PLANT BREEDING NEWS
EDITION 200
An
Electronic Newsletter of Applied Plant Breeding
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by FAO/AGPC and
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-Archived issues available at: FAO Plant Breeding
Newsletter
1.
NEWS, ANNOUNCEMENTS
1.01 Reflections on the beginnings of Plant Breeding News
1.02 Long-term solutions needed to feed the world
1.03
1.04 Agriculture is up to global productivity challenge,
says DuPont leader
1.05 Syngenta calls for greater international collaboration
to address food security challenge
1.06
1.07 Drought-Tolerant Maize for Africa Initiative
demonstrates a joint commitment to protect
1.08 Groundbreaking pigeonpea hybrid developed in
1.09 New public-private partnership for hybrid rice
in
1.10 Local Markets, Local Varieties: Rising Food Prices
and Small Farmers
1.11 "Scuba rice" that can survive more
than two weeks under water makes a splash in
1.12 Novel upland rice variety bred using marker-assisted selection and client-oriented
breeding released in
1.13 There is more to learn from ‘bad plants’ in breeding
programmes than one might think
1.14 Coming to the market soon in the
1.15 GM crops and the gene giants: bad news for farmers
1.16 Bioversity International urges Agriculture G8
to make better use of agricultural biodiversity
1.17 Using cryopreservation to conserve crop germplasm
is reliable and, contrary to popular belief, cost competitive with field genebanks
1.18 The CWR Project: protecting populations of crop wild relatives in their
natural environment
1.19
1.20
1.21
1.22 USDA/ARS develops new russet potato germplasm
line resistant to
1.23 Researchers examine bacterial rice diseases,
search for genetic solutions
1.24 Scientists develop root nematode resistant potato
1.25 ARS develops bacterial leaf spot resistant iceberg lettu
1.26 Vivek QPM 9 - an early maturing QPM maize hybrid for
1.27 Wageningen UR and KeyGene to develop a superior
genome physical map of potato
1.28 Monsanto Company and
1.29 Plant gene mapping may lead to better biofuel production
1.30 International team publishes first SSR based
genetic linkage map for cultivated groundnut
1.31 Solicitation of input from stakeholders on the roadmap for agricultural
research, education, and extension
1.32 Request for applications: Horticulture Collaborative
Research Support Program
2.01 The Development and Regulation of Bt Brinjal in
3.01 Scitable: A free science library and personal learning tool
3.02 The Crop Genebank Knowledge Base
4.01 $10
million to rice and wheat research program
4.02 Request for applications: Horticulture Collaborative
Research Support Program
5.01 Assistant Breeder opportunity, vegetables
5.02 Maize Breeding Lead (Senior or Principal) Scientist
5.03
5.04 R&D
Job Postings at Monsanto as of
6.
MEETINGS, COURSES
7.
EDITOR
1 NEWS, ANNOUNCEMENTS
1.01 Reflections on the beginnings of Plant Breeding
News
The newsletter reaches a landmark 200th
edition
Not too long
after email became a
Bob later ran
a few short training courses at FAO on electronic conferencing – then a very
innovative development. I thought that
this new communication “technology” might be one way to draw attention to
a problem I was seeing emerge, i.e., the demise of capacity of many national
programs in developing countries to run plant breeding programmes. The push
by financial institutions forcing developing countries to privatise research
and extension, coupled with the drastic reduction in overseas development
assistance, especially for agriculture R & D, was a
While Bob agreed
to train someone on newsletter management, I needed to find a newsletter editor.
My first thought was that this could be part of the plant breeding
course training at
Elcio and friends
at Cornell reported that they had found the ideal person to take on the Editor
post of PBN. My old schoolmate from my Cornell days, Clair
Hershey who had worked as a Cassava breeder at CIAT and returned to run his
family farm in
Eric
Kueneman
Chief,
Crop and Grassland Service
Plant
Production and Protection Division
FAO
of the United Nations
++++++++++++++++++++++
1.02 Long-term solutions needed to feed
the world
More agricultural research funding and a farmer-centred approach to boosting
food production are needed to prevent future food emergencies.
David Dickson
One of the
unfortunate side effects of the global economic crisis is that it has deflected
attention from the food crisis that was grabbing headlines a year ago. Rapidly
escalating food prices — spurred on by the price of oil and commodity speculation
among other factors — have a disproportionate impact on the world
Now oil prices
have fallen and the speculation frenzy has cooled off, food prices have also
fallen by up to 50 per cent. But this does not mean the problem has gone away.
For although the price of food has fallen, so too has the poor
And even if
last year
A political
issue
This is the
background against which agricultural ministers of the G8 group of leading
industrial nations will meet for the first time in
With political
attention understandably focused on alleviating the immediate fall-outs from
the economic crisis, the G8 ministers may be tempted to look to short-term
measures — such as topping up the food programme — to ease the pain.
But that would
be a mistake. Agricultural experts widely agree that the drop in food prices
is only a temporary respite. Long-term solutions are urgently required to
ensure that last year
The social
disruption such emergencies cause can be even more politically destabilising
than those triggered by financial and economic problems — last year
Funding research
Two factors
are essential for any long-term solution. First, there needs to be a significant
increase in funding for agricultural research and development to boost agricultural
productivity.
Many parts
of the developing world are suffering from declines in agricultural research
funding during the 1980s and 1990s when development agencies focused on structural
adjustment policies and food aid.
A survey of
27 African countries by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
in
Recently there
has been a welcome reversal of this trend. For example, donor government funding
has increased for the research centres making up the Consultative Group on
International Agricultural Research, while private foundations, such as the
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, have also entered the scene.
But more effort
is needed. IFPRI
Supporting
farmers
Equally important
are steps to put research into practice. In particular, this means improving
the innovative capacity of farmers in developing countries.
These people
are best placed to meet local demand for food, reducing the need for expensive
— and often less nutritious — imports. They can also plough any economic surpluses
they make back into the community.
But to be effective,
farmers need protecting from the high market price of production inputs. A
fertiliser subsidy scheme in
Farmers also
need access to new technology and protection from predatory pricing by companies
patenting key agricultural inputs such as new crop varieties (see GM
crops and the Gene Giants: Bad news for farmers).
The agenda
facing the G8 agricultural ministers this weekend is just as broad and complex
as that which faced the G20 meeting on the financial crisis last month. And
its outcome is just as important.
But without
a pledge to increase spending on agricultural research and support for farmers
to put this research into practice in developing countries, any
http://scidev.net/en/editorials/long-term-solutions-needed-to-feed-the-world-s-poo.html
David Dickson
Director, SciDev.Net
1.03
By David Schimmelpfennig and Paul Heisey
Economic Information
Bulletin No. (EIB-45) 42 pp, March 2009
Over the years,
proposals have recommended shifting the focus of public agricultural research
from applied to basic research, and giving higher priority to peer-reviewed,
competitively funded grants. The public agricultural research system in the
In this report
...
Chapters are
in Adobe Acrobat
PDF format.
Order
this report (stock #EIB-45)
http://www.seedquest.com/News/releases/2009/april/25709.htm
Source: SeedQuest.com
++++++++++++++++++++++
1.04 Agriculture is up to global productivity
challenge, says DuPont leader
Global science,
scale and talent required to meet growing demand
Arlington,
Virginia
Science will enable farmers to produce enough grain to meet the growing demand
for food, biofuels and materials if public and private agriculture enterprises,
regulators and policymakers from around the globe take a more holistic approach
to the solution, William
S. Niebur, vice president – DuPont
Crop Genetics Research and Development, said here today.
Speaking to
agricultural leaders at the Informa Economics 17th Annual Food & Agricultural Policy
Conference, Niebur said that emerging opportunities for the use of biomass
to replace petroleum coupled with the specter of hunger have raised questions
about whether farmers can produce enough grain to feed the world and meet
the demand for biofuels
and biomaterials.
“The question
of whether science can supply the world’s growing appetite for grain can be
answered with a resounding ‘yes’ if we tap all of the talent and tools that
are available,” Niebur said. “Public and private sector players must collaborate
using cutting-edge science and top talent on a global scale to maximize the
productivity of the world’s farmers.”
Niebur stressed
that for global science and talent to be fully used, transparent and science-based
policies and regulations must be in place on a global scale to ensure more
efficient adoption of new products and technologies and increase access to
safe, nutritious food.
Global Science,
Scale and Talent
“Historically, increases in agricultural productivity have been achieved by
inventing and adopting new technologies and management practices in
Improved genetics,
advanced management practices and new technologies have helped
“Global science
networks are essential to delivering the needed productivity increases to
meet demand,” said Niebur. “We are combining our expertise and resources with
scientists from some of the best public institutions around the world to address
issues facing farmers globally.”
Through complex
trait improvement, DuPont business Pioneer Hi-Bred is working to solve growing
global challenges related to temperature, wind, water and nutrients, as well
as insects, diseases and weeds. Further, they are seeking to enhance output
traits such as protein, starch, oil, fiber and nutritional content.
Niebur explained
that thanks to its global research efforts, Pioneer is on track to increase
corn and soybean yields by 40 percent by 2018, more than doubling the annual
rate of gain. “These productivity gains will be generated by scientists from
our global network of research facilities who are working with public sector
scientists to accelerate the product development process and identify improved
traits from native species and biotechnology approaches that will enhance
the performance of our products.
“The enormous
benefit of a global network of talent is that there is always someone somewhere
in the world thinking about and working on ways to increase agricultural productivity.
Whether it’s
http://www.seedquest.com/News/releases/2009/april/25872.htm
Source: SeedQuest.com
+++++++++++++++++++++++
1.05 Syngenta calls for greater international
collaboration to address food security challenge
At today’s
Annual General Meeting, Syngenta Chairman
Martin Taylor and CEO Mike Mack highlighted the key global challenge of ensuring
food security for a rapidly growing world population. To help address this
critical challenge, they called for greater international collaboration and
more coherent trade and regulatory policies that support farmers in producing
sufficient, affordable food and, at the same time, help conserve the planet’s
limited natural resources.
“Innovation
in agriculture has made an enormous contribution towards our ability to ensure
food security for a world population that has tripled in the last 50 years.
But population growth continues unabated and 9 billion people will populate
our planet by 2050,” said Martin Taylor. “Whilst further land is still available
to be cultivated, doing so would reduce biodiversity and further deplete our
natural resources, resources that are already under pressure. We need to grow
more food from existing resources, and as those resources are diminishing,
we actually need to grow more from less.”
“This critical
challenge of ensuring food security in the face of the continuing growth in
demand coupled with the scarcity of natural resources means that the role
of technology in agriculture has never been more important,” said Mike Mack.
“At Syngenta, our contribution is to develop innovations that help to unlock
the full potential of plants. The immensity of the food security challenge
can only be addressed through a new form of international collaboration and
a coherent policy framework that stimulates innovation and puts the right
technology in the hands of growers worldwide.”
http://www.seedquest.com/News/releases/2009/april/25888.htm
Source: SeedQuest.com
++++++++++++++++++++++++
1.06
KAMPALA, UGANDA
– (2 April 2009) The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), in
partnership with the African Agricultural
Capital (
“The sole purpose
of ASIF is to provide high quality seeds to smallholder African farmers, thereby
improving income and quality of life,” said Dr. Namanga Ngongi, President
of AGRA. “Direct investment in local seed companies will allow African enterprises,
working with local public crop breeders and local farmers, to seed prosperity.”
ASIF is the
first fund of its kind: African-owned and targeted specifically at promoting
the growth of small- and medium-sized African seed companies through long-term
loans provided at below-market rates. ASIF will thus fill a critical funding
gap in African agricultural development—financing for its seriously underdeveloped
and undercapitalized seed sector.
Across Southern
and Eastern
Having more
than doubled in four years, sales revenues of African seed companies stood
at about US$2.5 million in 2006. Yet, in Eastern and
“While recent
growth of the African seed sector demonstrates the high demand for good quality
seed, it falls far short of meeting that demand,” said Josephine Okot, Managing
Director of Victoria Seeds Ltd
in
Okot’s company
contracts with some 200 growers, most of whom are women’s groups, to produce
high quality seed of a range of crops that includes such staples as maize,
rice, sorghum and groundnut. Companies like Ms. Okot’s stand poised to benefit
from the new fund.
The lack of
a robust African seed industry has left these farmers with few choices. Smallholder
farmers—who grow most of the food consumed in
“Yet,
The AGRA-
“Until recently,
only well-off, large-scale farmers bought improved seed,” DeVries said. “The
seed market is evolving to recognize that the real markets is at the pyramid’s
base, among millions of smallholder farmers. The prices, crops and varieties
marketed need to reflect that.
”
Venture Capital
for Seed Entrepreneurs
Alongside capital
investment, the fund will provide business development services, including
continual advice on issues like seed production, storage, and distribution
and seed company management. Distributors will also be trained on the appropriate
use of seeds and other inputs such as fertilizer, to ensure the most efficient,
safe and environmentally sound use of all.
ASIF will implement
a gender policy that works to involve women actively as entrepreneurs, workers,
and smallholder farmers. Women make up the
In addition
to its larger loans to at least 20 African seed companies, ASIF will invest
in about 10 early-stage businesses with big potential, said Tom Adlam, Managing
Director of
“
The drought-resistant
maize varieties now reach about 200,000 farmers in
“African farmers
need improved varieties of maize more than any other farmer in the world.
Their livelihoods—their very survival—depends on it,” DeVries said.
And while maize
will be an important crop for the program, it will not be the only one. Companies
producing seed for such staple crops as beans, cowpea, pigeonpea, rice, sorghum,
millet and others will be encouraged to apply.
To qualify,
companies will need to meet investment criteria in three main areas: enterprise,
performance, and development criteria. The latter includes measures such as
overall job creation, skills development in rural communities, and an environmentally
benign footprint.
“Rather than
having to chose between poor quality low-yielding seed or high-cost hybrid
seed marketed by multinationals, African farmers will have another choice,”
Ngongi said. “We can foresee the day when dozens, if not hundreds, of small-
and medium-sized African seed companies are working across the region with
local, public sector breeders to get low-cost, high-quality seed to farmers
from Ethiopia to Mozambique.
http://www.agra-alliance.org/content/news/detail/920/
+++++++++++++++++++++++
1.07 Drought-Tolerant Maize for
Sub-Saharan
Their combined
efforts are vital for improving and stabilizing
Maize is a
highly diverse crop, ensuring ample scope for genetically enhancing its tolerance
to drought through breeding techniques designed specifically for this purpose.
CIMMYT and IITA work with national partners to adapt and apply such techniques
in
To build on
this success, CIMMYT and IITA now focus their collaborative efforts on the
Drought-Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) Initiative. By significantly scaling
up current efforts through more intensive collaboration, the DTMA Initiative
expects to provide over the next decade 30-40 million farmers with improved
maize varieties that will help to boost maize productivity on small farms
by 20-30%. It is working in 13 African countries where maize is particularly
important, with support from
“From a biological
point of view, there is no limit to building even stronger drought tolerance
into maize varieties that are well adapted to the conditions of
For many years,
CIMMYT and IITA tended to divide their responsibilities for maize research
in
“The big advantage
of the DTMA Initiative,” she says, “is that bringing together the complementary
strengths and research products of the two Centers, in an effort that spans
the continent, enables national public and private partners to tap into and
benefit from a much broader base of improved germplasm, knowledge and expertise.”
CIMMYT and
IITA bring to the project considerable strengths derived from decades of maize
research in diverse agroecologies.
IITA has amassed
a strong record of achievement in combating biotic constraints. Starting in
the 1970s, it successfully thwarted outbreaks of the maize streak virus in
the moist savanna region of
CIMMYT has
built up particular strength in coping with abiotic constraints through 30
years of research on drought tolerance in maize, work for which the Center
received the King Baudouin Award in 2006. CIMMYT safeguards the world’s largest
collection of maize genetic resources, in which both IITA and CIMMYT scientists
search for new sources of drought tolerance and other valuable traits.
Through the
DTMA Initiative, CIMMYT and IITA have created a platform for working more
efficiently on drought tolerance, as well as for collaborative research on
other problems in maize production, such as Striga.
“How well we
combine our strengths and play shared roles — in capacity strengthening, for
example — is ultimately a question of our commitment to the partnership and
to increasing development impact,” says Bramel.
http://www.seedquest.com/News/releases/2009/april/25913.htm
Source: CGIAR newsletter, April
2009 via SeedQuest.com
April, 2009
1.08
Groundbreaking pigeonpea hybrid developed in
The world’s
first commercial hybrid of pigeonpea (called “red gram” in
The first pilot
program for hybrid seed production is being undertaken by a farmers’ organization
in
Pigeonpea is
grown in southern
According to
William Dar, director general of ICRISAT,
Store owned
by a farmer association selling processed pigeonpea products in
The Research
Institute of Resource Insects (RIRI) in
Scientists
from RIRI and the members of the Yuanmou Pigeonpea Farmers’ Association are
organizing a field-based training program on mass hybrid seed production.
The Chinese seed producers are also exploring the possibility of exporting
hybrid seed to neighboring
The countries
other than
ICRISAT announced
the launch of world’s first commercial
Hybrid production
requires a female plant in which no viable pollen grains are borne. The expensive
and labor-intensive method of producing these male-sterile plants, which do
not have functional male sex organs, is to remove the male anthers from the
flowers. The simple, more productive way to establish a female line for hybrid
seed production is to identify or create a line that is unable to produce
viable pollen. This male-sterile line is therefore unable to self-pollinate,
and seed formation depends upon pollen from another, male-fertile line. This
union produces progeny that perform better than either parent because of heterosis,
or hybrid vigor. Through
In
http://www.seedquest.com/News/releases/2009/april/25914.htm
Source: CGIAR newsletter, April
2009 via SeedQuest.com
April 2009
+++++++++++++++++++++++
1.09 New public-private partnership for
hybrid rice in
The Indian Institute of Agricultural Research (IARI),
a flagship research institute of the Indian
Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), has developed a very effective
public-private-partnership model for promotion of hybrid rice in
Dr. B. R. Barwale,
Chairman of IFSSA and Barwale Foundation, handed over a payment of Rs. 34.62
lakhs to Dr. S. A. Patil, Director, IARI,
For more information
about this public private partnership model, contact Dr. A.K. Singh of IARI
at ak_gene@yahoo.com, and Dr. Dinesh
Joshi of IFSSA and Barwale Foundation at dineshjoshi@barwalefoundation.org
http://www.seedquest.com/News/releases/2009/april/25858.htm
Source: CropBiotech Update via Seedquest.com
1.10 Local Markets, Local Varieties: Rising
Food Prices and Small Farmers
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
Issue Brief No. 59
Local Markets,
Local Varieties: Rising Food Prices and Small Farmers
Melinda Smale,
Marc J. Cohen, and Latha Nagarajan
February 2009
Summary
There are no
easy solutions to the ongoing food price crisis. Maize and wheat prices doubled
between 2003 and 2008, and the price of rice doubled in the first four months
of 2008, rising 33 percent in a single day. Even with declines in food prices
later in 2008, prices remain well above 2000–2005 levels. To address the complex
causes of this phenomenon, IFPRI has recommended a combination of “emergency”
and “resilience” actions. One of the proposed policies emphasizes the need
to boost agricultural production. This “emergency” agriculture package requires
carefully targeted subsidies to ensure increases in production of
As part of
the “resilience” package, IFPRI proposes scaled-up investment in agricultural
growth to bolster production responses over the longer term. Until recently,
public complacency regarding food abundance has contributed to a prolonged
decline in agricultural investment by aid donors and developing-country governments.
In-depth field
research—undertaken by IFPRI with the Food and Agriculture Organization of
the United Nations (FAO) and other partners in
Download
http://www.seedquest.com/News/releases/2009/april/25813.htm
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.11 "Scuba rice" that can survive
more than two weeks under water makes a splash in
Los Baños,
The
The latest
from Rice Today, the magazine
of the International Rice Research
Institute (IRRI).
“Scuba rice”
that can survive more than two weeks under water can now be planted by farmers
to improve rice yields on flood prone land in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh
where the variety Swarna-Sub1 has been officially approved, and the word is
other states will follow suit soon.
Rice Today’s
April-June 2009 edition features the remarkable development of the submergence-tolerant
rice that has been warmly accepted by farmers in
Rice Today
also explores the other end of the rice growing spectrum, drought. A new partnership
between donors, research agencies, and communities seeks to develop drought
tolerant rice for rice growers in
Following up
on his last article that revealed the causes of the 2008 rice price crisis
and proposed ways to prevent future rice price hikes, IRRI’s Dr. Samarendu
Mohanty delves deeper into the rice market to look at rice trading, food security
politics, and nontraditional rice-growing areas to identify ways to increase
rice supply and food security.
In
In neighboring
http://www.seedquest.com/News/releases/2009/april/25801.htm
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.12
Novel upland rice variety bred using
marker-assisted selection and client-oriented breeding released in
A novel upland
rice variety, Birsa Vikas Dhan 111 (PY 84), has recently been released in
the Indian state of Jharkhand. It was
bred using marker-assisted backcrossing with selection for multiple quantitative
trait loci (QTL) for improved root growth to improve its performance under
drought conditions. It is an early
maturing, drought tolerant and high yielding variety with good grain quality
suitable for the direct seeded uplands and transplanted medium lands of
It is the first
example of a rice variety bred through the combined use of marker-assisted
selection and client-oriented breeding, and a rare success story for the use
of marker-assisted selection to improve a quantitative trait. It out-yields
the recurrent parent by 10% under rainfed conditions.
The variety
was developed in a collaborative partnership between CAZS Natural Resources,
Three genomic
regions carrying root growth QTL on chromosomes 2 (root length), 9 (root thickness)
and 11 (root penetration) were transferred from the donor
Selection for
phenotypic performance was made in the target environment of farmers’ fields
in Jharkhand, Orissa and
The release
of Birsa Vikas Dhan 111 has paved the way for certified seed production in
the state of Jharkhand.
Jharkhand has
a population of over 21 million people of whom 44% live in poverty. Rice is
the staple food. About 46% of rice land is classified as rainfed upland where
rice is grown by the small, resource-poor farmers (most have less than 2 ha
of land) who are primarily dependent on agriculture and migrant work. Low
and erratic rainfall cause frequent droughts across the region.
Contributed
by Katherine Steele, CAZS Natural Resources,
1.13 There is more to learn from ‘bad plants’
in breeding programmes than one might think
Wageningen,
The
Plants hide their variations
There is more
to learn from ‘bad plants’ in breeding programmes than one might think.
New research into Aradopsis (thale cress) shows that many genotypic variations
cannot be seen in the appearance of the plant – the phenotype – because the
effects of the variation gradually die out. In addition to this buffering,
scientists have proven the existence of crucial clusters of genes. As mutations
in one of these so-called hotspots have a direct effect on the plant’s performance,
phenotyping of plants using techniques like metabolomics, proteomics and in
vivo imaging, is the future.
The
“The further
Buffering probably
develops because plants contain proteins that protect co-proteins. One
of these chaperones is called the heat shock protein. If one of these proteins
is switched off (such as
Chain reaction
The
hotspots causing the phenotypic differences discovered by Keurentjes and his
colleagues are the vulnerable spots in plant systems. “While most mutations
have no effect on a plant’s performance, changes in a few critical spots can
cause a chain reaction.” The hotspots depend on plant stage, genetic background
and the environment in which the plants grow. In the studied cross-breed,
a blue light receptor that influences flowering time was situated in a hotspot,
for example. Moreover, a great deal could be traced back to the erecta locus:
When mutations occur in this spot on the chromosome, it is not just the plant
itself that is smaller but all elements. “This affects various processes such
as cell and plant size,” adds Keurentjes. “A mutation can result in a completely
different plant.” A third hotspot is known to be important to the metabolic
system, determining aspects such as energy management and, therefore, day
and night rhythm.
This is the
first time that the existence of hotspots and gene buffering has been so clearly
shown, underlines Wageningen University Professor of Plant Breeding Richard
Visser. “Although it was already known that characteristics can be linked,
this knowledge opens up the possibilities of actually using this fact.” It
shows that it is possible to search more specifically for pieces of
The right direction
According to Visser, research into thale cress also shows that breeders
should be focussing more on the bad plants in their programmes. “Around 95
percent of all plants are discarded in the first round. As a result breeders
are throwing away information that could have helped steering the process
towards a better variety.”
Visser also
sees possibilities in searching for plants that provide a peak yield under
good and less optimal conditions, whereby wild varieties should definitely
be included. “The future lies in phenotyping as many different genotypes or
varieties as possible. We are also working on that, using varieties from around
the world of crops such as potato and barley. The modern measuring methods
are so accurate that you could say that the historical phenotyping will have
to be entirely redone.”
Joost Keurentjes’
research was financed by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research
(NWO) and the Centre for BioSystems Genomics (CBSG).
Yvonne de Hilster
Literature:
System-wide
molecular evidence for phenotypic buffering in Arabidopsis
Jingyuan Fu, Joost J.B. Keurentjes, Harro Bouwmeester, Twan America, Francel
W.A. Verstappen, Jane L. Ward, Michael H. Beale, Ric C.H. de Vos, Martijn
Dijkstra, Richard A. Scheltema, Frank Johannes, Maarten Koornneef, Dick Vreugdenhil,
Rainer Breitling and Ritsert C. Jansen.
Nature
http://www.seedquest.com/News/releases/2009/april/25684.htm
Source: Wageningen University - Newsletter of the Plant Sciences
Group March 2009 via SeedQuest.com
March 2009
1.14 Coming to the market soon in the
A new type
of genetically modified soybean should be on the market sometime this year
in the
"This
year we hope to bring to market the first product from a genetically engineered
plant designed to deliver health benefits to consumers," said Jim Borel,
DuPont group vice-president, at an agricultural convention in
The soybean,
developed by the DuPont company, has a different composition of fatty acids:
it contains more oleic acid – a monounsaturated fatty acid – than conventional
soybeans, while at the same time having a lower level of polyunsaturated fatty
acids. At high temperatures, such as when frying or roasting, part of these
are transformed into trans fatty acids. These can cause high levels of bad
cholesterol considered harmful to health. In the
Because of
the new GM soybean
DuPont expects
to receive regulatory approval for planting the new soybean (event 305423)
in the
An application
for the authorisation of the new high-oleic soybean in the food and feed chain
has also been submitted in the EU.
See also on
GMO Compass:
http://www.seedquest.com/News/releases/2009/april/25673.htm
Source: GMO Compass via SeedQuest.com
1.15 GM crops and the gene giants: bad news
for farmers
Kathy Jo Wetter
and Hope Shand
The global
North
Now the world
In 2008 the
Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration reported that
the largest of these companies, including BASF, Bayer, DuPont, Monsanto and
Syngenta, had already filed 532 patent documentson so-called
Beyond
Bad news
But the huge
number of patent filings does not mean that these companies have found the
key to unlocking how plants withstand environmental stresses — though they
may be knocking on the right door. We do not yet know how these plants will
perform in the field. What is clear is that their appearance in the marketplace
will increase the concentration of corporate power, drive up costs, inhibit
independent research, and, most alarmingly, undermine the rights of farmers
to save and exchange seeds.
There is a
further danger that, as the climate crisis deepens, governments may strong-arm
farmers into planting prescribed biotech seeds with traits deemed essential
for adaptation. This is already happening in the
Biotech companies
insist they don
While such
projects provide good publicity for the companies involved, suspicion is warranted.
At the same time that companies appear to be engaging in no-strings-attached
philanthropy, industry groups such as CropLife International are campaigning
hard for governments in the South to enact tougher intellectual property laws
to ensure that farmers pay royalties on proprietary seeds.
Beyond biotech
Biotech proselytisers
have been preaching that only genetic engineering can beget crops that will
survive climate change. On the contrary, the genetic diversity of plants and
animals and the diverse knowledge and practices of farming communities are
the most important resources for adapting local agriculture to a changing
climate.
Farmer-led
strategies for adapting to climate change — such as efforts to diversify crops
and bring them to the marketplace — must be recognised, strengthened and protected
by society as a whole and by governments in particular. Farming communities
must be directly involved in setting priorities and strategies for adaptation.
Where appropriate, scientists can work with farmers to improve conservation
technologies, strengthen local breeding strategies, and assist in identifying
and accessing seeds held in banks.
This may involve
strengthening and expanding farmer-to-farmer networks for exchanging and enhancing
crops through organisations such as La Via Campesina. It may also involve
facilitating access to new sources of genetic material for farmers to experiment
with breeding, and implementing Farmers
Kathy Jo Wetter
is a programme manager at
Source: SciDev.net
1.16 Bioversity International urges Agriculture
G8 to make better use of agricultural biodiversity
Rome, Italy
On the eve of the first ever meeting of the G8 devoted to agriculture, which
opens tomorrow in Treviso, Italy, Bioversity International calls
on Ministers to seize the opportunity to give greater prominence to agricultural
biodiversity.
“Humanity faces
great challenges: to feed a growing population and reduce hunger and malnutrition
in a world that also needs to protect the environment and to address climate
change,” said Emile Frison, Director General of Bioversity International.
“I urge the Agriculture Ministers to ensure that agricultural biodiversity
can play a greater role in ensuring real food security.”
Agricultural
biodiversity comprises the different ecosystems, species and genetic variability
that contribute to food production. Some components, such as livestock breeds
and crop varieties, are actively managed by farmers and scientists. Others,
such as soil microbes and many pollinators, provide valuable services without
being actively managed. While it has been common to consider agricultural
biodiversity solely as a source of traits for breeders to incorporate in advanced
crop varieties and livestock breeds, Frison points out that reliance on this
approach may be unsustainable.
Research over
the past 70 years has achieved large increases in agricultural production
and productivity that have allowed food supplies to keep pace with a growing
population.
However, this
success has required production methods that depend on greater use of fossil
fuels and the development of high yielding uniform varieties, which together
drive increasing specialization, simplification and homogenization of production
systems. Continuing inputs of water, synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and
herbicides and increasing uniformity of crops and livestock underpin today’s
fragile food security.
Partly in response
to increasing specialization, simplification and uniformity, concerns about
the sustainability of modern agricultural methods are growing.
The use of
a few varieties of a few crops brings with it increased vulnerability to pests
and diseases. It also reduces the availability of the agricultural diversity
essential for a nutritionally sound diet. The extensive use of fertilizers,
pesticides and herbicides damages the environment, while the financial and
energy costs of these inputs can put them out of the reach of farmers, so
that productivity suffers.
Climate change
will have a significant impact on agricultural production. Temperature regimes,
precipitation patterns and the distribution of pests and diseases will be
transformed, requiring different crops and new varieties in many production
systems. Climatic variability is expected to increase, calling for new approaches
to maintain adaptability and provide resilience in food production systems.
Some parts of the world may have to radically transform the way they produce
food.
Unquestionably
there is a continuing need to produce more food. However, this must be combined
with improving sustainability, increasing nutritional well being and ensuring
that agricultural production practices are able to adapt to climate change.
Research by
Bioversity International and others has shown that the judicious use of agricultural
biodiversity is a vital factor in meeting these challenges. It can reduce
problems of pests and diseases, improve nutritional health, increase soil
fertility, deliver other ecosystem services, and promote resilience and true
food security. Diverse farms will be better able to withstand the shocks and
unpredictability of climate change. Agricultural biodiversity also provides
the basis to adapt to climate change, since it is from this diversity that
selections better adapted to the new conditions caused by climate change will
emerge.
Durable food
security is needed not only in the developing world but also in the G8 countries
represented at the historic meeting of G8 Ministers of Agriculture. Investment
in agricultural research has been declining around the world.
Only a renewed
commitment to research will ensure that production systems are able sustainably
to meet the needs of the people and to respond to and mitigate the effects
of climate change.
“We need to
increase productivity and diversity,” said Frison. “We need intensification
without simplification. I hope Ministers will embrace the challenge offered
them and will take concrete action to ensure that agricultural biodiversity
is enabled to play its rightful role as a key component of real food security.
http://www.seedquest.com/News/releases/2009/april/25852.htm
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.17 Using cryopreservation to conserve
crop germplasm is reliable and, contrary to popular belief, cost competitive
with field genebanks
Using cryopreservation
to conserve crop germplasm is reliable and, contrary to popular belief, cost
competitive with field genebanks
Coffee is big
business. The trade in coffee is among the world’s most valuable for an agricultural
commodity, with an annual export value in excess of US$6.2 billion. Most coffee-producing
countries are in the developing world, where coffee is grown predominantly
by small-scale farmers who are often poor. The coffee trade is vital to their
livelihoods.
The success
of the crop — and of the whole industry built upon it — depends on the availability
of diversity to enhance the genetic base of coffee. This diversity is needed
to provide resistance to coffee berry disease, coffee rust, fusarium wilt,
bacterial blight, nematodes, and
In 1998, the
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations published a
report entitled The State of the World’s Plant Genetic Resources for Food
and Agriculture, which noted the conservation of 21,000 accessions of coffee.
All this diversity has traditionally been conserved in field genebanks, which
present real security challenges. A single cyclone in
Across the
world many field genebanks, not just for coffee, are thought to be vulnerable
because of such environmental and economic factors as pests and diseases,
extreme weather, fire, vandalism, lack of funds and policy changes. To ensure
real security and future diversity, a new approach is needed.
One solution
is cryopreservation. With this super-freezing technique, living tissues are
conserved at -196ºC in liquid nitrogen to arrest the cells’ metabolic activity.
While some species, such as Musa (banana and plantain), are increasingly well
catered for in cryopreservation, until now there have been doubts about the
practical delivery of coffee cryopreservation and whether the economics add
up.
For the past
15 years or so, Bioversity International and many of its partners have invested
in developing and adopting cryopreservation by researching, testing and documenting
protocols; training technicians and scientists; and supporting the acquisition
of equipment for cryopreservation. As part of this effort, genebank managers
and cryopreservation specialists were surveyed in 2006 to assess the obstacles.
One fascinating result the survey identified was a general belief that cryopreservation
was expensive, even though very few studies have analyzed the actual costs
or effectiveness of cryopreservation, and even fewer have gone further to
compare the costs of cryopreservation with those of maintaining field genebanks.
A new study
led by Ehsan Dulloo, a Bioversity scientist, compared the costs of maintaining
one of the world’s largest field collections of coffee with those of establishing
a coffee cryocollection at the Center for Research and Higher Learning in
Tropical Agriculture (CATIE, its acronym in Spanish) in
The team’s
calculations show the initial cost of establishing a cryocollection with 2,000
accessions is US$110,055, or $55 per accession. That is less than the cost
of a field collection of some 1,992 accessions, which is $138,681, or $69.62
per accession. These figures are in the same cost range of $50-75 per accession
that is reported by others, such as the cost to the United States Department
of Agriculture (USDA) for establishing a cryocollection of temperate fruit
at
A vital partner
in the work was the
“Most cryopreservation
conserves parts of the plant, like cells or just the growing tip, and these
then need to be grown into whole plants to regenerate the collection,” Dulloo
explains. “Cryopreservation of whole seed makes regeneration very easy and
much less expensive.”
IRD’s experience
enabled the detailed cost calculations of the project. To keep those costs
to a minimum in the future, the solution may be a regional or global cryopreserved
collection for coffee germplasm. As demonstrated by other crops such as Musa,
this would allow the costs of cryopreservation and the benefits derived from
germplasm conservation to be shared among partner countries.
http://www.seedquest.com/News/releases/2009/april/25916.htm
Source: CGIAR newsletter, April
2009 via SeedQuest.com
April 2009
1.18 The CWR Project:
protecting populations of crop wild relatives in their natural environment
Crop wild relatives
(CWR) are an important and valuable source of plant genetic information for
food and agriculture. They have acted as one of the world’s repositories for
crop genetic diversity for millennia, providing breeders across the ages with
an unlimited source of beneficial traits to improve the yields and nutritional
quality of crops, and, more importantly, to help crops adapt to changing environments.
Bringing together
five countries that contain some of the world’s biodiversity hotspots for
CWRs - Armenia, Bolivia, Madagascar, Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan - the Crop Wild
Relatives project, coordinated by Bioversity International with
financing from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and implementation support
from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), aims to protect
populations of crop wild relatives in their natural environment ensuring they
remain available as an important source of genetic diversity. At the same
time, the project endeavours to undertake preliminary work on the potential
use of CWR in breeding programs. To this end, national
partners have established evaluation and breeding programmes with national
research institutions on the following CWR: wild wheat and wild pear
(
The latest
news from project partners includes evaluation studies in Armenia, where genetic
diversity, salt, cold, drought tolerance and pest resistance of Triticum boeoticum accessions were assessed
under in-vitro conditions
using RAPD (Random Amplified Polymorphic
Further
information can also be obtained from Danny Hunter, the Global Project Coordinator
for the Crop Wild Relatives Project (d.hunter@cgiar.org) at Bioversity International
and by visiting the project’s Crop Wild Relative Global Portal (http://www.cropwildrelatives.org).
Contributed
by Teresa Borelli
CWR Project
– Bioversity International
1.19
The announcement
came just days before the Mexican Government said that it would allow the
experimental cultivation of genetically modified (GM) maize in other parts
of the country.
The first announcement
was made by Marcelo Ebrard, mayor of
"The Altiplano
is one of the centres of maize domestication," says the decree. "There
the
Maize is
The declaration
says that a research programme will be established with the aim of improving
local maize breeds. There will also be funds to support farmers who sow only
native seeds and to promote the use of organic fertiliser and pesticides.
The purchase and distribution of transgenic maize in
Esther Orozco,
director-general of the
There are also
plans for a germplasm bank storing samples of the Altiplano
"There
is no way to control the arrival of transgenic maize because transnational
companies are against the labelling of GM food, although in Mexico City the
presence of transgenic material has not been detected yet," says Joaquin
Ortiz, an agricultural researcher at the Postgraduate School in Texcoco, near
Mexico City.
The declaration
came just a few days before an executive decree by the president of Mexico,
Felipe Calderon, that effectively lifts the country
"Experimental
sowing with GM maize will be authorised, case by case, by SAGARPA [the Ministry
of Agriculture] to those companies and research centres which ask for that,
submit very detailed technical information and guarantee the binding on strict
biosafety measures. The crops resulting will not be commercialised,"
says the decree.
Experimental
sowing will be performed exclusively in authorised places, outside the origin
and diversity zones of traditional maize, it can be done only in some regions
in the north of the country, where hybrid maize varieties are cultivated in
commercial form.
Ariel Alvarez,
director of the Intersecretarial Commission of Biosafety and Genetically Modified
Organisms (Cibiogem), told SciDev.Net that 25 requests for experimental GM
maize have been received.
"The first
permission will be authorised by the end of 2009 in Sonora, Sinaloa, Tamaulipas,
Chihuahua and Baja California, states of the north where there aren
by Arturo Barba,
http://www.seedquest.com/News/releases/2009/april/25714.htm
Source: SciDev.Net via SeedQuest.com
1.20
Chinese scientists announced Thursday that they have bred rapeseeds with a
record high oil content up to 60 percent, which experts said is a "
The 20 new
rapeseed species, with an oil content of 55 to 60 percent, have been planted
on a trial basis in six Chinese localities including
Fu and a group
of other scientists attended an academic meeting Thursday in
The seeds,
crossbred from existing oil-rich rapeseed species, contain 12 to 17 percent
more oil than the previous generation, said Li.
Lab analysis
found two of the seeds, harvested in the northwestern
The new seeds
are expected to raise
"That
http://www.seedquest.com/News/releases/2009/april/25867.htm
Source: Xinhua via SeedQuest.com
1.21
Multan, Pakistan
All of the cotton varieties in Pakistan have come under the threat of virus,
a warning that had been launched by the Central Cotton Research Institute
(CCRI) in the market after years of research. The CCRI
This year a
record decline in the sale of seeds of CCRI is observed and farmers have also
plainly refused to sow the seeds of the Institute. According to the sources,
the CCRI is the largest department of the country to produce highest number
of cotton varieties.
Out of the
15 approved varieties of cotton by the government, seven are of
Due to these
harsh facts,
The cultivation
of cotton has started in
http://www.seedquest.com/News/releases/2009/april/25895.htm
Source: Pakistan Biotechnology Information Center (PABIC)
via SeedQuest.com
1.22 USDA/ARS develops new russet potato
germplasm line resistant to
Agricultural Research Service, USDA
By Jan Suszkiw
A new russet
potato germplasm line developed by Agricultural
Research Service (ARS) scientists and collaborators could help cut the
cost of using chemical fumigants to fight
The wormlike
pests are problematic in the
Thanks to genetic
resistance, the new russet potato, PA99N82-4, offers a way to naturally protect
the roots and tubers against nematode feeding. Putting that resistance to
work hasn
Brown and colleagues
conducted painstaking screening of material from Solanum bulbocastanum
and other wild species kept at the ARS U.S. Potato Genebank in
They also used
PA99N82-4 will
undergo two more years of field-testing before it is released for use in developing
commercial varieties.
Read more
about the research in the April 2009 issue of Agricultural Research magazine.
ARS is the
principal intramural scientific research agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
http://www.seedquest.com/News/releases/2009/april/25851.htm
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.23 Researchers examine bacterial rice
diseases, search for genetic solutions
As a
Keeping it
safe from disease has become, in part, the task of a group of three researchers
from Iowa State University and one from
The researchers
are looking at two bacterial diseases of rice. The most costly is bacterial
blight of rice, which is caused by a bacterium called Xanthomonas oryzae pathovar
oryzae, and can diminish yield by up to 50 percent.
"This
is the most important bacterial disease in rice, and in some areas, it is
the most important rice disease of any kind," said Adam Bogdanove, an
associate professor of plant pathology who is part of the ISU research team.
The team is
also studying bacterial leaf streak of rice caused by the closely related
bacterium Xanthomonas oryzae pathovar oryzicola. Bacterial leaf streak is
usually not as damaging as bacterial blight, but it is increasing in importance
in many areas of the world, particularly
These bacteria
damage rice by entering the plant and taking control of certain rice cell
processes, eventually killing the rice cells. Pathovar oryzae does this in
the vascular system of the plant, which typically allows the bacterium to
spread faster and cause more damage than is its cousin, oryzicola, which is
limited to growth in the tissue between the veins.
Some types
of rice are naturally resistant to the Xanthomonas bacteria. Bogdanove and
other researchers -- Bing Yang, Iowa State assistant professor of genetics
development and cell biology; Dan Nettleton, Iowa State professor of statistics;
and Frank White, principal investigator and professor of plant pathology at
Kansas State University, Manhattan -- are researching why some types of rice
are naturally resistant to the bacteria.
In rice varieties
that are resistant to the diseases, the team is exposing the plants to the
two bacteria. They then check to see which plant genes are activated, and
to what extent.
By identifying
which genes are turned on, Bogdanove believes the team can identify the genes
that are making the plants resistant.
"We are
looking at genes of successful plants," he said. "What genes are
active and when and how much they are being turned on."
Bogdanove hopes
that this effort will aid in breeding the resistance into cultivated varieties
that are currently susceptible to the diseases.
Another aspect
of the research is aimed at discovering how the bacteria change gene expression
in susceptible rice plants.
"If we
understand which genes are being manipulated by the pathogens in disease,
we can look into different varieties and wild relatives of rice for variants
of these genes that are immune to manipulation and bring these genes into
cultivated varieties," said Bogdanove. "The idea is to reduce or
eliminate susceptibility altogether."
Rice is the
American producers
grow 95 percent of the rice eaten in this country and the
In addition
to the benefits to rice, the research should be helpful in understanding and
controlling diseases in other cereal crops.
"Rice
is a model plant for cereal biology," said Bogdanove.
Funding for
the project comes from the National Science Foundation through
http://www.seedquest.com/News/releases/2009/april/25669.htm
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.24 Scientists
develop root nematode resistant potato
The United
States Department of Agriculture
The
The new variety
will still undergo field-testing for two years before it can be commercialized.
Read the complete
news article at
<http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2009/090417.htm>http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2009/090417.htm
Source: Crop
Biotech Update
Contributed
by Margaret E. Smith
Dept. of Plant
Breeding &
1.25 ARS develops
bacterial leaf spot resistant iceberg lettuce
A new breeding
line of lettuce has been released for planting by the U.S. Department of Agriculture
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists. Limited samples of the seven
new varieties of Iceberg lettuce is now provided by the ARS Crop Improvement
and Protection Unit in
ARS geneticist
Ryan Hayes said, "Creating disease-resistant breeding lines is the most
efficient and cost-effective tool to manage
For further
reading, see
<http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2009/090413.htm>http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2009/090413.htm.
Source: Crop
Biotech Update
Contributed
by Margaret E. Smith
Dept. of Plant
Breeding &
1.26 Vivek QPM 9
- an early maturing QPM maize hybrid for
Maize (Zea
mays L.) is an important food and feed crop of the world. It ranks fifth in
acreage and third in production. It is one of the
At the
The article
"Quality Protein Maize for Nutritional Security: Rapid Development of
Short Duration Hybrids through Molecular Marker Assisted Breeding" by
H. S. Gupta and colleagues was published by Current Science. It is available
for download at http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/jan252009/230.pdf>http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/jan252009/230.pdf
Additional information may be obtained from co-author
Dr. P.K.Agrawal at pawancrri@yahoo.co.in
Source: Crop
Biotech Update
Contributed
by Margaret E. Smith
Dept. of Plant
Breeding &
1.27 Wageningen UR and KeyGene to develop
a superior genome physical map of potato
Wageningen,
The
The Plant Sciences department of Wageningen UR
will apply KeyGene’s ‘Whole Genome Profiling’technology
to construct a high quality physical map of potato. The physical map is a
powerful tool for Wageningen UR to develop a superior genome sequence assembly
for potato together with the Potato Genome Sequencing Consortium.
The Whole Genome
Profiling (WGP) technology delivers an excellent framework for the assembly
of entire genomes. Because the technology is sequence-based, the WGP framework
can be used to establish a high quality genome sequence.
Potato is the
fourth most important food crop in the world with a current annual global
production of 300 million tones of which 80% is grown in
Christian Bachem,
project leader at Wageningen UR, “Especially in a complex crop like potato
the quality of the physical map will determine the quality of the sequence
of the complete potato genome”. He adds: “The collaboration with KeyGene will
help us to reach our objectives faster and deliver a high quality genome sequence
that will form the basis for future potato research”.
Edwin van der
Vossen – head of KeyGene’s Field Crop unit: “We have demonstrated the performance
and value of Whole Genome Profiling in several vegetable crops with genome
sizes ranging from 450 – 2,600 Mbp. We are pleased that the long term collaboration
between the Wageningen UR Plant Sciences department and KeyGene now allows
us to apply our Whole Genome Profiling technology to potato”.
http://www.seedquest.com/News/releases/2009/april/25825.htm
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.28 Monsanto Company and
Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON) and Hunan University today announced that they have
entered into a four-year research and licensing agreement focused on identifying
novel plant genes with attributes such as higher yield, drought resistance
and enhanced nitrogen utilization.
With the increasing global demand for food, fuel and fiber, the need to use
the best technologies to grow more crops on each acre of farmland is a high
priority for both the public and private sectors. The research program at
Monsanto is
committed to collaborating with scientific communities in
“We have been
impressed with the resources and intellectual capabilities at
The collaboration
will further support the company’s commitment to double yields in our core
crops by 2030, reduce by one-third key inputs such as water and nitrogen,
and help improve farmers’ lives, Padgette said.
“We are excited
to form this relationship with Monsanto, the leading agriculture company in
the world,” said Keli Liu, Party secretary general of
http://www.seedquest.com/News/releases/2009/april/25737.htm
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.29 Plant gene mapping may lead to better
biofuel production
Upton, New
York
By creating a “family tree” of genes expressed in one form of woody plant
and a less woody, herbaceous species, scientists at the U.S. Department of
Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have uncovered clues
that may help them engineer plants more amenable to biofuel production. The
study, published in the April 2009 issue of Plant Molecular Biology, also
lays a foundation for understanding these genes’ evolutionary and structural
properties and for a broader exploration of their roles in plant life.
“We are studying
a very large family of genes that instruct cells to make a variety of enzymes
important in a wide range of plant functions,” said Brookhaven biologist Chang-Jun
Liu (photo). By searching the genomes of woody Poplar trees and leafy Arabidopsis,
the scientists identified 94 and 61 genes they suspected belonged to this
family in those two species, respectively. They then looked at how the genes
were expressed — activated to make their enzyme products — in different parts
of the plants. Of particular interest to Liu’s group were a number of genes
expressed at high levels in the woody plant tissues.
“Wood and other
biofibers made of plant cell walls are the most abundant feedstocks for biofuel
production,” explained Liu. “One of the first steps of biofuel production
is to break down these biofibers, or digest them, to make sugar.”
But plants
have strategies to inhibit being digested. For example, Liu explained, small
molecules called acyl groups attached to cell-wall fibers can act as barriers
to hinder conversion of the fibers to sugar. Acyl groups can also form cross-linked
networks that make cell walls extra strong.
“Our long-term
interest is to find the enzymes that control the formation of cell-wall-bound
acyl groups, so we can learn how to modify plant cell walls to increase their
digestibility,” Liu said. “The current study, a thorough investigation of
an acyl-modifying enzyme family, provides a starting point for us to pursue
this goal.”
In fact, some
of the genes the scientists found to be expressed at high levels in woody
tissues may carry the genetic instructions for making the enzymes the scientists
would like to control.
“Our next step
will be to use biochemical and biophysical approaches to characterize these
individual genes’ functions to find those directly or indirectly related to
cell-wall modification. Then we could use those genes to engineer new bioenergy
crops, and test whether those changes improve the efficiency of converting
biomass to biofuel,” Liu said.
Liu’s group
also made some interesting observations about gene expression and gene location
in their study of the acyl-modifying enzyme genes. “We discovered a few unique
pairs of genes that were inversely overlapped with their neighboring genes
on the genome,” Liu said. In this unique organization, the paired genes (sequences
of
Perhaps understanding
this natural “anti-sense” regulation for gene expression will assist scientists
in their attempts to regulate acyl-modifying enzyme levels.
This work was
supported by the DOE-Department of Agriculture joint Plant Feedstock Genomics
program and by Brookhaven’s Laboratory Directed Research and Development program.
Funding was also provided by DOE’s Office of Science. In addition to Liu,
Xiao-Hong Yu, a former postdoctoral research associate, and Jinying Gou, a
current postdoc, contributed to this work.
http://www.seedquest.com/News/releases/2009/april/25802.htm
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.30 International team publishes first
SSR based genetic linkage map for cultivated groundnut
Cultivated
peanut or groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is the fourth most important oilseed
crop in the world, grown mainly in tropical, subtropical and warm temperate
climates. The crop production in marginal environment of
A team of scientists from the International Crops Research Institute for the
Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in collaboration with colleagues from EMBRAPA/
Catholic University in Brazil, University of Georgia and Tuskegee University
in USA has developed the first SSR based genetic linkage map for cultivated
groundnut. This map has a total of 135 SSR loci mapped onto 22 linkage groups.
The team has demonstrated the utility of this genetic map for trait mapping
in cultivated groundnut and comparative mapping in legumes.
Details about this map are available in the recent paper published as an Open
Access in Theoretical and Applied
http://www.seedquest.com/News/releases/2009/april/25701.htm
Source: CropBiotech Update via SeedQuest.com
1.31 Solicitation
of input from stakeholders on the roadmap for agricultural research, education,
and extension
US Department
of Agriculture
Office of the
Secretary
Research, Education,
and Economics Office, USDA.
ACTION: Notice
of public comment period for written stakeholder input.
SUMMARY: The
Research, Education, and Extension Office (REEO) of the Research, Education,
and Economics (REE) Mission Area of the Department of Agriculture (USDA) is
requesting written stakeholder input on the preparation of a roadmap for agricultural
research, education, and extension at USDA. The preparation of the Roadmap
is mandated by the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act (
DATES: All
written comments must be received by
2009, to be
considered.
Submit commentsto
Roadmap@osec.usda.gov.
Include REE-2009-0001 in the subject line of the message.
All comments
received will be posted to http://www.regulations.gov
FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT: Michele Simmons Roadmap@osec.usda.gov.
Additional
Comment Procedures
Background
and Purpose
The preparation
of the roadmap for agricultural research, education, and extension is mandated
in section 7504 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act (
1. What types of current and future critical
issues (including those affecting citizens, communities and natural resources)
does agriculture face that no USDA entity could address individually?
2. What criteria should USDA use to prioritize
agricultural science (i.e., research, education, and extension) investments
to address these issues?
3. How might USDA better coordinate agricultural
sciences among its various agencies and with its partners?
4. What are some examples where agricultural
sciences are successfully coordinated for maximum benefit? Why are they successful?
5. What are some examples where agricultural
sciences are not coordinated effectively? Why is coordination lacking? What
are the barriers?
6. What else might USDA do to improve coordination
of science; enhance USDA
Implementation
Plans
The Under Secretary
and the REEO plan to consider stakeholder input received from written comments
in developing the Roadmap. The Secretary will make the Roadmap available to
the public, with an expected publication date of not later than
Katherine Smith,
Acting Deputy
Under Secretary, Research, Education, and Economics.
[FR Doc. E9-7252 Filed
Contributed
by Ann Marie Thro
USDA/CREES
1.32 Request for
stakeholder input: Research, Education, and Economics Office, USDA.
SUMMARY: The
Research, Education, and Extension Office (REEO) of the Research, Education,
and Economics (REE) Mission Area of the Department of Agriculture (USDA) is
requesting written stakeholder input on the preparation of a roadmap for agricultural
research, education, and extension at USDA. The preparation of the Roadmap
is mandated by the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act (
preparation
of the Roadmap.
DATES: All
written comments must be received by
You may submit
comments, identified by REE-2009-0001, by any of the following methods:
http://www.regulations.gov:
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
E-mail: Roadmap@osec.usda.gov. Include REE-2009-0001
in the subject line of the message.
Instructions:
All submissions received must include the title ``Roadmap
Contributed
by Ann Marie Thro
CREES/USDA