PLANT
BREEDING NEWS
EDITION 149
23 August 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 Green Revolution for food
security
1.02 Does hunger outweigh GM doubts?
1.03 Indigenous knowledge and rights
must be protected
1.04 Global Crop Diversity Trust: not
a good idea for ensuring global food security
1.05 Biodiversity research gets US$1m
boost in Brazil
1.06 New name for Cornell Plant
Breeding
1.07 ICRISAT's Agri-Business
Incubator starts GM cotton initiative
1.08 ICRISAT to launch trials of GM
groundnut next season and pigeon pea in 2006
1.09 New research confirms Barbara
McClintock's view of heterochromatin and gene regulation
1.10 National Corn Growers
Association announces valuable maize genome data now available to scientists
1.11 Brazilian scientists identify
the genes in coffee beans
1.12 Graduate student formidable foe
for rice water weevil
1.13 Hybrid characterization test for
ethanol yields results
1.14 Wild potato's gene may protect
vulnerable spuds
1.15 Researchers increase folate
levels in plant - Biofortifying cereals and grains
1.16 Crops that contribute to
improved productivity and profitability of saline lands
1.17 Research goal: minimize
cross-pollination of crops
1.18 Syrian scientists produce
naturally coloured cotton by causing random changes in the genetic material of
cotton seeds
1.19 Fusarium nursery shows new hope
for reducing levels of deoxynivalenol in barley
1.20 Thai researchers discover
iron-rich rice that can combat anaemia
1.21 Local breeding of chickpea is
best for Western Australia
1.22 Disease-resistant papaya saves
Hawaiian papaya industry
1.23 Are you afraid of injections?
1.24 Transgenic Gala apples display resistance
to fungal attack
1.25 Plant transport genes discovered
2. PUBLICATIONS
2.01 Announcement and Request
for contributions: Crop Breeding and Applied Biotechnology (CBAB)
3. ON THE WEB
3.01 FAO-BiotechNews 8-2004
4 GRANTS AVAILABLE
4.01 Association for Strengthening Agricultural
Research in Eastern and Central Africa, introduces competitive grants system
5 MEETINGS, COURSES AND
WORKSHOPS
6 EDITOR'S NOTES
=========================
1. NEWS, ANNOUNCEMENTS AND RESEARCH NOTES
1.01 Green Revolution for food security
By Martin Trancik
With population growth on the rise around the world, and especially in
developing countries, Dr. Gurdev Khush calls for a Green Revolution through
improvements to rice.
In the world, 50% of humanity depends on rice as a dietary source. Among the
three main crops feeding the world's population (rice, wheat and maize) rice is
by far the most important. Of all calories consumed by human beings, 23% are
derived from rice, whereby this percentage is even higher in traditional rice
countries such as
Dr. Khush spent 34 years working as a scientist for the International Rice
Research Institute IRRI and retired in 2001 as head of the IRRI's plant
breeding program. Throughout his career, his path has been filled with research
accolades due to his accomplishments with bettering rice cultivation.
Dr. Khush began his presentation by outlining the challenges the scientific
community was facing with regards to rice in the early 1960s. Predictions in
that decade gave the bleak prospect of serious food shortages and rice related
famines by 1975. The task to assure a more secure food supply had to be tackled
from various angles.
The first aspect in this research process was to improve the yield potential of
various rice plants. Here, an increase was achieved by the introduction of a
dwarfing gene into the plant, causing a greater ratio of grain to rice straw.
Research dealt also with the plant's nitrogen responsiveness to fertilizer.
This development lead to a considerable decrease in duration of he plant's
growing season. An older variety such as Ptb 21 for example, took 180 days to
mature, whereas the new IR 44482-9 variety was ready within 95 days.
Considerable attention was also devoted to the fight against diseases, insects
or parasites such as the Grassy Stunt, Tungro or the brown plant hopper nymphs.
The general aim, of course, was to boost the plant's resistance. With regard to
Grassy Stunt, this was achieved by transferring a gene from a naturally
resistant variety of wild rice called Oryza nivara. In this case,
hybridisation and cross breeding was used to obtain rice varieties that were
resistant to insects, parasites or disease.
The combined effect of all these developments was an increase in rice
production from around 200 million tons in 1961 to 1500 million tons in 2003.
In addition, the higher intensity of cropping, brought about by the multiple
improvements to rice, meant that these 1.5 billion tons were produced on an
area of 130 million ha. Using traditional rice plants would have meant that, in
2003, an area of 300 million ha would have been needed to achieve the same
production.
Accordingly, Dr. Khush's interpretation of future challenges takes into account
ecological constraints: en ever increasing world population forces farmers to
produce even more food, however, this must happen in a way that uses less
water, land, labor and chemicals. It is here, that genetic engineering in
addition to methods such as conventional, ideotype or hybrid breeding will play
a crucial role. Dr. Khush emphasized, "I think genetic engineering is the
area that holds the most potential."
In
In the crucial area of insects and diseases, Dr. Khush noted that genetic
engineering is used with the aim to provide resistance against damaging
organisms. With the addition of one gene, past results demonstrated that insects
and microbes have been able to overcome the resistance. Here, the addition of 3
to 4 new genes to rice seems to promise the best results.
Other aspects of research into genetic engineering that Dr. Khush highlighted
dealt with new rice varieties with tolerance to submergence and, on the other
extreme, tolerance to drought and salinity. Both drought and salinity are two
closely related areas of particular importance. Dr. Khush emphasized, "
Water is quickly becoming the limiting resource globally. This is a very big
problem, since 50% of the world relies on rain-fed rice." However, Dr.
Khush noted how new transgenic varieties have been developed that allow for the
cultivation of rice in salty environments, as well as survive periods of
drought. Both improvements increase the yield and dependability of rice
farming.
Methods of genetic engineering were not only applied in dealing with issues of
intensity or efficiency of cropping. They can also have health care
implications. According to Dr. Khush, 400 million people in the world are at
risk of Vitamin A deficiency. Lately, genetic engineering was used in order to
boost the rice plants Vitamin A synthesis. Here, three genes were introduced: Psy
and lyc from daffodil (Narcissus) and Cryt1 from the bacterium Erwina
uredovora. This new variety of rice is called Golden Rice and was made
available in 2003. The research was lead by Dr. Ingo Potrykus of the Swiss
Federal Institute of Technology's Institute for Plant Sciences (appointed by
Dr. Khush to head the vitamin A rice project) and Dr. Peter Beyer of the Center
for Applied Biosciences,
Dr. Khush gave an impressive overview over the biotechnological improvements to
rice. Research in this area does not represent a mere intellectual or
scientific game. There is hardly anything as vital as the creation of secure
and improved food supplies in a world where the risk of famine and malnutrition
is still painfully real.
Matin Trancik is studying Law at the
http://www.checkbiotech.org/root/index.cfm?fuseaction=search&search=trancik&doc_id=8273&start=1&fullsearch=1
Contributed by Robert Derham
Robert.Derham@unibas.ch
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1.02 Does hunger outweigh GM doubts?
Maize damaged by insects in Zambia
Crop pests are a fact of life for African farmers, and chemical pesticides are
often too expensive to allow profits. Two alternatives are genetically modified
(GM) crops and insect resistant strains of crops developed by conventional
breeding experiments. Critics of GM say the technology is being forced on
African farmers but supporters say that hunger in Africa cannot be tackled with
it.
In this article, Robert Scalia reports on the choices facing African farmers
and governments. Uganda, for instance, has a lucrative organic market in Europe
and the government forbids the planting of GM crops, but allows imports. Angola
and Zambia have banned GM food in imports. Meanwhile, Kenya and South Africa
are pushing ahead with GM crops.
Increasing yields is one thing but, as farmers have found, unless the produce
looks and tastes right, people won't buy it. And whether or not GM can produce
improved yields of safe food, other factors, such as loans for farmers, better
infrastructure, and improved markets are also central to the improvement of
food security in Africa.
Source: Scoop, via SciDev.Net
10 August 2004
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1.03 Indigenous knowledge and rights must be protected
Indigenous knowledge of biodiversity is important to the lives of millions, not
least through the provision of food and medicine. But according to Alejandro
Argumendo, director of Peru's Quechua-Aymara Association for Sustainable
Communities International, intellectual property laws foster the privatisation
of such knowledge, rather than its protection.
In this interview, he says that the definitions and uses of traditional
knowledge are affecting indigenous rights. International frameworks, he says,
are not able to establish or protect the rights of those who are the very
source of traditional knowledge.
He highlights the importance of conserving both biodiversity and the
traditional systems of knowledge transfer and exploitation that are central to
its sustainable exploitation.
Link to
full LApress.org feature story in English
Link to
full LApress.org feature story in Spanish
Source: SciDev.Net
12 July 2004
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1.04 Global Crop Diversity Trust: not a good idea for
ensuring global food security
An opinion article by Dave Wood <gight@btinternet.com>
M.S. Swaminathan and Per Pinstrup-Andersen (AgBioView July 6, 2004) make a plea
for further support for the Global Crop Diversity Trust that is trying to raise
$260 million. Income from this Trust would fund seed conservation in 1,470
genebanks around the world.
With respect, I disagree. There are far more effective ways of ensuring global
food security than supporting the Trust.
The first way is to ensure that the vast numbers of existing crop diversity
collections are better evaluated, fully documented, and actually used. Our
experience over the past thirty years is that very large collections directly
servicing large crop breeding institutes work best for food security. This
approach gave us the Green Revolution in rice and wheat. The bottleneck now is
not yet more genebank samples, but more research, especially on wild relatives
still evolving to match the stresses of climate change and new pests and still
out there in the field. There is an essential role for biotechnology here but
the present governance of the Trust includes anti-GMO elements. Can the Trust
be trusted to be neutral on GMOs?
The second way is to recognize that 1,470 genebanks are far too many for secure
storage of possibly 10 million samples. The Trust should not seek to encourage
this inefficiency. Fortunately, there is a very new opportunity to solve this
massive (and hitherto expensive) technical problem of poor storage. The new
International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (IT)
entered into force last week (on the 29th June). The IT establishes an agreed
global commons for crops to replace the national sovereignty endorsed by the
Convention on Biological Diversity a decade ago. Thus there is no longer a
political barrier to physically consolidating a multitude of national and
institutional genebanks for greater security of storage. The present 1,470
genebanks are often of dubious technical quality, with an appalling record of
sample duplication (essential for secure storage). In future, a limited number
of large, technically excellent, duplicated genebanks, would!
be of far greater service to global food security at far lower cost than
the $260 million required by the Trust. Three or four genebanks would suffice,
but the cost efficiency of very large stores is so great that several more
could be built. Just this week, with the IT, this became possible.
The third way to ensure global food security is to return to the roots of
genetic resource management through plant introduction and distribution. The
proven value of plant introduction has been lost sight of in the promotion of
conservation of a limited range of crops. Early efforts recognized that most
crops grow better and produce more in continents away from their homeland
(probably because they escape their co-evolved pests and diseases: the rabbit
in Australia phenomenon). For example, Africa depends on maize, cassava and
beans from Latin America; Brazil on coffee from Ethiopia; Malaysia on oil palm
from Africa and rubber from South America; and the U.S.A. on wheat and soybean
from Asia and sorghum from Africa. But this biological fact it was the driver
for the great efforts of plant introduction of the likes of Vavilov, as he
brought back 330,000 samples of crops for the new agricultural lands of Russia,
and for the global collecting efforts of the US Department of Ag!
riculture over more than a century. Millions of samples were distributed
in the U.S.A., direct to farmers. This process of intercontinental crop
diversification is not nearly complete. There are many food security crops and
important pasture species not covered by IT. These omissions range from major
crops such as soybean and groundnut to locally important staples such as teff
and ensete from Ethiopia, peach palm from Latin America, and sago from S.E.
Asia. Food diversification based on livestock will suffer as major tropical
grass and legume pasture species are excluded. As the Trust will not cover
crops excluded from the IT, it will fail to ensure the conservation of these
vital crops and pasture species. It will also not promote the effective work of
intercontinental crop diversification.
Finally, even for crops that are covered by the IT and the Trust, the only
collections covered are in public domain genebanks either national or in the
CGIAR institutes. These raw materials may not be the most essential for global
food security. Certainly within the CGIAR the most immediately useful samples
are from the vast range of trial material developed with care and skill by
national and CGIAR scientists. Each modern variety may contain the good
diversity from more than a hundred traditional varieties. This trial and
breeders material is both excluded from the IT and Trust mandates (as material
under development) and also not, unfortunately, securely stored. Its survival
is an urgent priority.
In sum, priority funding is needed not for the Global Crop Diversity Trust, but
for: more evaluation and enhancement of existing samples; consolidation of
national collections into efficient and large international stores (with
effective documentation) on the model of the CGIAR genebanks; greater emphasis
on plant introduction and crop diversification; and secure storage for the
millions of enhanced lines threatened by the retirement of breeders or changes
in institutional interests.
Global policy over genetic resources now seems to be in disarray. The
stamp-collectors urge for yet more conservation has taken over from the former
ethic of 'stamps ensuring the delivery of mail' that gave us effective crop
introduction and plant breeding to ensure food security.
Source: AgBioView
8 July 2004
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1.05 Biodiversity research gets US$1m boost in Brazil
[SAO PAULO] The Brazilian government has launched a US$1 million project to gather
its biodiversity knowledge into a single network of national databases. The
project, which will involve the creation of new specimen collection centres,
aims to give Brazil control over its own biodiversity as well as any commercial
benefits that arise from its use.
Much of the scientific knowledge about Brazilian species rarely finds its way
home to Brazil. It is generated by researchers from other countries and published
in foreign language journals. "We want to reverse this flow of
information," says Lone Egler, general coordinator of the biodiversity
research and policy programme at the country's Ministry of Science and
Technology, which is responsible for the new project. "We are going to
open our ark to see what we've got.
The project, which involves ten research institutions in the Amazon region and
23 in the semi-arid north-east of the country, will catalogue Brazilian plants,
animals and micro-organisms. This work will involve gathering information
currently dispersed throughout several biological collections into a single
network, comprising new and existing databanks.
New research centres will also be set up to collect biological specimens,
describe species and study the way they interact within ecosystems. This part
of the programme will increase research investments in regions such as the
Amazon, which are very rich in biodiversity but have limited human research
capacity. In these areas, the programme will bring research training, doctoral
opportunities and new equipment.
The National Institute of Amazon Research (INPA) is already working with local
research organisations to create the first centre, which will have trail
systems and lodges for researchers, in the state of Roraima. Two regional
institutes, the Emilio Goeldi Museum and the National Semi-Arid Institute, will
coordinate the creation of other research units in the Amazon forest.
Most of the information in the database network will be available to the
general public. However, data that could have commercial value, such as that on
molecular structures that could be exploited for drug development, will be
available to national and international companies only under restrictive or
paid conditions. The programme will encourage companies to create partnerships
with participating Brazilian research organisations in order to access the
data.
The project is, however, provoking criticism from states whose organisations
were kept out of the process.
"It is not right to deliver our biological collections and not get
anything in return, such as scientific qualifications and support to install
laboratories," says Jose Maria da Silva, secretary of Science and
Technology for Amapa. This state in the Amazon region prides itself on it
successful conservation of more than 90 per cent of the forest within its
boundaries.
Amapa was excluded from the project when the Brazilian government decided to
have only two coordination centres, one each in the states of Amazonas and
Para.
Source: SciDev.Net
6 August 2004
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1.06 New name for Cornell Plant Breeding
Cornell University has announced a name change for the Department of Plant
Breeding, which will now be known as the Department of Plant Breeding and
Genetics. The Faculty voted to approve this change, which was recently
approved by the College and the University administration, because it reflects
more appropriately the research, teaching, and extension activities of the
Department.
Contributed by Ronnie Coffman
Chairman, Dept of Plant Breeding and Genetics
Cornell University
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1.07 ICRISAT's Agri-Business Incubator starts GM cotton
initiative
The Agri-Business Incubator (ABI) at the International
Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in Hyderabad,
India is now collaborating with private sector clients.
Bioseed Research India Pvt. Ltd., a part of the DCM Shriram Group, is working
on research projects related to the application of agricultural biotechnology
for the development of superior cotton hybrids. ICRISAT provides technology
assistance for using molecular markers, gene marker identification, and genetic
transformation. In addition, the seed company can make use of ICRISAT's
greenhouse space, biotechnology labs and agricultural land for testing of their
material.
Dr William Dar, Director General of ICRISAT, said that The ABI is an important
institution for partnering with the private-sector companies, where
entrepreneurs can develop commercial ventures using ICRISAT technologies.
The other project under the agri-business concept, is with Rusni Distilleries
Pvt. Ltd., on generating extra-neutral alcohol (ENA), a raw material for
producing potable alcohol, and fuel alcohol that can be added to petrol from
sweet sorghum varieties developed by ICRISAT. According to ICRISAT scientist
Kiran Sharma, the collaboration will generate better value for sorghum, a crop
of the semi-arid regions, through its use for generating alcohol. ICRISAT will
help further increase the sugar content in the sorghum varieties.
For further information, contact Dr. Kiran Sharma at k.sharma@cgiar.org.
Visit the ICRISAT website at http://www.icrisat.cgiar.org.
Source: SeedQuest.com
6 August 2004
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1.08 ICRISAT to launch trials of GM groundnut next
season and pigeon pea in 2006
In what could provide major relief to farmers reeling under drought, International Crop Research Institute for the
Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) is set to launch field trials of
genetically-modified short-term and high yielding groundnuts from next season
and pigeon pea in 2006.
"The groundnut variety is ready for field trials from next seasons (2004)
and we are in talks with partners including Indian Council of Agricultural
Research in India," ICRISAT Director General William Dar told reporters
here.
He said the field trials for the GM pigeon pea variety will start in 2006.
The two varieties are short-term of a duration of 90-100 days, and can raise
the yield by 25-30 per cent, Dar said after signing of Memorandum of
Association between ICRISAT and Asian Media Information and Communication of
India.
He said the groundnut variety is resistant to Indian peanut clump virus while
the Bt variety of pigeon pea is resistant to pod borer Helicoverpa.
Dar said that the organisation has also developed a variety of pearl millet,
suitable for farmers in water scarce Rajasthan and gives an
"outstanding" yield of 1.5 to two tonnes per hectare in 90 to 100
days against the common duration of 165 days.
"We have also developed a variety of sweet sorghum which is better than
sugarcane in manufacturing ethanol, helping the country's energy needs and
helping the environment," he said.
Advocating the use of GM seeds, he said they not only give better yields but
also help the environment and farmers by reducing use of pesticides and other
chemicals.
Source: SeedQuest.com
5 August 2004
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1.09 New research confirms Barbara McClintock's view of
heterochromatin and gene regulation
Since its discovery by the botanist Emil Heitz in 1928, heterochromatin has
been the subject of intense investigation, especially in relation to its effect
on the expression of nearby genes. Heterochromatin was originally defined under
the microscope as the parts of chromosomes which appear tightly packed.
Over 50 years ago, Barbara McClintock proposed, based on genetic and
cytogenetic observations in maize, that invisible or "less
conspicuous" heterochromatin would be found scattered around the genome,
where it served as "controlling elements" for genes.
While controlling elements (now called transposable elements) have since been
recognized as widespread components of all genomes, McClintock's view of
heterochromatin (sometimes known as "junk DNA") and gene regulation
remained controversial.
A paper published this week in Nature
reports that, once more, the late Nobel laureate was well ahead of her time.
Using a combination of genetic and genomic approaches, Rob Martienssen (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York) and Vincent Colot (Unité de Recherche en Génomique Végétale,
Evry, France), in collaboration with their colleagues W. Richard McCombie (Cold
Spring Harbor Laboratory) and Rebecca Doerge (Purdue
University), have shown that transposable elements define heterochromatin
whether visible under the microscope or not. Furthermore, although the study
reveals that genes are frequently insulated from the effects transposable
elements, it also demonstrates that such elements can control gene expression
when inserted within or very near genes. This form of regulation is known as
"epigenetic" because it has the unusual property of being remembered
during development, and even from generation to generation.
Biochemically, epigenetic gene regulation can be programmed by small
interfering RNA, as well as by a second "code" of histone protein and
DNA modifications. Evidence is presented that imprinted genes, whose expression
depends on inheritance from the maternal or paternal genome, may be programmed
in this way not only in plants but in a variety of organisms, including
mammals. Among the results of the study was the finding that the imprinted
Arabidopsis FWA gene, which delays flowering when expressed, is under
transposable element control.
Source: SeedQuest.com
20 July 2004
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1.10 National Corn Growers Association announces valuable
maize genome data now available to scientists
ST. LOUIS-- Valuable maize (corn) research is now available to research
scientists working to sequence the maize genome, the National Corn Growers
Association (NCGA) announced today. Ceres, Inc., Monsanto Company, and DuPont
subsidiary Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. have transferred their maize
sequencing information to a searchable database on the Internet hosted at the
Donald Danforth Plant Science Center.
After completing a licensing agreement downloadable on the NCGA Web site at http://www.ncga.com, scientists can access the
research at http://www.maizeseq.org .
"Access to these gene sequences will help public-sector researchers more
quickly develop corn plants with improved agronomic performance and profitable
quality traits," said Patrick Schnable, professor and director of the
Center for Plant Genomics and past chair, Maize Genetics Executive Committee.
In March, NCGA announced the three industry leaders would share their corn
genome sequence data, which combined with the corn sequence data already in the
public domain will significantly accelerate the identification of genes within
the entire corn genome.
This project underscores NCGA's continued commitment to advancements through
research. NCGA took a leading role in getting the Plant Genome Initiative
signed into law in 1997 and continues to support this important effort. With
the availability of sequencing data from Ceres, DuPont and Monsanto, the corn
genome could be completely sequenced by 2007, potentially years ahead of when
it would have been completed without this initiative.
The NCGA's mission is to create and increase opportunities for corn growers in
a changing world and to enhance corn's profitability and usage. NCGA represents
more than 33,000 members, 25 affiliated state corn grower organizations and
hundreds of thousands of growers who contribute to state checkoff programs.
Founded in 1998, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center is a not-for-profit
institute with a global vision to improve the human condition through basic
plant research. Please visit http://www.danforthcenter.org
for additional information.
Source: AgBioView
14 July 2004
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1.11 Brazilian scientists identify the genes in coffee
beans
Researchers in Brazil have identified the 35,000 genes in the DNA of coffee,
one of the country's biggest exports. Brazil's agriculture minister says the
research will lead to production of crops that can resist disease and frost,
and better tasting coffee.
The minister said improvements to coffee would not involve genetic
modification. Instead, breeding experiments would be used to transfer pollen
between plants whose genetic makeup was known.
The research took two years to complete, and its findings will not be made
available to researchers in other countries for at least two more.
Source: BBC Online, via SciDev.Net
11August 2004
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1.12 Graduate student formidable foe for rice water
weevil
The rice water weevil is about as long as a pencil eraser. The adults' feeding
on the young rice foliage causes scars on the upper leaf surface.
But the larvae cause the real damage. They live underground in the saturated
mud and obtain oxygen by piercing the rice plant's roots with spiny
projections.
They prune rice roots and cause stunting, delayed maturity, reduced tiller
production and increases competition from weeds. Rice water weevils cause an
estimated $40 to $120 in damage per acre in a season.
The primary control of the rice water weevil is insecticides; other methods of
cultural and biological control have met with little success.
Plant resistance to the pest offers "savings in production costs and a
reduction of the pesticide load in the environment," Ratnayake said.
Scientists are developing a rice variety with genes containing proteins toxic
to the pest.
"In order to continue the research, the best strategy would be to select a
toxic protein against the rice water weevil larvae and insert that gene into
rice," she said.
But before that can be done, the insect has to be studied even further since
little research has been done on its basic biology.
"Progress on developing an artificial diet has been made," Ratnayake
said, "and continued work is needed. To my knowledge, this is the first
attempt to develop an artificial diet for the rice water weevil."
Ratnayake was able to develop reliable testing techniques to screen the
proteins toxic to the larvae. She also developed a method to produce a large
number of rice water weevil larvae for laboratory research.
Part of the challenge has been the fact the rice water weevil appear only for
about three-and-one-half months per year, and could not be raised in a
laboratory. So each summer for four years, Ratnayake would pack up her family
and move to the Texas A&M System Research and Extension Center in Beaumont
to study the insect in its natural environment.
Ratnayake received financial support for her studies from Texas rice farmers
and RiceTec Inc., a private hybrid rice seed producing company in Alvin.
Source: editor's excerpts from article in EurekAlert.com
10 August 2004
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1.13 Hybrid characterization test for ethanol yields
results
Using a testing methodology developed at the University of Illinois,
researchers have confirmed a link between corn hybrid selection and ethanol
yield in dry-grind operations. And unexpectedly, they saw no correlation
between extractable starch and ethanol yield in the study.
The findings from the two-year study, a collaboration between the University of
Illinois and Syngenta Seeds, confirm that growers and processors may benefit by
selecting corn hybrids shown to produce optimal ethanol yield and quality,
along with strong agronomic yield. Identifying such hybrids holds the potential
to improve the amount of total ethanol produced in dry-grind corn processing
plants and could have a positive impact on process economics.
The research indicated approximately 23 percent ethanol yield variability among
all the grain samples tested for dry-grind ethanol production. This variability
in ethanol yields can be attributed primarily to genetics and planting
location. Dr. Vijay Singh, assistant professor of food and bioprocess
engineering at the University of Illinois, recently presented these findings at
the International Quality Grains Conference in Indianapolis.
The study shows no correlation between extractable starch and ethanol yield,
although starch gets converted into ethanol. This unexpected finding makes the
assumption that corn hybrids with high starch would yield high ethanol invalid.
The researchers attribute the lack of correlation to the fact that the
dry-grind ethanol process involves significant physical, chemical and
bio-chemical separations and treatments that may make un-extractable starch
still fermentable. Results from the study suggest that measurement of starch
content does not provide a fully accurate picture of a hybrid's compatibility
with dry-grind processing.
The test methodology measured actual ethanol creation, rather than an indirect
measurement based on weight loss due to CO2 generation. The testing protocol
mimicked the dry-grind process and involved taking ethanol measurements at
different time intervals during fermentation. This approach determined rate of
fermentation and ethanol profiles over time.
This new test methodology is already finding its way into commercial uses.
Syngenta Seeds has implemented the measurement technique to characterize its
NK® Brand Extra Edge(tm) corn hybrids for ethanol production at the company's
Stanton, Minn. Research facility. This new ethanol laboratory was designed to
apply proven third-party research to the company's efforts to add value to
emerging agricultural markets.
"Growers are in the business to make money and one thing a seed company
can do is not only give them quality genetics, but also give them good
information. This testing methodology helps us to categorize NK Brand corn
hybrids so growers and processors can accurately identify the most favorable
hybrids for dry-grind ethanol production," said Dr. Jim Graeber, NK Brand
market development manager, Syngenta Seeds. "Twenty-seven Extra Edge
hybrids characterized for dry-grind ethanol production are available for the
2005 growing season."
Syngenta is a world-leading agribusiness committed to sustainable agriculture
through innovative research and technology. The company is a leader in crop
protection, and ranks third in the high-value commercial seeds market. Sales in
2003 were approximately $6.6 billion. Syngenta employs some 19,000 people in
over 90 countries. Syngenta is listed on the Swiss stock exchange (SYNN) and in
New York (SYT).
NK* and Extra Edge(tm) are trademarks of a Syngenta Group Company.
Source: SeedQuest.com
10 August 2004
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1.14 Wild potato's gene may protect vulnerable spuds
ARS News Service
America's favorite veggie--the potato--sometimes falls victim to its worst
enemy, a disease called late blight. But Agricultural Research Service
scientists have found a promising gene that might help.
Isolated from a wild Mexican potato, Solanum bulbocastanum, the novel Sbul1
gene may work in concert with other genes to boost the ability of popular,
domesticated S. tuberosum tubers to shrug off attacks by the fungus-like
microbe, Phytophthora infestans, that causes late blight.
A team led by ARS plant physiologist William R. Belknap at the Western Regional
Research Center at Albany, Calif., identified the Sbul1 gene, following earlier
research by John P. Helgeson, formerly with ARS at Madison, Wis.
Helgeson had fused S. bulbocastanum with S. tuberosum potatoes. Then, ARS
researchers at Aberdeen, Idaho, used samples of these potatoes to develop new,
experimental tubers that they provided to Belknap.
Each time they crossed, or "hybridized," the Wisconsin potatoes with
other tubers, the Idaho team lessened the amount of genetic material from the
wild potato--narrowing the California team's search for the resistance gene.
At Albany, researchers isolated and copied the Sbul1 gene from one of the
Aberdeen potatoes, then moved the gene into domesticated potatoes for tests in
the specialized greenhouses of ARS plant pathologist Kenneth L. Deahl in
Beltsville, Md.
The California group also determined the blueprint, or structure, of the Sbul1
gene and pinned down its location within the wild potato's genome.
Deahl's greenhouse tests of the Sbul1-enhanced tubers are being succeeded by
outdoor trials in the Midwest.
Read more about the research in the August issue of Agricultural Research
magazine, available online at:
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/aug04/potato0804.htm
ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research agency.
Source: SeedQuest.com
9 August 2004
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1.15 Researchers increase folate levels in plant -
Biofortifying cereals and grains
A team of researchers led by Karel Schubert, Ph.D., affiliate research biology
professor in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis,
recently achieved a breakthrough to enhance levels of folate, a vitamin
essential to human and animal health, in the model plant Arabidopsis.
The research was performed at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St.
Louis, where Schubert also is vice president of technology management and
science administration. Schubert was principal investigator working with
Tahzeeba Hossain, Ph.D., Danforth Center research scientist. The results of the
study were published in the April 6, 2004 issue of the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences.
" The results from our folate research project are a significant step in
realizing the potential of biofortification - the fortification of plants
through science - to meet the demands for improved human and livestock
nutrition without relying on food and feed supplements," explained Roger
N. Beachy, president of the Danforth Center, and professor of biology in Arts
& Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.
The Danforth Center is the product of a unique and innovative alliance joining
Washington University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the
Missouri Botanical Garden, the University of Missouri-Columbia, Monsanto
Company, and Purdue University. Founded in 1998, the Donald Danforth Plant
Science Center is a not-for-profit research institute with a global vision to
improve the human condition. As a hub for regional plant science collaboration,
the Danforth Center teams up with scientists at businesses and research
institutions to undertake research initiatives.
During discussions about three years ago, Ganesh Kishore, Ph.D. vice president,
DuPont Agriculture and Nutrition, encouraged. Beachy, Schubert and Hossain to
undertake this project. These discussions led to the research project that
resulted in increasing folate levels in plants. Additionally, the Danforth
Center worked with. Irwin Rosenberg, Ph.D., and Jacob Selhub, Ph.D., of the
Friedman College of Nutrition and Policy at Tufts University.
"Schubert and Hossain studied one branch of a biochemical pathway in
Arabidopsis that leads to the biosynthesis of folates. They postulated that the
levels of folate in plants could be enhanced by increasing the levels of the
enzyme GTP cyclohydrolase-1, a key rate-limiting step along the pathway that
leads to folate production. The team successfully cloned the folate-producing
gene from the bacterium E. coli using a form of GTP cyclohydrolase-1 that is
not similarly regulated.
The gene from E. coli was introduced into Arabidopsis. This resulted in an
increase of the folate levels in the Arabidopsis leaf tissue to a level greater
than the amounts typically found in spinach, a plant known to be rich in
folates. Many researchers use Arabidopsis in their investigations, as it is a
good model for other plant systems.
Plants are a major source of dietary folates, with green leafy vegetables,
legumes and certain fruits being the richest sources of dietary folates. In
countries where cereal grains are a dietary mainstay, folate deficiency is a
leading cause of neural tube defects in newborns, and cancer and cardiovascular
disease in adults.
According to the March of Dimes, inadequate intake of folate by women before
pregnancy is the most common cause of birth defects, including neural tube
defects such as spina bifida and anencephaly.
Using the outcomes from this research, the researchers will investigate ways to
enhance folate production in cereals, and root and tuber crops. If successful,
rice, potato and other crops low in folates could be biofortified with
increased folate levels.
Source: SeedQuest.com
5 August 2004
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1.16 Crops that contribute to improved productivity and
profitability of saline lands
One of the objectives of the CRC is to identify and develop new crops that
contribute to improved productivity and profitability of saline lands.
The project aims to develop a salt- and waterlogged-tolerant cereal, and forms
part of the CRC's research into scientifically sound and practical plant-based
approaches to managing salinity in wheat belt areas.
Our aim is to develop cereals capable of extending cropping onto soils with
salinity levels too high for existing cultivars. A number of Hordeum species
inhabit salt marshes and since several Hordeum x wheat hybrids have been
reported, it might be possible to cross these salt tolerant species with wheat.
Hordeum marinum (common sea barley grass) is a species of particular promise.
This research aims to provide productive options for managing the increasingly
large areas that have and will become salty over the next ten years.
The research challenge
Sea barley grass (Hordeum marinum) has very high salinity tolerance, and is
capable of growing at levels approaching sea water. It also posssesses
mechanisms for root aeration which contribute to waterlogging tolerance. The
challenge for researchers is to create a successful hybrid with wheat that
maintains these key traits.
Specifically this project will:
-Identify sources of salt- and waterlogging-tolerance in 'wild' Hordeum
germplasm.
-Determine which of the salt- and waterlogging-tolerant species can be crossed
with wheat, using cytogenetic techniques.
-Produce cytogenetic stocks (pre-breeding materials) from successful Hordeum x
wheat crosses, and identify lines with a high degree of salt- and waterlogging-
tolerance.
How is the research being done?
The research team is screening 'wild' Hordeum germplasm to find which
species can donate genes for salt- and waterlogging-tolerance, and which can be
hybridised with wheat. The outcomes are uncertain in this cutting-edge
research, because we know little about the 'wild' Hordeum species.
We have:
-produced a Hordeum marinum - wheat amphiploid, demonstrating the feasibility
of using Hordeum marinum in the development of cytogenetical stocks to transfer
traits associated with salt- and waterlogging-tolerance into bread wheat.
-screened thirty-six Hordeum accessions for waterlogging tolerance in
collaboration with the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences which holds
the most comprehensive collection of 'wild' Hordeum germplasm in the world
-screened these same accessions for salinity tolerance in Sweden
-imported accessions of interest to the project and are presently growing these
in a quarantine glasshouse at the University of Adelaide-
collected a diverse range of Hordeum marinum accessions from across the Western
Australia wheat belt
Researchers are now:
-conducting the cytogenetic work to hybridise selected 'wild' Hordeum species
with wheat
-screening these cytogenetic lines for salt- and waterlogging-tolerance as the
lines become available.
Benefits from this research
Salinisation is a threat for up to one-third of agricultural land in
Australia with large areas already salt-affected. Currently the productive use
of saline land is limited to fodder for livestock, with little opportunity for
cropping.
Our objective is to develop a cereal with substaintially more salt tolerance
than current cultivars of barley or wheat, so extending the range of soils on
which cereals can be grown profitability. Not only will this offcer farmers the
benefit of more profitable options for salty land, it will also give them more
flexibility - particularly for those farmers who do not use livestock in their
enterprise.
Salty land is often prone to waterlogged, so waterlogging tolerance is also
needed. Undomesticed or 'wild' species within the Triticeae (same tribe as
wheat and barley) are potential sources of salt- and waterlogging-tolerance.
Even with these advances, cropping is unlikely to be viable on severely salt-affected
land, where fodders such as saltbush and salt tolerant grasses will remain the
best option.
Nor will salt-tolerant cereals 'solve' the problem of salinity. They might help
use manage some of its symptoms, but will do little to address the cause of rising
water tables, for that we need perennials with high water use.
Source: SeedQuest.com
29 July 2004
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1.17 Research goal: minimize cross-pollination of crops
The unpredictability of cross pollination is a concern for organic corn growers
whose marketing efforts depend on keeping their crops free of transgenic
traits.
Iowa State University researchers hope a
demonstration project at the Allee Research Farm near Newell will help them
devise strategies organic growers can use to minimize the cross pollination
that occurs between their crops and transgenic hybrids in fields nearby.
"We know that pollen is moving around. That wasn't the issue," said
Iowa State University agronomist Mark Westgate. "The question is, is there
a way organic producers can keep their product pure? What we're trying to do is
help minimize the movement of pollen."
The study was set up to not only measure the distance and direction corn pollen
travels to pollinate neighboring corn plants, but also to provide a visual
demonstration for growers.
The visual effect was accomplished by planting a strip of purple popcorn within
a 15-acre field of standard yellow corn. Separation distances of 30 to 150 feet
were cut out of the yellow corn to represent the range of buffer strips
recommended by the industry.
Nature took care of the rest, with the dominant purple color showing up on ears
of standard yellow corn wherever cross pollination occurred.
"The idea of using the purple popcorn was so we could actually see the
effects with purple kernels showing up on the ears. We wouldn't have to do
testing to see if it was cross pollinated," said Allee Farm Superintendent
Lyle Rossiter.
Not surprisingly, the rows of yellow corn nearest the popcorn had the most
purple kernels. The percentage of purple kernels diminished rapidly as
distances increased, but evidence of cross pollination was evident beyond the
field borders, as well.
A few purple kernels were found as far as 1,600 feet away in the border rows of
corn fields planted up to 19 days earlier and separated from the test plot by
oat and soybean fields, Rossiter said.
The amount of cross pollination was greater than it would be among typical
field corn hybrids due to the popcorn's genetics, Westgate noted.
"If we could have a worst-case scenario, the popcorn gave it to us,"
he said. "It had big tassels and a longer pollination period, so it
produced much more pollen than a typical hybrid."
In addition to determining the percentage of cross pollination, researchers
will study weather and wind direction data gathered at the Allee Farm to
investigate the relationship between pollen drift and prevailing winds. The
data will be used to help growers plan strategies for protecting the purity of
organic crops from planting through harvest.
Some separation standards recommend fallow between an organic and non-organic
crops, but Westgate said growers might be better served by a different kind of
buffer, such as a taller crop that would help trap the pollen. "We're
looking to see if a buffer around that field could help minimize the pollen
flow into the field," he said. "We're looking for ways to minimize
the amount of out-crossing. The question is how much border do you need for a
given wind condition?"
Another strategy organic growers have used effectively is to stagger planting
dates in fields planted to organic and transgenic corn so pollination occurs at
different times, he said.
Monitoring the wind direction and speed during pollination will tell a grower
where the greatest risk of cross pollination is within a field, Westgate said.
Armed with that knowledge, growers could plan their harvest and marketing
strategies based on crop areas they are reasonably sure remained pure.
"They need to know at flowering so they can assess the marketing potential
for their crop," Westgate said. "You can't wait until after harvest
to know whether or not you have a crop to market."
A key for organic growers will be to work with their neighbors to find out what
corn hybrids are being planted, and when, so they can map out a reliable
strategy of their own to minimize out-crossing, he added.
However, he said a zero-tolerance standard for the presence of transgenes in
organic corn seed is virtually impossible to meet.
"Right now, the organic grower bears all the risk," Westgate said.
"The isolation distances that are part of the organic program work just
fine for typical problems, like spray drift, but with transgenes it's a
different set of criteria. The only solution I can see is for the industry to
adopt some minimum level of impurity. Then we can design management strategies
to help organic producers meet that level."
Source: SeedQuest.com
30 July 2004
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1.18 Syrian scientists produce naturally coloured cotton
by causing random changes in the genetic material of cotton seeds
Scientists in Syria have produced naturally coloured cotton by causing random
changes in the genetic material of cotton seeds. The researchers, from the Agriculture Institute of
Syria's Aleppo University, say in state newspaper Teshreen that they hope their
discovery will have positive economic, environmental and health impacts.
Naturally coloured cotton varieties have been developed before but have not
been used in Syria, a leading cotton producer, because they are not suited to
local soils and climatic conditions.
According to Mohamed Naif Al-salty, director of the agriculture institute, the
scientists have produced two brown varieties that produce greater yields and
higher quality fibres than other naturally coloured varieties, making them
ideal for commercial textile production.
By eliminating the need for dyes, naturally coloured cotton makes textile
production cheaper and reduces the environmental and health impacts associated
with toxic dye waste. Also, naturally coloured cotton does not fade with
washing the way conventionally dyed cotton does.
The new varieties were produced by exposing cotton seeds to chemicals that
cause random, unpredictable changes, or mutations, in their genetic material.
Some of the mutations produced undesirable traits and the plants were
destroyed, but others had beneficial effects, such as natural colour and
stronger fibres.
Speaking to SciDev.Net,
Mohamed A. Hamoud, head of the genetic research division at Tanta University in
Egypt, said that although the Syrian researchers have been successful, their
method is time-consuming and labour intensive because it requires numerous
breeding experiments.
Hamoud suggests that genetic engineering would be a more efficient approach.
The beneficial traits could then be introduced by purposefully altering
specific parts of the plant's genes.
Unlike the 'random mutation' approach, genetically engineering coloured cotton
would not require extra work to improve fibre quality. Hamoud explains that one
of the newest innovations in naturally coloured cotton is the possibility of
transferring genes that control colour to cotton varieties that already have
high-quality fibres.
However, this approach would need to be highly controlled to prevent the
exchange of genes between the modified crops and locally grown cotton
varieties, says Hamoud.
Source: SeedQuest.com
30 July 2004
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1.19 Fusarium nursery shows new hope for reducing levels of
deoxynivalenol in barley
The names TR04281, TR04282 and TR04283 may not mean much today, but they could
represent a dramatic shift in the fortunes of western Canadian barley growers
as they battle Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) in the years ahead.
These three experimental barley lines show up to a whopping 50 percent
reduction in levels of deoxynivalenol (DON), the FHB-produced mycotoxin,
compared to typical current varieties, such as AC Metcalfe, as evidenced by
trials conducted at the FHB nursery for barley in Brandon, Manitoba.
"These lines are among the first material from our program bred
specifically for FHB resistance that are entering the registration
trials," says Dr. Bill Legge, barley breeder and FHB nursery manager at
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's Brandon Research Centre. "Of the better
ones in that group, the DON levels we've seen are 50 percent lower than they
are in AC Metcalfe."
Progress at the Brandon-based FHB nursery is featured in the August edition of
Western Grains Research Magazine, available on the Western Grains Research Foundation
(WGRF) Web site. Western Canadian wheat and barley growers are major investors
in breeding research through the Wheat and Barley Check-off Funds, administered
by WGRF. The Research Magazine offers "Ideas and issues for farmer
research investors."
All three advanced AAFC Brandon lines are first-year entries in the 2004 co-op
registration testing system. If they continue to perform well over three years
in this Prairie-wide system, they can be put forward for registration. Allowing
a couple years for seed increase and additional malting quality testing, they
could be in farmers' hands within five years.
"We'll watch them closely over the next several years, but we expect the
Fusarium resistance to hold up well," says Legge. "We have a number
of years of nursery data now, so we're reasonably confident the improvements
we've seen are real and stable."
The new lines are the first of several on the way that signal a key
breakthrough in the long-term research battle with Fusarium, which has been a
major effort since FHB epidemics in 1993 and 1994. Since 2000, the effort has
included the Brandon-based FHB nursery, which has allowed researchers to screen
thousands of barley lines annually for FHB response.
"In the first years of the nursery, the focus has been on examining early
generation material from crosses segregated for FHB resistance, along with
evaluating existing barley varieties and advanced breeding material. That has
allowed us to identify the best existing material for advancement in breeding
programs and to provide farmers with information on the resistance of current
varieties. Now, with support from the nursery, we've advanced to the stage
where some of our best two-row barley material, bred specifically for FHB
resistance, is entering registration trials."
The advanced AAFC Brandon material is a recent highlight of the broad progress
to come from several institutions, including the University of Saskatchewan
Crop Development Centre and the Alberta-based barley breeding group
headquartered at Lacombe. "We're seeing a shift in the FHB resistance
material that's going through the nursery - we're seeing better material
overall," says Legge.
Both the Fusarium research and the funding that supports it is a strong
co-operative effort, says Dr. Keith Degenhardt, Hughenden, Alta., producer and
Chair of WGRF. The AAFC Fusarium research effort in barley has been supported
in part by the AAFC Matching Investment Initiative (MII), WGRF, the Agri-Food
Research and Development Initiative (ARDI) and the Agriculture Development Fund
(ADF). For 2004, the effort was further strengthened with new funding support from
the Canadian Wheat Board.
"This collaborative funding support is a strong signal of the high
priority FHB solutions are to western Canadian farmers and their
industry," says Degenhardt. "It's also a reinforcement of the
importance of working together to achieve those solutions."
WGRF is farmer funded and directed. The Foundation supports Fusarium
research through its Barley Check-off Fund, which supports barley breeding
programs, and through special funds allocated from interest generated by the
Reserve Fund of the Barley Check-off Fund.
Source: SeedQuest.com
6 August 2004
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1.20 Thai researchers discover iron-rich rice that can combat
anaemia
The Department of Agriculture has
discovered two strains of rice that can accumulate iron and might be further
developed to fight anaemia among the poor.
Dr Laddawal Kannanut, of the department's Rice Research Institute, said the
strains were Korkhor 23 and Khao Hom Phitsanulok 1.
The C-7 academic said she had studied 45 strains of Thai rice to find which had
the best potential to accumulate iron as a way to fight iron-deficiency among
the poor.
The study found that Korkhor 23 had iron at the rate of 36.67 parts per million
(ppm) when milled with the unpolished technique. The rate went down to 22.5ppm
in polished rice.
Unpolished Khao Hom Phitsanulok 1 rice had iron at the rate of 25ppm, compared
with 22.5ppm in its polished rice.
Laddawal said the study also found that rice grown in different areas had
different rates of iron accumulation.
The institute will continue its study to find better iron-accumulation strains,
she added, and employ genetic engineering to improve the strains' ability to
accumulate iron. The studies will also determine the best growing and milling
techniques to preserve iron in the rice.
Laddawal said 26 per cent of the population suffered from anaemia, and
high-iron rice could be a way to help them overcome the problem.
Source: SeedQuest.com
21 July 2004
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1.21 Local breeding of chickpea is best for Western
Australia
Western Australia could miss out on a $400 per hectare crop, while the north
eastern and central grainbelt could go without a legume rotation if chickpea
breeding is centralised.
According to University of Western Australia
researcher, Jens Berger, chickpea varieties bred for more benign, long growing
seasons, such as at Tamworth, New South Wales, could be limited to under 0.5
tonne per hectare yields in low rainfall environments such as at Merredin,
Western Australia.
Chickpea is one of Australia's highest earning crops, but Western Australia's
production could be threatened by a shift in breeding focus. Early plant vigour
and phenology can differ tremendously across the broad range of genetics
assembled in Australia to deliver variable yield performance.
"Most Australian-bred cultivars are too late for optimal productivity in
the short season Mediterranean-type environments, typical of WA's northern
wheatbelt," Dr Berger said.
In an Australian Centre for International
Agricultural Research (ACIAR) funded project, the Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean
Agriculture (CLIMA) recently finalised two years of studies on 72 chickpea
lines across sites at Merredin, Western Australia, Minnipa, South Australia,
Walpeup, Victoria, Tamworth, New South Wales and Warwick, Queensland.
While lines well-adapted to short-season Mediterranean environments generally
performed consistently across the country, most Australian-bred cultivars were
productive only in benign environments.
For a given genotype, yield varied from 0.2 to 3.0 tonnes per hectare,
depending upon the environment, indicating significant genotype by environment
interaction.
According to Dr Berger, this disparity reflects the need for specific, targeted
breeding and selection to cater to Australia's broad range of chickpea growing
environments.
Apart from ascochyta blight resistance, few chickpea characteristics are
required uniformly across the country.
"Diverse needs are difficult to meet in a single, centralised breeding
program, where prevailing environmental and soil conditions would create
selection pressure unable to produce lines offering traits necessary for other
areas," Dr Berger said.
Centralising chickpea breeding in eastern Australia defied this logic,
according to CLIMA Director, Kadambot Siddique.
The early generations following hybridisation must be advanced in the target
environment to correctly evaluate for desired traits and develop superior
cultivars.
Responsiveness of chickpea lines to the day length and temperature of a Western
Australian environment differed significantly from Tamworth, New South Wales
and Horsham, Victoria.
More than one third of Western Australian growers have already acknowledged the
importance of locally developed varieties by supporting CLIMAs kabuli chickpea
initiatives through the Council of Grain Grower Organisations (COGGO).
"We commend their foresight and hope desi chickpea, potentially a major
industry in Western Australia, can also benefit from such local
development," Professor Siddique said.
Source: SeedQuest.com
21 July 2004
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1.22 Disease-resistant papaya saves Hawaiian papaya
industry
A new papaya, genetically resistant to papaya ringspot virus (PRSV), has
rescued the Hawaiian papaya industry and may have the potential to do the same
in other papaya-growing regions of the world, say plant pathologists with The
American Phytopathological Society (APS).
"In 1992, Hawaii's papaya industry faced economic disaster when PRSV was
discovered in the Puna District of the Hawaii Island where 95 percent of the
state's papaya was grown," said Dennis Gonsalves, plant pathologist with
the USDA's Agricultural Research Service at the U.S. Pacific Basin Agricultural
Research Center, Hilo, HI. By 1995, PRSV was widespread in Puna and the
industry was in a crisis situation. PRSV rapidly spreads when aphids (small
insects) pick up the virus on their mouths while feeding on infected plants and
continue to feed on healthy plants.
In the late 1980s, plant pathologists began to develop transgenic papayas
resistant to PRSV and the disease-resistant papaya was commercially released in
May 1998.
"Today, we are proud to say that the transgenic papaya has fulfilled the
hope of the Hawaiian papaya industry to control PRSV and to restore the supply
of papaya to nearly the level existing before PRSV entered Puna in 1992,"
said Gonsalves. The resistance of the transgenic papaya allowed farmers to
directly reclaim their farms without first clearing their land of all infected
papaya trees. The percentage of Hawaii's fresh papaya production produced in
Puna has risen from a low of 65 percent in 1999 to 84 percent in 2002.
Since PRSV is a worldwide problem on papaya, other countries have showed
interest in developing the technology for their use. "Due to its success,
the transgenic papaya has often been referred to as the model for the use of
biotechnology to help agriculture," said Gonsalves.
More on this subject can be found in this month's APS feature article at http://www.apsnet.org/online/feature/ringspot/.
The American Phytopathological Society (APS) is a non-profit, professional
scientific organization dedicated to the study and management of plant disease
with 5,000 members worldwide.
American Phytopathological Society
Source: EurekAlert.com
20 August 2004
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1.23 Are you afraid of injections?
Wednesday, August 11, 2004
By Flora Mauch, Checkbiotech
flora.mauch@stud.unibas.ch
In the future, instead of going to the doctor to be vaccinated, you may be able
to eat a potato at home. Researchers at the Center for Vaccine Development in
Baltimore are developing a strain of potato that when ingested has the same
effect as an injected vaccination, when eaten in a certain quantity.
Some of the well known intestinal diseases are Typhus and Cholera, which are
caused by bacteria. In addition, there are several other parasites and viruses
than can cause diarrhea-based infections. These illnesses are transferred
through polluted water or food, and in consequence, when people come in contact
with a contaminated source, they develop the typical symptoms of diarrhea,
fever and stomach-ache. Without an appropriate treatment these infections can
lead to death.
As intestinal infections are very frequent in developing countries, as well as
periodically in developed parts, this new possibility of being immunized is
extremely significant from a global standpoint.
At the present, diarrhoeal diseases are prevented by medication and
improvements of hygienics. In addition, antibiotics are an effective treatment,
when a bacterium can be identified as the cause of this disease. But
unfortunately, the medical supplies needed to treat diarrhea are not granted
everywhere in the world because time, money and coordination are lacking.
Seeing the need for a better vaccination solution, Dr. Carol O Tacket, from the
Center for Vaccine Development in Baltimore, developed prototypical vaccines
against cholera and several other pathogens (May issue of Expert Opin Biol
Ther., vol. 4)
For that, genes that encode viral, bacterial or parasitic proteins, called
antigens, from some of the known causers of diarrhea, were introduced into
potato plants. Just as with antigens in injected vaccines, the antigens
produced in the enhanced potatoes will not cause disease related symptoms on
their own.
Thus, Dr. Tacket inserted these genes of interest into potato cells, and
confirmed that they were expressed in fully mature potatoes. Her studies in
mice and humans demonstrated that when they were fed the enhanced potato, the
antigens produced in the potatoes were able to pass through the barrier of the
stomach and intestine. This is a significant achievement in medicine, because
so far there have been only a few vaccines that have succeeded at crossing this
barrier.
To confirm that the antigens transferred into plant cells led to the production
of antibodies, Dr. O Tacket took blood samples from the mice and human
patients. After ingesting the enhanced potatoes, the blood samples showed
antibody-secreting cells and antigen-specific serum. This demonstrated that an
immune response had been generated, which in turn leads to vaccination.
After such a success, the question comes up, if the immune response induced by
ingesting the enhanced potatoes is comparable to an injected vaccination. In
response, Dr. O Tacket explained, To date, we have done Phase 1 studies looking
at safety and immunogenicity. We have not done comparisons to other vaccines or
to other routes of vaccination, such as injections.
Thus, the achieved success gives hope for a new area of vaccination, as the
manufacturing, packaging, storage, transportation and administration of such
vaccines will be much more economical - and those who are afraid of injections
will have one less thing to worry about.
Flora Mauch is a Science Writer for Checkbiotech in Basel, Switzerland and
is
currently studying Biology.
http://www.checkbiotech.org/root/index.cfm?fuseaction=search&search=flora&doc_id=8371&start=1&fullsearch=1
Contributed by Robert Derham
Robert.Derham@unibas.ch
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1.24 Transgenic Gala apples display resistance to fungal
attack
By Mark Finlayson, Checkbiotech
info@finsta.ch
BOLOGNA/ZURICH - Past efforts to classically breed apple cultivars with
resistance to apple scab disease have proved insufficient. Direct gene transfer
experiments involving genes from scab-resistant wild apples, however, have lead
to promising results.
Apple scab is a fungal disease of major importance to apple growers and is
caused by Venturia inaequalis. This fungus, of the family ascomycete,
spends winter on dead leaves beneath trees. After spring time rainfall, it then
sporulates and infects the leaves and fruit of nearby trees, causing
undersized, gnarled and thus worthless apples.
Commercial orchards have retreated to removing fallen leaves in autumn,
combined with rigorous and costly fungicide spray schedules throughout most of
the season, with costs exceeding $100 per acre a year.
An obvious alternative solution is the use of resistant cultivars. Several
small-fruited, scab-resistant wild species have been investigated, in
particular Malus floribunda 821. In M. Floribunda, scientists
have identified the genes of the so-called Vf region as an important
factor in resistance to V. inaequalis.
Conventional breeding methods have been used to develop several scab-resistant
cultivars from M. floribunda, but none of them has yet met the
fruit-quality standards of other commercially successful cultivars such as
Golden Delicious or Gala.
A group led by Enrico Belfanti at the University of Bologna and Eve
Silfverberg-Dilworth at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich has
now conducted a gene transfer experiment in which one of the Vf genes, HcrVf2,
was introduced into the susceptible cultivar Gala by means of
A.tumefaciens-mediated transformation.
The five resulting transgenic lines were tested in greenhouse conditions for
scab resistance. The leaves of three lines showed no signs of infection. In
rare cases, some pinpoint pits, which are signs of resistance reactions, were
observed. Another line showed some restricted fungal development. In
comparison, untreated Gala and one (only partially transformed) line were
severely damaged.
The experiment successfully demonstrated the capability of HcrVf2 to
confer resistance to the scab disease. Field trials such as this one could lead
the way to elaborate gene therapies and change the future of pest control in
commercial apple orchards, not only cutting costs for growers, but also
reducing the usage of fungicide.
Further studies will seek to provide insight into the exact mechanisms of scab
resistance. The precise function of the other genes of the Vf cluster,
for example, still remains to be examined.
Mark Finlayson is a Biology student at the University of Basel and a Science
Writer for Checkbiotech. Contact him at info@finsta.ch
about this article.
http://www.checkbiotech.org/root/index.cfm?fuseaction=search&search=finlayson&doc_id=8293&start=1&fullsearch=1
Contributed by Robert Derham
Robert.Derham@unibas.ch
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++++++++++++++++++++
1.25 Plant transport genes discovered
Scientists at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research at Cornell
University, USA discovered phosphate-transport genes that enable plants to
interact with beneficial soil dwelling fungi and to access phosphate delivered
to the roots by these fungi. Maria Harrison, senior scientist, announced this
development during the American Society of Plant Biologists' annual meeting in
Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
Scientists say this is a first step in enhancing beneficial relationship for
crop plants while reducing fertilizer use and phosphate pollution in the
environment. The identification of the phosphorus uptake protein in the plasma
membrane of the plant has significant implications to understanding how
symbiotic fungi work with plants to assist the uptake of phosphorus and other
nutrients from the soil.
Harrison's team will continue their research on discovering which genes in the
plant play a role in establishing the symbiotic relationship and of those that
regulate the transfer of phosphorus into the plant.
For more information, email Brian Hyps of the American Society of Plant
Biologists at bhyps@aspb.org.
Contributed by Margaret Smith
Cornell University
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=========================
2 PUBLICATIONS
2.01 Announcement and Request for contributions: Crop Breeding and
Applied Biotechnology (CBAB)
We are contacting you to present the journal of the Brazilian Society of Plant
Breeding [Sociedad Brasilera de Mejoramiento de Plantas (SBMP)], "Crop
Breeding and Applied Biotechnology" (CBAB). This is the fourth year of
existence. We have had contributions from authors in various Latin American
countries but the International Centers and many other researchers from the
region have not taken opportunity of this publishing venue. CBAB is among the
journals rated with the highest standard by the Brazilian evaluation system. We
are writing to invite you to submit work on breeding and biotechnology, for
publication in CBAB. We are producing a top-level journal in Brazil, and we are
working to make it a highly respected journal at the international level.
A detailed description of the journal, past issues, and instructions for
contributors can be found at www.sbmp.org.br
General policy and scope of the journal
The CBAB - CROP BREEDING AND APPLIED BIOTECHNOLOGY (ISSN
1518-7853) is the official quarterly journal of the Brazilian Society of Plant
Breeding (www.sbmp.org.br), abbreviated
CROP BREED APPL BIOTECH. It is indexed in AGRIS, AGROBASE and CAB
International Abstracts. It publishes original scientific articles which
contribute to the scientific and technological development of plant breeding
and Brazilian agriculture. Articles should be to do with basic and applied
research on improvement of perennial and annual plants, within the fields of genetics,
conservation of germplasm, biotechnology, genomics, cytogenetics,
experimental statistics, seeds, food quality, biotic and abiotic stress, and
correlated areas. The article must be unpublished. Simultaneous submitting to
another periodical is ruled out. Authors are held solely responsible for
the opinions and ideas expressed, which do not necessarily reflect the view of
the Editorial board. However, the Editorial board reserves the right to suggest
or ask for any modifications required. Complete or partial reproduction of
articles is permitted, provided the source is cited.
The following types of submissions are accepted:
Article
Notes
Plant breeding programs
Release of cultivars
Book review
Viewpoint
Letters
Authors of articles in the journal CBAB - CROP BREEDING AND APPLIED
BIOTECHNOLOGY profit from the following benefits:
Free publication
Digital submission and revision of
articles
Expeditious publication
Articles available in pdf on the WEB
-----------------
Contribution by Elcio Guimaraes (member editorial board of CBAB). Translation
from Portuguese, and additional information extracted from the website by the
editor.
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=========================
3. ON THE WEB
3.01 Update 8-2004 of FAO-BiotechNews (selected items)
1) Marker assisted selection - FAO e-conference summary document The summary
document of the FAO e-mail conference entitled "Molecular marker assisted
selection as a potential tool for genetic improvement of crops, forest trees,
livestock and fish in developing countries", which ran from 17 November to
14 December 2003, has now been published. The document aims to summarise the
main themes discussed during the moderated e-mail conference, based on the 85
messages posted, roughly 60% of which came from people living in developing
countries. It is available at http://www.fao.org/biotech/logs/C10/summary.htm
or can be requested from biotech-admin@fao.org.
2) REDBIO 2004 presentations The 5th Latin American and Caribbean Meeting on
Agricultural Biotechnology (REDBIO 2004), a meeting organised by the REDBIO/FAO
network every 3 years, was held on 21-25 June 2004 in Boca Chica, Dominican
Republic. In addition to the "Declaracion de Boca Chica",
presentations are now available from the plenaries, poster sessions and the
opening and closing ceremonies, as well as from 15 symposia and 20 workshops
covering a wide range of agricultural biotechnology topics. See http://www.redbio.org/rdominicana/redbio2004rd/Memoria_REDBIO_2004/index.htm
or contact juan.izquierdo@fao.org
for more information.
5) FAO/IAEA plant newsletter no. 13 Plant Breeding and Genetics Newsletter No.
13 (July 2004) has now been published by the Plant Breeding and Genetics
Section, Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture,
and the FAO/IAEA Agriculture and Biotechnology Laboratory. The 16-page newsletter,
issued twice a year, gives an overview of their past and upcoming events
(meetings, training courses etc.), ongoing projects and publications. See http://www.iaea.org/programmes/nafa/d2/public/pbg-nl-13.pdf
(825 KB) or contact k.weindl@iaea.org
for further information
--------------------
To join FAO-BiotechNews-Fr (the French language version of FAO-BiotechNews), send
an e-mail to mailserv@mailserv.fao.org leaving the subject blank and entering
the following one-line text message: subscribe FAO-BiotechNews-Fr-L The Welcome
Text that subscribers receive on joining the e-mail list, describing its aims
and scope and how it works, is available at http://www.fao.org/biotech/Welcome-Fr.htm
(in French) 4. To join FAO-BiotechNews-Esp (the Spanish language version of
FAO-BiotechNews), do the same as for FAO-BiotechNews-Fr except the message
should read: subscribe FAO-BiotechNews-Esp-L The Welcome Text is available at http://www.fao.org/biotech/Welcome-Esp.htm
(in Spanish)
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========================
4 GRANTS AVAILABLE
4.01 Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in
Eastern and Central Africa, introduces competitive grants system
July, 2004
About ASARECA
The Association for Strengthening
Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA) is a
non-political Sub Regional Organisation (SRO) of the National Agricultural
Research Institutes (NARIs) of ten Countries: Burundi, D.R. Congo, Eritrea,
Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. It aims at
increasing the efficiency of agricultural research in the region so as to
facilitate economic growth, food security and export competitiveness through
productive and sustainable agriculture.
ASARECA carries out its activities through regional research Networks,
Programmes and Projects (NPPs). ASARECA's portfolio comprises of 19 NPPs which
operate in priority commodities, natural resource management, policy, marketing
and agricultural information. In this regard, the ASARECA Strategic Plan urges
the Association and the member National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) of
ASARECA to embark on developing sustainable financing initiatives.
As part of ASARECA Sustainable Financing Initiative the Competitive Grant
System (CGS) has recently been established. The CGS will be supported with
funds from several donors, administered through a uniform multi-donor funding
arrangement. Grants will be awarded to multi-donor disciplinary, multi-institutional
and regionally co-ordinated teams.
Objective of the CGS
The overall objective of the ASARECA CGS is to harness more efficiently the
existing research capacities in the sub-region in order to bring significant
benefits to end users. This will be achieved through the following:
i) Improving the quality of research as well as its relevance for the
development of the sub-region;
ii) Strengthening the national agricultural research systems (NARS) through
improved involvement of key stakeholders, in research for development;
iii) Increasing the co-operation and collaboration amongst private and public,
national, regional and international institutions in the conduct and management
of agricultural research for development;
iv) Increasing the linkages between stronger and weaker stakeholders to
facilitate capacity building;
v) Establishing a flexible, participative, transparent and targeted
agricultural research project selection, financing and evaluation process;
The CGS Processes will include:-
i. Registration of potential partner institutions.
ii. Issuing of research calls.
iii. Submission of concept notes.
iv. Development and submission of full proposals.
v. Award of grants for research.
Source: SeedQuest.com
July 2004
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===========================
5. MEETINGS, COURSES AND WORKSHOPS
* 19-23 September 2004: 16th Annual Meeting of the Association
for the Advancement of Industrial Crops (AAIC) and New Uses Council,
Minneapolis, MN, USA. Theme 'Industrial Crops and Uses To Diversify
Agriculture'. For more information visit meetings section of the AAIC web
site at www.aaic.org or contact Dr.
Russ Gesch Tel: 320-589-3411 ext. 132
or E-mail: gesch@morris.ars.usda.gov.
Submitted by Dr. Terry A. Coffelt, Research Geneticist, USDA-ARS-USWCL
E-mail tcoffelt@uswcl.ars.ag.gov
* 26-30 September 2004. 8th International Symposium on the Biosafety of
Genetically Modified Organisms. Montpellier, France. Contact: Sophie Masliah,
Lab. of Plant Cell and Molecular Biology, INRA. Versailles, 78026 Versailles
Cedex, France; Tel: +33 (1) 3083 3730; Fax: +33 (1) 3087 3728; Email: isbgmo@versailles.inra.fr;
URL: http://www.inra.fr/gmobiosafety/index.php
* 27 September - 1 October 2004: 4th International Crop Science Congress.
Brisbane, Australia. Contact: PO Box 1280, Milton, QLD 4064, Australia;
Tel: +61 (7) 3858 5554; Fax: +61 (7) 3858 5583; Email: 4icsc04@im.com.au;
URL: http://www.cropscience2004.com/
*10-13 October 2004: International Cotton Genome Initiative (ICGI) biennial
world-wide meeting, Hyderabad, India. Contact: P. Vidyasagar // C/O Vibha
Agrotech Limited // 501 Subhan Sirisampada Complex, Raj Bhavan Road //
Somajiguda, Hyderabad82 (A.P), INDIA // Phone: +91-40-23301473, 55620538 //
E-mail: icgiindia2004@yahoo.co.in
URL: http://icgi.tamu.edu/meeting/2004/.
Contributed by David M. Stelly, ICGI Chair (stelly@tamu.edu)
* 24-28 October, 2004: IV ISHS Symposium on Brassica and XIV Crucifer
Genetics Workshop. Daejon (Korea) Info: Prof. Dr. Yong Pyo Lim, Dept. of
Horticulture, Chungnam National University, Kung-Dong 220, Yusong-Gu,
Taejon 305-764, South Korea. Phone: (82)428215739, Fax: (82)428231382,
email: yplim@cnu.ac.kr
* 31 October 4 November 2004: Annual Meetings, American Society of
Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, Soil Science Society of
America, Seattle, WA, USA. Contact: ASA-CSSA-SSSA, 677 S. Segoe Rd.,
Madison WI 53711, USA; Tel: +1 (608) 273 8080; Fax: +1 (608) 273 2021;
URL: http://www.agronomy.org/%3Ewww.agronomy.org/
* 7-10 November 2004: International Conference: Post Harvest Fruit:
The Path to Success, Campus Lircay, Universidad de Talca, Talca, Chile.
fruits2004@utalca.cl
http://www.utalca.cl/congreso/postharvestfruit/index.htm (See complete
conference description in January 2004 newsletter)
* 8-10 December 2004. ASTA's 34th Soybean Seed and 59th Corn & Sorghum Seed
Conferences. Chicago, IL, USA Contact: 225, Reinekers Lane, Suite 650,
Alexandria, VA, USA; Tel: +1 (703) 837 8140; Fax: +1 (703) 837 9365;
URL: http://www.amseed.com/
* 4 - 9 May 2005. 11th International Lupin Conference, Guadalajara, Jalisco,
Mexico. 1st Circular is available at http://www.cucba.udg.mx/eventos/lupinus/lupinus.html.
Contact: pgarcia@cucba.udg.mx.
Submitted by George D. Hill, Secretary/Treasurer International Lupin
Association (hill@inia.es) At our meetings we
have usually had a substantial number of submissions from Plant Breeders.
I would expect that it will be the same at this meeting.
* 13-17 June 2005, Murcia (Spain): XIII International Symposium on Apricot
Breeding and Culture. Info: Dr. Felix Romojaro and Dr. Federico
Dicenta, CEBAS-CSIC, PO Box 164, 30100 Espinardo (Murcia), Spain. Phone: (34)968396328 or
(34)968396309, Fax: (34)968396213, email: apricot@cebas.csic.es
Symposium Secretariat: Viajes CajaMurcia, Gran Via Escultor Salzillo 5. Entlo.
Dcha., 30004 Murcia, Spain. Phone: (34)968225476, Fax: (34)968223101, email: congresos@viajescajamurcia.com
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=======================
6. EDITOR'S NOTES
Plant Breeding News is an electronic forum for the exchange of information
and ideas about applied plant breeding and related fields. It is published
every four to six weeks throughout the year.
The newsletter is managed by the editor and an advisory group consisting
of Elcio Guimaraes (elcio.guimaraes@fao.org),
Margaret Smith
(mes25@cornell.edu), and Anne Marie Thro
(athro@reeusda.gov). The editor
will advise subscribers one to two weeks ahead of each edition, in order
to set deadlines for contributions.
REVIEW PAST NEWSLETTERS ON THE WEB: Past issues of the Plant Breeding
Newsletter are now available on the web. The address is:
http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/FAOINFO/AGRICULT/AGP/AGPC/doc/services/pbn.html
We will continue to improve the organization of archival issues of the
newsletter. Readers who have suggestions about features they wish to see
should contact the editor at chh23@cornell.edu.
Subscribers are encouraged to take an active part in making the newsletter
a useful communications tool. Contributions may be in such areas as:
technical communications on key plant breeding issues; announcements of
meetings, courses and electronic conferences; book announcements and
reviews; web sites of special relevance to plant breeding; announcements
of funding opportunities; requests to other readers for information and
collaboration; and feature articles or discussion issues brought by
subscribers. Suggestions on format and content are always welcome by the
editor, at pbn-l@mailserv.fao.org.
We would especially like to see a broad
participation from developing country programs and from those working on
species outside the major food crops.
Messages with attached files are not distributed on PBN-L for two
important reasons. The first is that computer viruses and worms can be
distributed in this manner. The second reason is that attached files cause
problems for some e-mail systems.
PLEASE NOTE: Every month many newsletters are returned because they are
undeliverable, for any one of a number of reasons. We try to keep the
mailing list up to date, and also to avoid deleting addresses that are
only temporarily inaccessible. If you miss a newsletter, write to me at
chh23@cornell.edu and I will re-send it.
To subscribe to PBN-L: Send an e-mail message to
mailserv@mailserv.fao.org. Leave
the subject line blank and write
SUBSCRIBE PBN-L (Important: use ALL CAPS). To unsubscribe: Send an e-mail
message as above with the message UNSUBSCRIBE PBN-L. Lists of potential
new subscribers are welcome. The editor will contact these persons; no one
will be subscribed without their explicit permission.
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