secretariat of the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation
(CEC) report on genetically modified maize (corn) "Maize and Biodiversity:
The Effects of Transgenic Maize in Mexico" released today. The Environmental
Protection Agency and the United States Trade Representative issued this joint
statement.
"This report is fundamentally flawed and unscientific; key recommendations
are not based on sound science, and are contradicted by the report's own scientific
findings. The authors acknowledge that no economic analysis of their recommendations
was conducted, and that many of these recommendations are based solely on
socio-cultural considerations.
"While the report's authors recommend that biotech maize be treated differently
from other modern maize hybrids, science tells us the opposite. In fact, the
findings of this report echo the prevailing science, supporting our view that
biotech maize will have no greater or lesser effect on maize genetic diversity
than other modern maize hybrids.
"The report also fails to consider the potential benefits of biotechnology.
As the national science academies of Mexico, the United States, the United
Kingdom, Brazil, China and India noted in a joint report, 'GM technology should
be used to increase the production of main food staples, improve the efficiency
of production, reduce the environmental impact of agriculture and provide
access to food for small-scale farmers.' Biotechnology offers the world enormous
opportunities to combat hunger and protect the environment.
"Implementing many of the report's recommendations would cause economic
harm to farmers and consumers in all NAFTA countries and restrict international
trade. For example, requiring U.S. corn exports to Mexico to be milled at
the border would increase the cost of U.S. corn significantly, negatively
affecting Mexico's livestock producers and consumers. Milling corn before
transport also raises quality concerns and increases shipping costs, exacerbating
the problem. Perhaps most troubling, the report itself acknowledges that this
and other recommendations would do nothing to preserve maize biodiversity.
"We are disappointed that this report was leaked before the United States,
Canada or Mexico had a full opportunity to review it, and that a member of
the Advisory Group spoke publicly about the report before its official release.
The final report was delivered to the Parties on Sept. 14. We take these issues
seriously and have been using the designated 60-day review guideline to develop
a thoughtful response which would ensure that the public is fully informed
of the nature of the recommendations in this report. Some have suggested the
United States sought to delay or obstruct its release. Nothing could be farther
from the truth. Rather the United States and other Parties were simply adhering
to the review procedures associated with reports of this nature. While we
disagree with many aspects of the report, we believe that our substantive
response will set the record straight on this issue."
Source: AgBioView
9 November 2004
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1.19 CGIAR draft guidelines for GMO detection in genebanks
The Genetic Resources Policy Committee (GRPC) and the Science Council
of the CGIAR organized the workshop Technical issues associated with the development
of CGIAR policies to address the possibility of adventitious presence of transgenes
in CGIAR ex situ collections from 30 August-1 September 2004 in Rome, Italy.
The meeting was attended by technical experts from within and outside the
Future Harvest centers, including CIMMYT. Representatives of all stakeholders,
including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the
private sector, NGOs and farmers were also invited. They explored ways and
means to handle the unintentional presence of transgenes in germplasm collections,
with the goal of providing technical inputs into a process that would enable
each of the Future Harvest Centre genebanks to draw up procedures aimed at
preventing the unintentional introgression of transgenes into the collections.
Based on the technical information from the workshop, the Genetic Resources
Policy Committee drew up the draft guidelines.
These draft guidelines are being circulated widely for further consultation
and input by all stakeholders, with the expectation that a final version will
be issued before April 2005. The individual Future Harvest genebanks of the
CGIAR will then use the guidelines to draw up their policies.
CIMMYT has already implemented additional
testing and other measures to address concerns about transgenes and its germplasm
collections. Most recently, CIMMYT produced an updated operations manual,
to further enhance and strengthen the collection and screening activities
of its genebanks.
http://www.cimmyt.org/english/docs/manual/genebank/contents.htm
Click here
to see CGIAR draft guidelines for GMO detection in gene banks.
Source: CIMMYT news via SeedQuest.com
November 2004
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1.20 Sterile male potatoes 'make GM field trials
safe'
http://www.scidev.net/gateways/index.cfm?fuseaction=readitem&rgwid=3&item=News&itemid=1731&language=1
A genetically modified (GM) variety of potato able to resist a major crop
pest does not threaten other organisms, and because the plants produce no
viable pollen is unlikely to pass genes to related varieties, according to
research published yesterday (11 November) in Nature.
The researchers, led by Howard Atkinson at the University of Leeds, UK, say
their method ensures biosafety without challenging the value of the precautionary
approach to the introduction of GM crops in regions where many closely related
species exist. The precautionary approach could, according to the Nuffield
Centre of Bioethics, prevent poor farmers and consumers in developing countries
from reaping the potential benefits of modified crops.
Atkinson and colleagues in Bolivia, Peru, and The Netherlands inserted a gene
from rice into potatoes to protect them from a microscopic nematode worm that
causes tens of millions of dollars of damage in Andean countries by reducing
crop yields.
The gene produces a protein cystatin that interferes with the nematode's ability
to digest protein in its diet. By ensuring that the gene is only active in
potato roots and not the part of the plant above ground, or the potato tuber
itself, the researchers minimised its potential for interaction with non-target
species.
The gene would therefore not enter the human food chain, although cystatins
already occur in the human diet in rice and maize and are also present in
saliva, so are considered unlikely to pose risks to human health.
By comparing the insects and microbes associated with GM potatoes, non-GM
potatoes and other non-GM crops, the researchers showed that the addition
of the rice gene had no more effect on non-target organisms than common agricultural
practices such as choice of crop.
However, they found that pollen from GM potatoes can spread over short distances
to related varieties and species, giving rise to hybrid offspring carrying
modified genes. Because the gene protecting GM potatoes from nematodes might
also benefit these relatives, there is a risk of such plants becoming invasive.
To overcome this problem, the researchers inserted the rice gene into a variety
of potato called Revolucion. Potatoes have male and female parts in the same
flower but Revolucion is 'male sterile'. It fails to produce viable pollen
and cannot pollinate other potato plants or their wild relatives. This, say
the researchers, "provides a basis for initial field trials of nematode
resistance or other traits of value without gene flow from the potato on trial".
"This approach is practical for crops such as potato and banana that
can reproduce asexually," says Atkinson.
Yesterday's paper in Nature, written by Carolina Celis of Wageningen University
in The Netherlands, says that transgenic planting of potatoes in the Andes
should be limited to male sterile cultivars until concerns about possible
spread of genes to related species are investigated experimentally. Celis
and colleagues say the findings mean there is no need to invoke the precautionary
principle to bar field trials of their GM potatoes.
"We seek to carry out field trials of the technology for potato and banana
in areas where no wild relatives exist, such as in China in the case of potato,"
Atkinson told SciDev.Net. "We would also like to test Revolucion under
field conditions in the Andes in isolation from other related plants to assess
the benefits and to show a lack of environmental impact on non-target organisms".
Source: SciDev.Net via AgBioView
12 November 2004
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1.21 Fungus resistance genes found in tomatoes
The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research reports that Dutch
researcher Marco Kruijt has discovered two genes, Cf-4 and Cf-9, which provide
resistance against the fungus Cladosporium fulvum in several wild tomato species.
Cladosporium fulvum causes a fungal disease in tomato plants.
Kruijt explained that the fungus was probably already a pathogen of the ancestral
tomato species, and the resistance genes may have been retained in various
modern wild tomato species. He also demonstrated that DNA exchange between
the various Cf genes has led to a new Cf resistance gene.
Email Marco Kruijt at marco.kruijt@wur.nl
for more information regarding his research.
Source: Crop Biotech Update, www.isaaa.org/kc
15 October 2004
Contributed by Margaret E. Smith
Dept. of Plant Breeding & Genetics,Cornell University
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1.22 Possible aphid resistance in soy traced to
gene
Researchers at the University of Illinois have recently identified a single-gene
source of aphid resistance in soybean. The gene, tentatively designated Rag1,
is dominant, making it easy to introduce into commercial varieties by backcrossing
using marker-assisted selection.
Current cultivars do not contain the gene, but testing on ancestral lines
stored in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Soybean Germplasm Collection
revealed that two varieties - Jackson and Dowling - carried the aphid resistance
gene. The lines, however, have not been commercially available for the last
30 years.
Aphids can decrease soybean yield by stunting plants, transmitting viruses,
distorting leaves, and reducing seeds in a soybean pod set. Infestations can
be controlled by insecticides, which can cost as much as 20 to 25 dollars
per acre to spray. With the recent discovery, as well as the potential ease
with which the trait can be introduced into commercial lines, researchers
predict that soybean seeds with the resistance gene may be available on the
market within the next 5 years.
For more information, visit the National Soybean Research Laboratory at http://www.otm.uiuc.edu/techs/techdetail.asp?id=267.
Read the complete article at http://web.aces.uiuc.edu/news/stories/news2857.html.
Source: CropBiotech Update, 5 November 2004
Contributed by Margaret E. Smith
Dept. of Plant Breeding & Genetics, Cornell University
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1.23 USDA confirms soybean rust in United States
WASHINGTON, Nov. 10, 2004 The U.S. Department of Agricultures Animal and
Plant Health Inspection Service today confirmed the presence of soybean rust
on soybean leaf samples taken from two plots associated with a Louisiana State
University research farm Saturday.
While this is the first instance of soybean rust to be found in the United
States, the detection comes at a time when most soybeans have been harvested
across the country. As a result of the harvest, the impact of the fungus should
be minimal this year.
Soybean rust is caused by either of two fungal species, Phakopsora pachyrhizi,
also known as the Asian species, and Phakopsora meibomiae, the New
World species. The Asian species, the one found in Louisiana, is the more
aggressive of the two species, causing more damage to soybean plants.
USDA will dispatch its soybean rust detection assessment team, composed of
scientific experts and regulatory officials, to the site within 24 hours.
The assessment team will work closely with Louisiana State Department of Agriculture
representatives to assess the situation and conduct surveillance around the
detection site to determine the extent of the disease spread.
Soybean rust is spread primarily by wind-borne spores capable of being transported
over long distances. At this point in time, based on predictive models, APHIS
believes that the detection in the U.S. is related to this years very active
hurricane season. While the harvest for this year is complete, during next
years planting season, producers will need to watch for symptoms of the fungus
such as small lesions on the lower leaves of the infected plant that increase
in size and change from gray to tan or reddish brown on the undersides of
the leaves. USDA and the soybean industry have been cooperating on awareness
efforts and will amplify those efforts now that the disease has been found
in this country. Lesions are most common on leaves but may occur on petioles,
stems, and pods. Soybean rust produces two types of lesions, tan and reddish
brown. Tan lesions, when mature, consist of small pustules surrounded by slightly
discolored necrotic area with masses of tan spores on the lower leaf surface.
Reddish brown lesions have a larger reddish brown necrotic area, with a limited
number of pustules and few visible spores on the lower leaf surface. Once
pod set begins on soybean, infection can spread rapidly to the middle and
upper leaves of the plant.
Soybean rust can be managed with the judicious use of fungicides. However,
early detection is required for the most effective management of soybean rust.
Monitoring soybean fields and adjacent areas is recommended throughout the
growing season.
Fungicide applications can reduce yield loss, depending on the plant developmental
stage, time when soybean rust is detected, and fungicide application method.
Efficacy information for producers on fungicides is available through state
university extension services.
For more information, visit APHISsoybean rust hot issuesWeb site at
www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/issues/sbr/sbr.html.
Contributed by Ann Marie Thro
CSREES, USDA
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1.24 Defense mechanisms in some plants believed bred out by humans
Humans and animals have a "fight or flight" response to danger,
but plants can't flee. They originally had a built-in defense system to protect
them from bugs and injuries, but some plants that were cultivated to serve
humans' needs lost the ability to defend themselves. So costly pesticides
that are sometimes harmful to the environment now defend the plants from the
same things they used to be able to fight on their own.
Asim Esen, biology professor in Virginia Tech's College of Science, and David
R. Bevan, biochemistry professor in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences,
received a four-year, $711,000 grant from the National Science Foundation
to study the specific interaction between an enzyme and another protein, both
of which are believed to be involved in helping plants defend themselves against
pests. "If we can understand how the plant defense system works, we can
optimize it in such a way that plants can defend themselves without using
pesticides," Esen said.
"Plants have been around for millions of years and defended themselves
before chemical pesticides," Esen said. However, because of selection
of plant traits by humans, some plants can't even propagate themselves now.
Eight thousand years ago, maize, or corn, could both defend itself and drop
seeds to grow a new generation. But as humans selected for the cob and the
ear, they made it impossible for the seed to get out and disperse itself;
so maize now can't sustain itself. "We mutilated it," Esen said.
"It can't survive on its own."
However, maize can still defend itself. Esen and Bevan are looking at the
way its defense mechanism works. Young maize--the young seedlings and any
growing tissues and organs--has two enzymes that help protect against insect
attacks. Beta-glucosidases reside in the plastid of the maize cells, and their
substrate DIMBOA-glucoside resides in the vacuole part of the cell. Usually,
the two do not meet each other in an intact cell. However, when an insect
starts gnawing at the young maize, it breaks the cell compartments. The enzyme
beta-glucosidase breaks the DIMBOA-glucoside down into glucose and DIMBOA,
and the DIMBOA is toxic to insects. However, 14 of 463 inbred lines of maize
tested in a study seemed to lack the enzyme. They are called NULL.
Using spectrophotometric detection, Esen and Bevan found that all the NULL
lines actually did have active beta-glucosidase, but the enzyme became aggregated
and could not be extracted efficiently. From this discovery, the scientists
knew the enzyme was there, but something was keeping it in the large aggregate.
Using a procedure called gel filtration that separates proteins according
to size, the researchers then found that the cause of aggregation was another
protein, the beta-glucosidase aggregating factor (BGAF), which NULL lines
produced in excess. They isolated BGAF and proved its aggregating activity.
After further study, the scientists found that BGAF was a hybrid protein with
two distinct regions or domains, a disease-response region and a carbohydrate-binding
region (lectin). In nature, the two occur as separate proteins, but in all
the grass species studied so far, they were fused, probably millions of years
ago in the ancestors of the grasses. Such things usually happen as accidents
(mutations), and, if advantageous, they get selected and passed to future
generations.
Surfaces of cells have glycoproteins that lectins recognize by their carbohydrate
portion and bind to. The BGAF's lectin region is similar to lectins that recognize
mannose sugar. Esen and Bevan hypothesized that one of the functions of BGAF
is in defense when foreign cells, such as bacteria, fungus, or viruses, try
to enter the cell. BGAF probably binds foreign cells, marks them, and recruits
other components of the defense system to eventually arrest the development
of the foreign elements and kill them. So the beta-glucosidase-BGAF aggregate
is involved in defense, Esen said, and behaves much like a football team that
surrounds the ball carrier and keeps him from moving.
The researchers' project is to understand the interaction between beta-glucosidase
and BGAF--how they recognize each other and bind so tightly. Thus far, they
have evidence of three genes that make BGAF, but they need to find out which
one, which part of the molecule, is recognized. They will do that through
genetic engineering--changing the gene for BGAF, producing the protein in
bacteria and yeast, and then testing it with the enzyme.
The ultimate goal is to provide evidence of the biological function of the
binding and aggregation, understand the defense system, and produce plants
that can once again defend themselves--to reengineer the plants in an artificial
setting to enable them to do what they could originally do: survive on their
own.
Source: EurekAlert.com
18 November 2004
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1.25 Scientists using DNA to detect pathogens on seeds - New method
will be much quicker and more accurate than existing techniques
Using DNA technology, University of Georgia scientists are working to
develop a quicker, easier way to detect pathogens on plant seeds.
"We started this project in light of our nation's concern over biosecurity
in agriculture," said Ron Walcott, a plant pathologist with the UGA College
of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
"Our goal is to develop a system that can detect pathogens in seeds,"
Walcott said, "whether they were put there intentionally or unintentionally
during the seed production process."
Funded by USDA grant
Iowa State and Clemson scientists will work with Walcott on the four-year
project. The U.S. Department of Agriculture National Research Initiative's
Animal and Plant Biosecurity Program will fund it with a $900,000 grant.
"Seeds for our country's food crops are produced around the world in
various countries, including Thailand and China," Walcott said. "Then
they're shipped and sold in the United States. Hard labor is still heavily
involved (in seed production), so there are always risks of introducing exotic
pests."
The current methods used to screen seeds for fungi, bacteria and viruses can
take weeks. The researchers' goal is to develop a quicker, more accurate and
precise testing method.
New method will be quick, effective
"As an example, one of the currently employed tests requires that
seeds be planted and grown out to determine if a pathogen is present,"
Walcott said. "This is time-consuming. And unfortunately, this test is
expensive to conduct. And there's a risk of failure, depending on the level
of seed infestation."
With current methods, he said, it could take weeks to develop a technique
to detect a new pathogen suspected to be intentionally introduced into the
nation's seed supply.
"If it were a case of bioterrorism, we'd need to know as soon as possible,"
he said. "We have a lot of techniques available now, but the methods
are neither effective nor reliable."
Scientists now use up to five tests to detect different pathogens, he said.
A goal of this project is to develop one test that would be used to detect
all seed pathogens.
Uses DNA and RNA technology
The new detection method will rely on both DNA and RNA to find out whether
pathogens are present.
"Plants have DNA just like we do, but some viruses have only RNA,"
Walcott said. "The plan is to use a technique called magnetic capture
hybridization to capture and detect the presence of pathogen DNA/RNA in a
seed sample."
DNA and RNA are the molecules that encode an organism's physiological characteristics.
These codes include sequences unique to the organism.
"By relying on specific DNA or RNA sequences, highly specific and sensitive
detection assays can be developed," Walcott said. "As such, this
approach is highly applicable for the detection of low levels of pathogens
in seeds."
To apply this technique, scientists crush a sample of seeds and mix crude
nucleic acids from the seed extract with magnetic, polystyrene beads.
Just like fishing
The beads are coated with single-stranded DNA, which hybridizes or binds
specifically to the pathogen's DNA. The scientists recover the beads with
a magnet, then amplify the DNA by polymerase chain reaction.
"It's like fishing, but we use mirror-image DNA instead of night crawlers
as bait," Walcott said. "This method is highly sensitive and efficient
and can work for a wide range of seeds and pathogens. Most important, the
turnaround time is just a day."
As a starting point, the research team is focusing on two watermelon diseases
that Georgia growers fight: bacterial fruit blotch and gummy stem blight.
The next phase will include detecting diseases of tomato, onion, wheat, corn
and soybean.
"Once we have the system going, we will have the capability to detect
more seedborne pathogens," Walcott said. "If a new one that's not
in our database is introduced by terrorists or Mother Nature, it will just
take a couple of days to add it to the system."
Source: Georgia Faces
via SeedQuest.com
10 November 2004
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1.26 Understanding how plants silence their attackers
Scientists at the John Innes Centre
(JIC), Norwich have today explained the control of an important biological
process (so-called RNA-interference) that contributes to plantsability to
regulate genes and to defend themselves against virus attack.
RNA-interference (RNAi)[1] is a relatively new discovery in biology that we
know is very important in controlling plant and animal development and in
plant resistance to virus disease, says Dr Robert Sablowski (leader of the
research project at the JIC). Our discovery shows us an unexpected way in
which this important process can be switched on.
Active genes produce short-lived multiple copies of themselves (rather like
photocopying a recipe) These copies are molecules called messenger-RNA (mRNA).
The information in the mRNA is read by the cell to make a product and that
product will then have an effect on the biology of the cell. If the mRNA copy
carries a mistake or is damaged, it could make a defective product. To prevent
this from happening cells have quality control systems that check mRNA and
destroy defective copies.
Cells may also need to get rid of mRNAs made by viruses, to stop them reproducing
themselves. This defence mechanism, based on RNAi, is triggered by an unusual
type of RNA (double stranded RNA) which is made by viruses when they reproduce
themselves.
RNAi is sometimes triggered when genes are introduced into plants by genetic
modification. When this happens, the mRNA made by the gene is destroyed, thus
the product of the gene cannot be made and so the gene can have no effect
in the cell although the gene is present it is silenced. It is not clear why
the plant recognises some genes as foreign and a target for RNAi.
The JIC team have found that gene silencing can be triggered by mRNAs that
are targeted for destruction by the natural mRNA quality control mechanism[2].
If too many defective copies of a particular mRNA accumulate, then the cell
turns them into double stranded RNA and this triggers RNAi. Thus plants can
silence foreign genes if their mRNA does not function smoothly along with
the rest of the plant's mRNAs.
Although this work was done in plants, it has implications beyond plant biology.
RNAi has become an important tool because it allows scientists to switch off
genes at will and so see what their role is. Although RNAi was originally
discovered in plants, it also functions in animals, including humans, and
has potential therapeutic applications.
The discovery is reported in this weeks edition of the international science
journal Science[3].
Notes
[1] RNA-interference describes the phenomenon where double-stranded RNAs cause
the targeted breakdown of homologous mRNA. This is now known to occur in a
wide range of organisms, both animals and plants.
[2] The JIC scientists' findings demonstrate that de-capped mRNA is the likely
template used by the cell to make the double-stranded RNA that triggers RNAi.
The work originated from finding mutant plants that silenced a foreign gene
at high frequency. The mutated gene was XRN4, which encodes an RNAse
implicated in the turnover of de-capped mRNAs. Thus, when plants cannot efficiently
destroy de-capped mRNAs, they are diverted into the RNAi process.
[3] A Link Between mRNA Turnover and RNA Interference in Arabidopsis
S. Gazzani, T. Lawrenson and R. Sablowski. Published in Science on Friday,
05 November, 2004.
Source: SeedQuest.com
4 November 2004
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1.27 Gene found to help soybeans repel aphids
University of Illinois researchers have
found a soybean gene that makes the plant resistant to aphids, a discovery
that soon could provide a natural alternative to the application of expensive
insecticide.
Soybean seed carrying the genetic trait could be available within five years,
researchers say.
"It's a very, very important discovery for the soybean farmers in the
U.S.," said Bryan Hieser, a Minier farmer who serves on the United Soybean Board, which helped pay
for the research. "Last year, the top half of Illinois suffered economic
aphid damage up to 15 bushels per acre.
The discovery could help farmers save thousands of dollars spent on chemicals.
It costs $12 to $15 per acre to buy and apply insecticide to kill plant-eating
aphids, said Ken Dalenberg, who farms near Mansfield and serves on the Illinois
Soybean Checkoff Board, which also put money into the research.
Aphids have not bothered farmers this summer, but last year they were so prevalent
that millions of acres of cropland were sprayed, said Glen Hartman, the lead
researcher and a plant pathologist at the USDA's National Soybean Research
Laboratory on the Illinois campus. The genetic resistance "may reduce
insecticide use significantly," he said.
The gene was found among more than 16,000 lines of soybean germplasm stored
in U.S. Department of Agriculture's Soybean Germplasm Collection at the university,
said Curtis Hill, a senior research associate.
"We screened all the commercial (varieties) grown in this area and found
nothing resistant," he said. "The next step was to look at the ancestors
for the current cultivars."
After checking hundreds of varieties, the researchers found two old lines
that were grown in the South but haven't been commercially available for 30
or 40 years, Hill said. Both had strong resistance to aphids.
They have a strong antibiotic effect on aphid biology that prevents development
of aphids on the plant," Hill said.
The gene occurs naturally and crossbreeding does not involve artificial genetic
engineering, he said. "This has had nothing to do with biotechnology
at all," Hill said. Further testing revealed the resistance was coming
from a single dominant gene, and the researchers developed molecular markers
that help locate the gene, Hartman said. That makes the trait easy to quickly
breed into commercial soybeans.
"This is one that can be fast-tracked into our current varieties with
payback in a real short period of time," Dalenberg said.
Seed companies are evaluating the technology and the effectiveness of the
resistance in soybeans grown in the heartland, said Virgil Sparks, director
of soybean breeding at the Garst Seed Co.
"There's a lot of work to do to get that gene into varieties that are
grown in the Midwest," he said.
John Soper, soybean research director for Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc.,
called the research "an exciting find." The company is determining
whether the technology can be integrated into its own research program, he
said.
The researchers have applied to patent the method for determining whether
the gene is present, and seed companies wishing to breed the trait will first
have to obtain a license from the university.
"It prevents a single company from taking advantage of getting that single
gene and using it on their own," Hartman said.
(See original news release: University
of Illinois researchers identify gene with resistance to soybean aphids)
Source: The Associated Press via
SeedQuest.com
4 November 2004
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1.28 Key Plant Enzyme Defends Against Multiple Infections
VPEg is an Enzyme that regulates programmed cell death in plants
RIVERSIDE, Calif. Oct. 7, 2004 Scientists from the University of California,
Riverside have identified one of the key enzymes that trigger programmed cell
death, an important process plants undergo in fighting off bacterial, fungal
or viral infections. The development holds out hope of improving crop yields,
which are dependent on plants being able to fend off multiple types of pathogens.
The findings, outlined in a paper titled VPEg Exhibits a Caspase-like Activity
that Contributes to Defense Against Pathogenswere reported in the Sept. 23,
online issue of Current Biology, and involve research on the key plant
protein, vacuolar processing enzyme or VPEg, in Arabidopsis thaliana, or thale
cress, that is required for this process.
Programmed cell death (PCD), which occurs naturally in all multi-cellular
organisms, is the regulated elimination of cells that happens during the course
of development, as well as in response to bacterial, fungal and viral infection.
Caspases are a family of proteases, or enzymes that degrade proteins, which
play an essential role in initiating and carrying out programmed cell death
in animals.
Caspase-like activities have also been shown to be required for the initiation
of programmed cell death in plants, but the genes controlling those activities
have not been identified.
Natasha Raikhel, Director of the UCR Center for Plant Cell Biology, and her
former postdoctoral researcher, Enrique Rojo, have now shown that this key
plant protein contributes to defense against bacterial, fungal and viral pathogens
in plants by activating programmed cell death pathways.
They have discovered that mutants lacking this protein have an increased susceptibility
to these pathogens. These results have significant influence in the outcome
of a diverse set of plant-pathogen interactions and suggest that this key
plant protein is likely involved in a variety of processes that range from
stress and defense responses to proper development during aging.
This is an important discovery because it demonstrates a previously unknown
mechanism through which plants control cell death. Programmed cell death is
a universal process that all multicellular organisms must control throughout
growth and development,explained Raikhel. Since PCD plays such a central role
in a wide variety of physiological processes, the VPE pathway for controlling
PCD likely has a huge impact on this process in plants.
The research, funded by the National Science Foundation, was carried out from
2002-2004 in the Department of Botany and Plant Sciences and the Center for
Plant Cell Biology (CEPCEB) at UC Riverside and the Universidad Autónoma de
Madrid.
Besides Raikhel and Rojo, UCR co-authors of the Current Biology paper
include Clay Carter, Jan Zouhar, Songqin Pan, and Hailing Jin. Co-authors
from other institutions include Raquel Martin, Manuel Paneque and Jose Juan
Sanchez-Serrano of the Departamento de Genética Molecular de Plantas del Centro
Nacional de Biotecnología, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas,
Madrid, Spain; Frederick M Ausubel and Julia Plotnikova of the Department
of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and the Department of Molecular Biology
at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston; and Barbara Baker of the Plant
Gene Expression Center at UC Berkeley & the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Related Links
Current Biology's Web site is at http://www.current-biology.com/content/future
Natasha Raikhel's Web site is at http://www.cepceb.ucr.edu/members/raikhel.htm
Contributed by Ricardo Duran (ricardo.duran@ucr.edu)
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1.29 Eco-friendly disc to store data on corn
TOKYO (AFP) - Giving a new meaning to the term grassroots music, Pioneer
Corp. said it had developed a next-generation disc made of corn to let the
eco-conscious consumer dispose of data in the soil.
The Japanese electronics maker said the Blu-ray optical disc, which can be
written once and stores 25 gigabytes of data, is 87 percent natural polymer
derived from corn and biodegrades.
"If the starch polymer is incinerated, it will not emit dioxins and any
other harmful chemicals," the company said.
While the disc can theoretically be eaten, it is coated by a 0.1-millimeter
(0.004-inch) thick layer of resin and is too hard for even the strongest teeth.
Pioneer has yet to decide when to market the disc.
Source: Agence France-Presse, 4 November 2004:
Contributed by Margaret E. Smith
Dept. of Plant Breeding & Genetics, Cornell University
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1.30 New Way to Boost Grain Crop's Drought Tolerance
UC Riverside Team Finds That Lowering Enzyme Increases Drought Tolerance
in Corn
RIVERSIDE, Calif. www.ucr.edu Researchers
at the University of California, Riverside report the development of technology
that increases the tolerance of grains crops to drought by decreasing the
amount of an enzyme that is responsible for producing the plant hormone ethylene.
UCR Biochemist Daniel
R. Gallie led the research, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture,
the National Science Foundation and the California Agricultural Experiment
Station. The findings will be published in the December issue of The
Plant Journal in a paper titled ACC Synthase Expression Regulates Leaf
Performance and Drought Tolerance in Maize.
Ethylene is vital in regulation of plant responses to environmental stresses,
such as flooding and drought, and to attack by pathogens. But often, ethylene
initiates leaf death in response to adverse conditions, sacrificing less essential
parts of a plant to protect the growing tip, responsible for producing flowers,
the reproductive organs of plants. Gallie said that he and his research team
have examined the role of ethylene during plant growth and development since
1997.
In the most recent study, conducted by UCR researchers and Pioneer Hi-Bred
International, an Iowa-based developer and supplier of seed to farmers, the
authors targeted ACC synthase, an enzyme required for the production of ethylene,
screening thousands of plants for naturally occurring mutants that were deficient
in the enzyme.
The researchers isolated several such plants, and one in particular that produced
substantially lower levels of the hormone. Leaves from this mutated plant
remained functional and maintained photosynthetic function longer than non-altered
plants.
In addition, the plants were more resistant to the effects of adverse environmental
conditions. Surprisingly, by reducing the level of ethylene, all the leaves
of the altered plants contained higher levels of chlorophyll and leaf protein,
and functioned better than control leaves.
Thus, they are better able to survive conditions of drought and remain productive,said
Professor Gallie, who led a research team that included UCR Colleague Todd
E. Young and Robert B. Meeley, of Pioneer Hi-Bred. Erratic rainfall and conditions
of drought have plagued farmers from time immemorial, and are responsible
for substantial losses in crop yield when they do occur.
For several years, Gallie said, a number of studies on global climate have
predicted an increase in global temperature, and regional conditions of drought,
which may have already begun.
Increasing drought tolerance in crops is highly valuable to U.S. and world
agriculture now, and will be even more critical as our environment continues
to change as a consequence of global warming,said Gallie.
The findings by Gallie and his research team suggest that ethylene controls
the level of leaf function under normal growth conditions, as well as during
adverse environmental conditions.
Gallies research with corn opens the door to producing crops better able to
withstand periodic losses in rainfall, including grains, which are the most
important direct source of food for livestock and for a majority of humans.
Our discovery will assist farmers who depend on rainwater for their crops
during those years when rainfall is low, particularly those who grow crops
in arid areas, such as exists in many developing [is he is okay with this
change] countries,said Gallie. As global warming continues to change our own
environment in the U.S., our work will be important in helping U.S. farmers
continue to produce the food we need even as our climate becomes unpredictable.
Future inquiries will most likely focus on how ethylene may regulate other
aspects of plant growth and development, such as during flower development
and root growth, Gallie added.
News Media Contact: Ricardo Duran
ricardo.duran@ucr.edu
Source: EurekAlert.com
17 November 2004
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1.31 Precision breeding: a new genetic technique providing
international opportunities for crop improvement
A new technique which uses the tools of genetic engineering but does not
introduce foreign DNA into a crop plant has been developed by Crop & Food Research.
Dr Tony Conner, who has been applying genetic modification tools to crop plants
since the mid 1980s, has led the research team. He says the new technique
has been welcomed by the international research community.
Over the years Dr Conner has often provided a scientific point of view in
the public debate surrounding GM. He says one of the publics main concerns
has been the use of GM to transfer genes between unrelated organisms.
To me, the real appeal of this new technique is that while it uses the tools
of genetic modification, it does not introduce genetic material from unrelated
species.
Precision breeding only transfers genetic material which would naturally cross
with a particular plant. Were only using genes which are already available
to traditional plant breeders. But we can transfer those genes responsible
for a particular characteristic into a new plant very precisely, in one step.
In hindsight this seems like an obvious development for genetic modification
but science is like that. No one thought you could find the necessary gene
sequences in plants to do this they usually come from bacteria. But we found
them and this has opened up vast new possibilities.
He is pleased the technique has been developed in New Zealand. This technique
will have huge benefits for crop breeding both in New Zealand and internationally.The
intellectual property is held by Crop & Food Research, which is a government
funded research institute responsible for adding value to the New Zealand
economy.
Dr Conner presented his technique at three recent international science conferences
in Germany, the Netherlands and Australia. It will be presented at a New Zealand
conference in November.
It was received enthusiastically by the science community and regulators,
particularly those working to improve food production in the third world.
Plants produced using this technique are, by definition, not transgenic and
this means the compliance costs involved in gaining approval for commercial
use are minimised. This makes it viable for the technology to be used to develop
cultivars suitable for local conditions in third world countries.
Precision breeding also presents a viable option to develop improved cultivars
of crops grown on a smaller scale around the world.
Dr Conner says while the technique is particularly valuable in crops which
are propagated vegetatively, such as potatoes, fruit trees, cassava and sugarcane,
it will also have a role in the breeding of major crops such as maize, soybean,
rice and wheat.
He says once the genomes of the worlds important crops are sequenced, precision
breeding will become increasingly valuable. It provides us with a tool to
go into germplasm banks and find all the alternative variants of a gene, select
the best one for what we want, and then insert it into the target crops in
a single step without any foreign DNA.
BACKGROUND
The idea which led to the development of precision breeding occurred to Dr
Tony Conner in 1999 when he took nine months out from research to look after
his young son. His first difficulty was in persuading people that precision
breeding would work a difficulty he has since overcome.
As a frequent science commentator in the public debate surrounding GM through
the 1980s and 1990s, he was well aware of public concern regarding the transfer
of genes from one species to an unrelated species. The new technique seemed
to him to be a socially responsible way forward using the tools of genetic
engineering.
To achieve success, Dr Tony Conner had to develop a vector system which only
transferred DNA which was naturally available to breeders. He did this by
identifying DNA sequences which occur within a particular plant genome and
then used these to assemble vectors for gene transfer.
As a result, although the plants are derived using the tools of molecular
biology and plant transformation, they are not transgenic they do not contain
genetic material from unrelated species. This raises important questions around
the definition of GM, which has implications for regulators worldwide. It
also means that the traditional tests used to detect whether or not a plant
has been genetically modified, are not applicable.
Dr Conner started by designing a vector system for precision breeding in the
species Arabidopsis thaliana, which has the smallest known genome of any crop
and is often used by plant biotechnologists trying new techniques. He designed
and developed a binary vector for Agrobacterium-mediated gene transfer in
which all the DNA sequences destined for transfer to the plant were based
on sequences which occur naturally in the Arabidopsis thaliana genome.
Dr Conner and his colleagues have now successfully demonstrated that the vector
based on A. thaliana DNA can be used to transform A. thaliana. The genetic
makeup of the resulting plants mimics chromosomal rearrangements of the endogenous
DNA sequences equivalent to micro-translocations that could also arise during
mutation breeding.
Precision breeding vectors have been developed for a wide range of plant species.
They are now being tested in Solanaceous species, including potato and petunia.
Scientists' understanding of plant genomes is advancing rapidly as the DNA
of major crops are sequenced. This knowledge will increasingly enable researchers
to identify specific genes of interest which code for a desired crop trait.
Source: SeedQuest.com
November 16, 2004
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1.32 Conversion of flower organs into leaves
More than 200 years ago, the poet, philosopher, and natural scientist
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe made the remarkable suggestion that flower organs
represent modified leaves. By analyzing mutations in four different but related
genes, researchers have found that these genes are critical for the conversion
of leaves into flower organs.
Although people have wondered about the mysteries of flower formation for
ages, scientists have carried out molecular studies on flowering only during
the last two decades. Numerous genes controlling flower development have been
identified during this time. Many of the studies have focused on the small
weed Arabidopsis thaliana, which possesses the typical set of flower organs--sepals
(typically outer-most in the flower whorl), petals, stamens, and carpels--and
have relied on a traditional genetic approach, where mutations in key regulatory
genes lead to alterations in flowering. Although exceedingly powerful, such
an approach nevertheless often fails to reveal the essential nature of closely
related genes that are functionally redundant. Functional redundancy refers
to the situation where two or more genes play very similar roles and must
be simultaneously inactivated if the abnormal characteristic is to be observed.
For example, recent studies had shown that a so-called triple mutant, lacking
the activities of three closely related genes, produces flowers that consist
only of sepals.
If flower organs represent modified leaves, and if this recently discovered
triple mutant has only sepals, is it possible that mutations in another gene
might convert these sepals into leaves? New work, by Gary Ditta and coworkers
in the laboratory of Martin Yanofsky at the University of California at San
Diego, has identified such a gene. The gene, SEP4, is closely related to the
three genes corresponding to the triple mutant previously characterized by
Yanofsky's group. When the researchers constructed the quadruple mutant, they
found that the flowers consisted only of leaf-like organs. Together, these
studies show that four closely related genes, all of the "MADS-box"
class, are necessary for the formation of sepals, petals, stamens, and carpels
and that the loss of activity of all four genes results in the conversion
of flower organs toward leaves.
Gary Ditta, Anusak Pinyopich, Pedro Robles, Soraya Pelaz, and Martin F. Yanofsky:
"The SEP4 Gene of Arabidopsis thaliana Functions in Floral Organ and
Meristem Identity"
Publishing in Current Biology, Volume 14, Number 21, November 9, 2004, pages
19351940.
Source: Cell Press, viaEurekAlert.com
8 November 2004
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1.33 Researchers can cross non-interbreeding plants
Researchers of the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Plant
Cultivation, Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences (St. Petersburg) jointly
with their colleagues from Germany and Finland have grown up new lines of
Solanum cultivated plants via the somatic hybridization method hybrids of
wild species of plants of the Solanum family with cultivars of tomato and
potato, that posess new useful properties.
Potato and tomato the plants that occupy the honorary place in the menu of
mankind belong to the Solanum family. So do multiple wild species inhabiting
Mexico, they are inedible, but possess the qualities interesting to selectionists,
such as disease and vermin stability, salt-tolerance, psychrotolerance. However,
this interest has remained theoretical up to recently: the majority of wild
species was reluctant to interbreed with cultivars. Therefore, the researchers
of the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Plant Cultivation, Russian
Academy of Agricultural Sciences (St. Petersburg) jointly with their colleagues
from Germany and Finland set about cultivating new Solanum species via the
somatic hybridization method.
There exist different methods for introduction of required genes into the
cultivated plants genome. Genetic engineering which is now much talked about
is only one of them and far from being the most important if we recall the
centuries-old history of selection. Interbreeding of species and lines, pollination
of one plant by the pollen of the other are still used by selectionists. However,
such interbreeding, particularly the interspecific interbreeding does not
always work well. In the 70s-80s, a new method emerged that allowed to overcome
the barrier of non-interbreeding: somatic hybridization.
Non-gametal cells are called somatic, they are not related either to pollen,
or to the germ of the seed, they are taken, for instance, from the leaf. Cultivation
of a full value organism from a somatic cell is called cloning. Animal cloning
is one of the most outstanding achievements in biology of recent years, as
for plants, cloning is the most commonplace familiar to anyone who implanted
a violet leaf or a pussy-willow cutting. In the laboratory conditions, researchers
can grow a full value plant from a small bit of tissue (to this end, specially
cultivated mass of dedifferentiated cells called callus is used), and from
a single cell.
However, another way can be chosen: to make two cells belonging to different
plant species merge. (These cells deprived of hard membranes are called protoplasts.)
That gives rise to hybrid cells, which combine gene material and properties
of two plant species, including those species that cannot be interbred in
standard ways.
One more important thing should be kept in mind. Mitochondria and chloroplasts
are microbodies that possess their own genome and propagate in the cytoplasm.
Mitochondria account for the cell energy supply, chloroplasts are responsible
for photosynthesis. Obviously, a lot of important agricultural properties
of plants are particularly connected with them. In case of common propagation,
a plant gets mitochondria and chloroplasts only through the maternal line:
as a rule, mitochondria and chloroplasts are absent from the male gametal
cell. In case of somatic hybridization, both parties make equal contribution,
a selectionist being able to make additional benefit from this fact.
The Russian-German-Finnish experiment involved cultural varieties of Solanum
tuberosum potato, on the one part, and wild Mexican varieties of the same
Solanum genus, on the other part. After the cells merged and plants were regenerated
from the hybrid tissue, the researchers carried out recurring reciprocal interbreeding
with the cultural variety until a potato line with stable genome was obtained.
Similar experiments were carried out with tomato and its wild congeners. Certainly,
the researchers checked thoroughly what the hybrid genomes represent. It was
demonstrated in practice that some hybrid lines do possess new useful properties,
for example, increased stability to virus diseases.
Journalist often ask researchers of the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute
of Plant Cultivation when they are going to make kitchen gardenersfavorite
dream come true and will cultivate the tomato-potato, which will have tomatoes
on the branches and tubers under th