PLANT BREEDING NEWS
EDITION 152
21 December 2004
An Electronic Newsletter of Applied Plant Breeding
Sponsored by FAO and Cornell University
Clair H. Hershey, Editor
EDITOR’S NOTE FOR THIS EDITION: Due to problems with my normal link to the
mailserver, this edition will not have hyperlinks
between the CONTENTS page and the text of each article. If you would like
an MS Word version of the newsletter, with the links, please write to me at
chh23@cornell.edu. My apologies for any inconvenience. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
CONTENTS
1. NEWS, ANNOUNCEMENTS AND RESEARCH NOTES
1.01 Rice fields of Asia
to benefit from a "doubly green revolution"
1.02 Leading development
experts call for renewed focus on rice
1.03 Making sense of patent
rules for plant varieties
1.04 Assessing and attributing
the benefits from varietal improvement research
in Brazil
1.05 Department of Agriculture
of The Philippines targets one million hectares of hybrid
1.06 Plant breeding in Western
Canada
1.07 Revision of safety rules
delays Kenya's GM maize
1.08 Kenya imports BT cotton
for trials
1.09 First known case of
a glyphosate-resistant ragweed
1.10 Genetic gains to help
wheat producers stop Septoria leaf blotch
1.11 New varieties
of centipede grass using germplasm
from China
1.12 Gene in corn plants that may have paved the
way for development of maize
1.13 Evolving role of genebanks
1.14 GRDC-supported
research finds ways to make future varieties tolerant to pre-harvest sprouting
1.15 Wheat variety responses to stripe rust
1.16 Carrots come
in purple, too
1.17 An apple a day may
keep Alzheimer’s at bay
1.18 ICRISAT
to assist RP legume industry
1.19 New index possible for screening
salt tolerant rice lines
1.20 University of Toledo
scientists engineer flower to thrive in below-freezing temperatures
1.21 Rubisco
without the Calvin cycle improves the carbon efficiency of developing green
seeds
1.22 Rice genome is decoded; now
expect new varieties to crop up
1.23 New technique to generate
GM wheat
1.24 In-house fungus corn’s
new defense
1.25 Strawberries get scientific
treatment
1.26 Lower enzyme level
found to increase corn’s drought tolerance
1.27 Update 12-2004 of
FAO-BiotechNews
2. PUBLICATIONS
2.01 Genetic Improvement
of Cacao
3. WEB RESOURCES
3.01 Cereal News Bulletin
3.02 Conference
12 of the FAO Electronic Forum on Biotechnology in Food and Agriculture
4 GRANTS AVAILABLE
(None submitted)
5 POSITION ANNOUNCEMENTS
(None submitted)
6 MEETINGS, COURSES AND WORKSHOPS
7 EDITOR'S NOTES
=========================
1. NEWS, ANNOUNCEMENTS AND RESEARCH NOTES
1.01 Rice fields of Asia to benefit from a "doubly
green revolution"
The Philippine-based International Rice
Research Institute (IRRI) said the new technologies
in rice farming simultaneously reduce inappropriate use of pesticides, increase
harvest and boost the income of farmers.
Ronald P. Cantrell, IRRI director general, described
their research strategy for the 21st century as "breeding improved rice
varieties with durable disease resistance while developing innovative, sustainable
cropping systems."
In an international conference on agricultural research held in Mexico last
October 25 & 29, Cantrell told global experts that a "doubly green
revolution" in the rice fields of Asia has already commenced.
"IRRI and its partners in Asia
have already enjoyed noteworthy successes with environment-friendly technologies
for improving rice productivity and poor farmers' lives," Cantrell noted.
The concept of a "doubly green revolution" was first put forward
by former Rockefeller Foundation head, Gordon Conway, in a 1997 book by that
name.
Conway argued the world needs a doubly green revolution that would be even
more productive than the first Green Revolution, and must ensure the conservation
of natural resources and protect the environment.
Half of the modern rice varieties released in South and Southeast Asia over the last 38 years resulted, at least partly, from work by IRRI
and its partners.
Cantrell added the global rice harvest has more than doubled in that period,
and raced slightly ahead of population growth.
Larger harvests per capita have helped to drive down world rice prices by
80 percent over the past 20 years, he noted.
Poor consumers, IRRI said, have benefited lower
prices of their staple food, their single largest expense item, and farmers
have enjoyed lower unit costs and higher profits.
At the national level, IRRI stressed that Asians
have achieved food security.
In the Philippines, sustaining the growth of the agricultural sector through the full
implementation of the Agricultural Modernization Act is part of the 10-point
agenda of the Arroyo government.
Cantrell, however, pointed out that the campaign started in the first Green
Revolution is not yet finished.
The drive, he said helped stave off hunger to a significant extent on two
continents, but an estimated 800 million people still do not have access to
sufficient food to meet their needs, and millions of farmers remain trapped
in poverty."
Cantrell said IRRI has learned some important lessons
over the last 40 years, and modern technologies can be environmentally sensitive
if they are designed and used with the benefit of modern ecological knowledge.
"IRRI is committed to ensuring a cleaner, greener
environment," Cantrell stressed.
He cited four environmentally focused IRRI research
achievements which include one study in China that confirmed the key role crop biodiversity can play in helping
farmers improve their lives while protecting the environment and their families'
health.
In 1997, IRRI scientists and collaborators in Yunnan started experiments on inter-planting to control the devastating
rice blast fungus while at the same time reducing fungicide use.
Two years later, farmers averaged US$280 more net income per hectare compared
to growing hybrids alone.
In 2000, the New York Times described the project as one of the largest agricultural
experiments ever.
To date, farmer across 10 Chinese provinces interplant nearly one million
hectares, achieving better plant protection with minimal fungicide use and
preserving popular traditional varieties.
After about 10 years of development and study, IRRI
is now promoting a simple site-specific nutrient management (SSNM) technique by which farmers feed the rice plant nutrients
only when needed, when nutrients in indigenous resources- soil, water, crop
residues and manure-are less than optimal.
The benefits from SSNM significantly multiply when
improved management of phosphorus and potassium is included.
Today, SSNM is being evaluated by extension workers
and farmers in some 20 locations in the Philippines, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
Each location represents an are of intensive rice
farming on more than 100,000 hectares with similar soil characteristics and
cropping systems.
Cantrell noted that as farmers across the rice-producing would join IRRI in the doubly green revolution drive, food security will
greatly and significantly improve for millions of impoverished people.
Source: The
Philippine STAR via SciDev.net
21 November 2004
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1.02 Leading development experts call for renewed
focus on rice
Brussels, Belgium
Rice is essential to winning the battle against world hunger, and global leaders
must consider the use of innovative technologies to meet the needs of the
world's growing population. This is according to representatives from the
Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations
(FAO), the European Parliament as well as the winner of the 2004 World Food
Prize (the equivalent of Nobel Prize for Agriculture).
Speaking at an event organised by CropLife
International* to commemorate the UN's International Year of Rice**, several
leaders in development and agriculture research called upon the international
community to take urgent action to increase production, ensure environmental
sustainability and enhance nutrition of rice - the world's most important
crop and "one of the most protected food commodities in world trade,"
according to Nirj Deva,
MEP.
Over half of the 840 million people suffering from chronic hunger live in
areas dependent on rice production for food, income and employment. Growth
in rice yields is slowing, and is already falling behind population growth.
"Plant science technologies are necessary to increase rice yields and
create new rice varieties," according to Christian Verschueren,
Director General of CropLife International. "Crop
protection products help rice farmers control pests, diseases and weeds. In
addition, CropLife International's leading companies
are assisting with mapping the rice genome and are researching rice varieties
that are resistant to insect pests and diseases. They have also supported
the development of "Golden Rice" to help combat childhood blindness
in developing countries."
"Innovative technologies will become increasingly critical to ensure
the sustainable development of rice-based production systems," said Mahmoud Solh, Director, Plant Protection
and Production Division at the FAO.
Dr. Monty Jones, 2004 World Food Prize Laureate and Executive Secretary of
the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA)
explained how NERICA*** (New Rice for Africa) rice
varieties have been developed using plant breeding technologies, and have
the potential to benefit over 20 million rice farmers and 240 million consumers
in West Africa alone. High-yielding rice ideally suited for poor African farmers,
NERICA also promises to help reduce the region's high rice
import bills. A 25% adoption of NERICA would lead
to savings of $100 million a year.
"Every nation is confronted by critical issues related to the application
of science and technology...The success of NERICA
is just one illustration of the value of this approach in combating hunger
and poverty in Africa," stated Dr. Jones. "The development challenges facing
Africa are well known but they must be kept in mind to sustain motivation
in the face of other distractions faced by decision-makers. The life-threatening
conditions of rural Africans must compete with the seemingly more compelling
demands for protecting the way of life of Northern agricultural producers
and processes."
In order for effective research to come to fruition, it needs to be complimented
by proper, risk-based regulatory frameworks, effective technology transfer
mechanisms and and market-based distribution systems
in rural areas.
"Research can only produce real results if there is an enabling, predictable,
robust and consistent regulatory framework that listens to good science. We
also need proper infrastructures to ensure that these technologies can be
transferred and distributed, particularly for the benefit smallholder farmers,"
stated Christian Verschueren.
BACKGROUND
CropLife International is the global federation
representing the plant science industry. It supports a network of regional
and national associations in 88 countries, and is led by companies such as
BASF, Bayer CropScience, Dow AgroSciences,
DuPont, FMC, Monsanto, Sumitomo and Syngenta. CropLife International promotes the benefits of crop protection
and biotechnology products, their importance to sustainable agriculture and
food production, and their responsible use through stewardship activities.
2004 is being celebrated as the "International Year of Rice." The
recognition of a commodity with an International Year is an unprecedented
step in the history of the United Nations. A number of governments and institutions
have come together to focus attention on rice at events being held around
the world. For more information on the International Year of Rice, visit the
FAO dedicated webpage at http://www.fao.org/rice2004/index_en.htm.
NERICA rice varieties were developed by crossing
African and Asian rice species. They combine the best attributes of both species.
Some benefits include:
* Higher yields: NERICA rice varieties can produce
over 50 per cent more grain than current varieties when cultivated with traditional
rain-fed systems without fertilizer.
* Faster maturity: NERICA varieties mature 30 to
50 days earlier than current varieties.
* Enhanced nutrition: The new rice is substantially richer in protein.
* Disease and drought tolerance.
* Insect resistance: the new varieties can resist some of the most damaging
insect pests in west Africa.
* Increased vigour: NERICA varieties can out-compete
weeds for space, sunlight, water and nutrients.
More information can be found at: http://www.warda.org/warda1/main/Achievements/nerica.htm.
Source: SeedQuest.com
December 8, 2004
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1.03 Making sense of patent rules for plant varieties
Development of intellectual property rules means that new plant varieties
are no longer openly available for use — a situation that some in developing
countries have raised concerns about. The World Trade Organisation's agreement
on trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPS), for instance,
ensures that a patent owner's permission must be granted before patented products
can be imported.
In this article in Science, Bonwoo Koo and colleagues review the variety of plant-related intellectual
property legislation practised worldwide. The authors discuss direct patenting
of plants or plant products (such as seeds), and approaches that allow 'benefit
sharing' — in which both those who preserve or develop the resource (for example,
plant breeders and farmers) enter into a mutually beneficial agreement with
those wanting to use the resources (such as researchers). They also analyse
the policy of 'sui generis'
systems of protection — created on a case by case basis — that allow plant
breeders to control the commercialisation of their plant varieties.
The broad scope of international treaties means that countries can each implement
them in different ways, thus "tailoring legislation" to local circumstances,
say the authors. They add that rich countries are more restricted by intellectual
property legislation than are poor countries. The authors also believe that
the development of intellectual property rights legislation does not threaten
crop research or commercialisation of new varieties in developing countries.
Link to full article by Bonwoo Koo et al in Science
Reference: Science 306, 1295 (2004)
Source: SciDev.net
22 November 2004
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1.04 Assessing and attributing the benefits from
varietal improvement research in Brazil
IFPRI Research Report 136
by Philip G. Pardey, Julian M. Alston, Connie
Chan-Kang, Eduardo C. Magalhaes, and Stephen A.Vosti
This report provides a detailed economic assessment of the magnitude and sources
of the economic benefits to Brazil since the early 1980s from varietal improvements in upland rice, edible beans, and soybeans.
The authors pay particular attention to isolating the benefits from genetic
improvement, which they distinguish from other factors that change grain yield
or quality. They use detailed information on the genetic and breeding histories
of each crop and the institutional arrangements for crop-improvement research
in Brazil
to estimate the benefits attributable to the research done by the Brazilian
Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) and
by other Brazilian agencies. They capture international spill-in effects as
well. The authors also provide more general insight into the importance of
addressing attribution questions in evaluating public research investments,
develop some methods for doing so, and illustrate how to apply them.
The abstract and report are available for download in PDF format as an entire
document or by chapter.
Full Report
(PDF
490K)
Table of Contents, List of Tables, List of Figures, Foreword, Acknowledgments,
and Summary
(PDF
60K)
Chapter 1: Introduction
(PDF
37K)
Chapter 2: Market and Research Contexts
(PDF
103K)
Chapter 3: Economic Evaluation of Varietal Change
(PDF
115K)
Chapter 4: Evaluation Elements: Data Details, Results, and Interpretation
(PDF
175K)
Chapter 5: Conclusion
(PDF
25K)
Appendices
(PDF
59K)
References
(PDF
40K)
Report Covers
(PDF
232K)
Source: SeedQuest.com
December 15, 2004
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1.05 Department of Agriculture of The Philippines targets
one million hectares of hybrid rice by 2007
The Philippines is targeting to have one million hectares planted to hybrid
rice by 2007, the Department of Agriculture
(DA) on Monday said.
In the International Rice Forum held at the Philippine Trade and Training Center, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said the target is expected to
yield six million metric tons (MT) of palay at an estimated seed budget of P1.2 billion.
"For this crop year, the DA is looking at 200,500 hectares of hybrid-rice
lands which will be expanded to 250,000 hectares in the May to October season
next year, and 350,000 hectares in the November 2005 to April 2006 season,"
Yap said.
The Philippines is fourth, following China, India and Vietnam, in hybrid-rice production.
"At present, 500,000 hectares are planted to hybrid rice, which is seen
to widen next year to 530,000 hectares with an average yield of 6MT to 6.2MT
per hectare.
The DA's rice program aims to further expand rice hectarage
by 1.2 million hectares every year."
The Philippine agriculture sector grew by 6.8 percent in the first three quarter
s of the year, grossing P588 billion for farmers, buoyed up by the 7.2-percent
growth in the crops sector, which comprised almost half of the total agricultural
output for the period.
Palay production rose 14 percent, while corn output
jumped by 22.5 percent.
Yap also said the department is now tapping industry groups, such as
PhilConGrains, a group of rice millers and traders,
to serve as credit intermediaries or conduits of farmers to modernize rice
production and trading, with seed funding from the Land Bank of the Philippines.
We are also asking for the support of the local government units for counterpart
subsidy in the expansion of the DA's certified seed program to include low
land rain fed, saline-prone and cool-elevated areas," he added.
Meanwhile, crop diversification will be promoted through the "Palayamanan program," which will train farmers to plant
short-maturing crops, such as vegetables, after rice, and in livelihood programs.
The official also announced that systems for the rice intensification-a rice-production
technology being advocated by nongovernment organizations
in small rice areas particularly organic rice for export-will also receive
DA assistance.
He said a credit program to provide operating, marketing, expansion and infrastructure
capital to rice millers, traders, wholesalers and input suppliers is in the
wirks with the help of Landbank, Quedancor and the Agriculture
Credit and Policy Council.
Yap added that he and his counterparts from Iran, Thailand, Vietnam and the United States have also agreed in principle on technology exchange to achieve
food security and political stability in the Asian region.
Source: Philippines
Today via SeedQuest.com
1 December 2004
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1.06 Plant breeding in Western Canada
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Bi-weekly Bulletin
Volume 17 Number 17
Agriculture, and plant breeding specifically, is being impacted by numerous
forces for change. From a supply side, the advent of innovative technology
and more sophisticated scientific knowledge are opening up new possibilities
for plant breeders and increasing the speed at which new varieties enter the
marketplace. As well, profitability, provided through Plant Breeders’ Rights,
invites greater participation from the private sector. On the demand side,
customer requirements for products that meet end-user needs for quality, safety
and other attributes are becoming more specific. The customer is increasingly
demanding a system that can deliver to smaller, targeted, niche markets at
the same time as it delivers high-quality bulk commodities.
These changes have brought with them many issues that the industry must address,
such as the need for variety registration reform, an updated seed and grain
quality assurance system, changing roles for industry and government, regulatory
flexibility, and intellectual property protection. This issue of the Bi-weekly
Bulletin highlights some of the ongoing changes affecting plant breeding.
Plant breeding, simply defined, is the development of plant lines better suited
for human purposes. It is the discovery or creation of genetic variation in
a plant species and the selection from within that variation of plants with
desirable traits that can be inherited in a stable fashion. Plant breeders,
along with pedigreed seed producers and the seed trade form the seed sector.
Plant breeders can have many educational backgrounds; however most plant breeders
have either a PhD or a M.Sc. in plant breeding, plus experience. In Canada, the Canadian Seed Growers’ Association provides official recognition
for all plant breeders, associate plant breeders and variety maintainers.
[Editor’s note: This long article continues with the following topics. See
web site below for complete article]
HISTORY OF PLANT BREEDING
PLANT BREEDING INSTITUTIONS
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
PLANT BREEDING IN WESTERN CANADA
PLANT BREEDING PROCESS
PLANT BREEDING IN CANADA IS IN THE MIDST OF TRANSFORMATION
Seed Sector Review
Prairie Registration Recommending Committee for Grain
Variety Registration
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS : CEREAL GRAINS
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS : OILSEEDS
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: PULSE AND SPECIAL CROPS
FORAGE CROPS
www.agr.gc.ca/mad-dam/
Source: SeedQuest.com
26 November 2004
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1.07 Revision of safety rules delays Kenya's GM maize
[NAIROBI] The introduction of genetically modified (GM) maize to Kenya is
likely to be delayed by two years to 2010 following revisions to safety regulations
for the Insect Resistant Maize for Africa (IRMA) project.
The revisions, made public at a meeting of stakeholders in Nairobi on 9 December, are intended to bring the project in line with national
and international standards by giving greater attention to threats that the
release of GM maize could pose to the environment and human health.
"It became clear that regulatory issues were not exhaustively covered
in the original project plan," said Stephen Mugo,
IRMA's project manager.
Mugo said the revised rules are intended to be compliant
with existing Kenyan regulations — which allow research on GM crops but not
their sale — while being stringent enough to anticipate any changes to the
law.
A group drawn from the IRMA project and the government regulator, the Kenya
Plant Health Inspectorate Service, decided on the changes. As well as revising
safety standards, they updated plans relating to plant breeding, facilities
and permits, and the social and economic implications of introducing GM maize
to Kenyan farmers.
The IRMA project is a joint venture between the Kenyan government and international
research institutes. It aims to develop a variety of maize able to resist
attack by stem borers, major insect pests.
It is expected to cost US$6,670,000 during the next five years with the bulk
of the funding coming from the Syngenta Foundation
for Sustainable Agriculture. The Rockefeller Foundation is also a donor.
The project's GM maize was initially scheduled to be distributed to farmers
in 2008, but, according to Mugo, the revised safety
standards means this will be delayed until 2010. As a result, widespread distribution
will only be achieved by 2011.
Joe DeVries of the Rockefeller Foundation said he
hoped extra regulations would not slow the pace of the project. "It is
clear that [this type of GM] maize has been tested and proven to work elsewhere
hence there is no need for unnecessary regulations," he added.
Each year, stem borers are responsible for crop losses of up to 12 per cent,
amounting to US$76 million in lost harvests. The IRMA project, which began
five years ago, aims to create both conventional and transgenic maize varieties
to resist the pest. The GM plants, incorporating genetic material from a bacterium
called Bacillus thuringiensis, are
referred to as Bt maize.
The research is being done by scientists from the Kenya Agricultural Research
Institute and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Mexico.
The project's first line of the Bt maize has been
tested in the biosafety greenhouse that was officially
opened earlier this year (see US$12 million greenhouse signals Kenyan GM commitment). Approval for open field-testing is being sought from the government.
If it is obtained, these tests will take place early next year.
14 December 2004
Source: SciDev.Net
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1.08 Kenya imports
BT cotton for trials
Kenya has imported Bt cottonseed
from the United States for field
trials. Dr Charles Waturu, Kenya Agricultural Research Institute’s (KARI)
Thika Center director, said that Bt cotton, which has a gene that
is resistant to stalk-borer, is expected to reduce pesticide spraying from
five to two times. “Of all the input in cotton, 32 percent is channeled
to pest control, and the Bt cotton will lead to a
reduced number of pesticide spray until harvest time,” he said.
The trials are about to start at KARI farms in central Kenya. The Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS)
has inspected the trial sites and has given the go-ahead for the project.
Currently, cotton is grown on approximately 2.5 million hectares in Africa, most of which comprises small plots of less than five hectares.
The introduction of Bt cotton on the continent has
the potential of dramatically increasing yields among the smallholder farmers.
The National Biotechnology Committee approved the application for Bt cotton only last year.
For more information, contact Daniel Otunge of the
Kenya Biotechnology Information Center KBIC at dotunge@absfafrica.org
Source: CropBiotech Net via SeedQuest.com
10 December 2004
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1.09 First known case of a glyphosate-resistant
ragweed
Columbia, Missouri
Missouri has the first known case of a summer annual weed resistant to the
popular glyphosate line of herbicides.
Reid Smeda, University
of Missouri weed scientist, discussed the finding this week during the
annual convention of the North Central Weed Science Society in Columbus, Ohio.
The resistant weeds, a biotype of common ragweed, were found in a 20-acre
field in central Missouri. Plants from the field, examined by Smeda and by officials of Monsanto Company, were found to
be resistant to 10 times the rate of glyphosate
herbicide that normally controls common ragweed. Glyphosate
is the active ingredient in Monsanto Roundup herbicides as well as other brands.
“While our yearlong investigation has led us to conclude that resistance has
occurred in this particular field, there have been no other complaints,” Smeda said. Common ragweed is the third biotype in the United States to develop resistance to glyphosate, which has been used commercially for more than
30 years. Resistance also has been discovered within biotypes of the weeds
marestail and ryegrass.
“This case of ragweed is significant in that it is the first time a summer
annual has developed resistance to glyphosate,”
Smeda said. Marestail and ryegrass
are winter annuals.
The development of these resistant weeds, as with other cases of weed resistance
throughout history, is chiefly due to continual use of one weed-control strategy,
Smeda said. It was found in a field with a history
of continual soybean production and the repeated use of glyphosate in glyphosate-resistant
soybean varieties.
Smeda will discuss proper weed control strategies
to manage resistance with farmers and pesticide applicators at meetings throughout
the winter.
Source: SeedQuest.com
December 14, 2004
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1.10 Genetic gains to help wheat producers stop Septoria leaf blotch
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Wheat researchers have made advances in the genetics behind resistance to
Septoria leaf blotch, spurring the development of new wheat
varieties to help growers reduce losses from the common disease.
"We have identified sources of high-level resistance to Septoria leaf blotch and investigated the inheritance of this
resistance," says Dr. Anita Brûlé-Babel, Professor
of Plant Science and wheat breeder at the University of Manitoba (U of M). "This
will allow wheat breeders in Western Canada to develop new wheat varieties that carry this resistance, providing
a sustainable solution to wheat growers."
Septoria leaf blotch has been one of southern Manitoba's major leaf diseases since it appeared in the area in the 1990-1991
crop year. The emergence of the stubble-borne disease
is attributed in part to the adoption of conservation management practices
that leave crop residues on the soil surface.
"Residue-borne diseases are responsible for millions of dollars in lost
revenue annually for our wheat industry," says Brûlé-Babel.
"The most economical method of reducing these losses is to incorporate
genetic resistance into commercial wheat varieties - that's what ultimately
will be the payoff of the research progress we're seeing today." New
varieties carrying the resistance are expected over the next three to five
years.
The progress was driven in part by the investment of western wheat farmers
through the Wheat Check-off Fund, administered by Western Grains Research Foundation (WGRF). The Check-off supports breeding-related
tan spot research at the U of M. These farmer dollars drew matching funding
from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC),
which has been used to support the Septoria leaf blotch project.
"Because WGRF is considered an industry partner,
my collaborator, Dr. Lakhdar Lamari,
and I were able to apply through NSERC to match
those dollars for other industry-oriented research," says Brûlé-Babel.
Through NSERC, the university has matched nearly
all Check-off funds it has received since 1995.
The Septoria leaf blotch project included two main
components, conducted by graduate students. As part of his PhD work, Curt
McCartney, with the additional collaboration of Dr. Daryl Somers at the Agriculture
and Agri-Food Canada Cereal Research Centre, identified
the chromosome location of a resistance gene that has been labelled "Stb7."
Researchers also identified three "molecular markers" that signal
the presence of this resistance.
Molecular markers are pieces of DNA that repeated analysis shows are closely
linked to the presence of genes that control a specific trait. The advantage
is that these markers are much easier to identify than the genes themselves,
making them a powerful selection tool for breeders.
"As a result of this work, we have made great progress in understanding
the genetics of resistance and how to incorporate it into commercial cultivars,"
says Brûlé-Babel. "Developing those cultivars
and getting them out to farmers is now just a matter of time and resources."
In the second component of the project, MSc. student Ardelle
Grieger investigated and described the pathogen
race profile in Western Canada of the causal
agent of Septoria leaf blotch and documented the
differences in the infection process between resistant and susceptible wheat
genotypes.
"This component helped us learn more about the status of the disease
in the field, and how it infects the plant. This will help us to design the
best solutions," says Brûlé-Babel. "The
first step was to identify and characterize the different isolates of the
pathogen in the field, and to look at genetic variation, difference in virulence
patterns, and the infection process."
The producer-funded Wheat Check-off Fund, administered by WGRF,
allocates more than $3 million annually to wheat breeding programs in Western Canada.
Source: SciDev.net
24 November 2004
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1.11 New varieties of centipede grass using germplasm from China
University of Georgia
Turf scientists at the University of Georgia are breeding new varieties of
centipede grass using germ plasm collected from
the grass's homeland, China.
In 1999, Wayne Hanna, a researcher with the UGA
College of Agricultural and
Environmental Sciences, spent 23 days in the most rural areas of China collecting centipede samples.
Earl Elsner, former director of the Georgia Seed
Development Commission, accompanied Hanna. Their trip was funded by a $50,000
grant from The Turfgrass Group and Patten Seed Company.
Since the collection trip five years ago, Hanna has used the germ plasm to develop two new experimental varieties, a winter-hardy
centipede and a shade-tolerant centipede. The shade-tolerant variety, which
can withstand 40-percent continuous shade, should be available to the public
in three to five years.
Centipede grass first came to the United States in 1918, Hanna said. It's known for its ability to grow on sandy
and poor soils. "It will grow where very little else will grow,"
Hanna said.
While in China, Hanna relied heavily on advice from the local people. Even though
centipede is native to China, it was a chore for the researchers to find samples. "The buffalo
eat the centipede seed heads down. So we had to search for samples under small
trees, in thorny bushes and on cliffs where they can't reach," he said.
"We were able to find it along streambanks
and trails and in rice patty levees where buffalo walk. Centipede grass was
scattered all over China by the buffalos."
The researchers targeted collection sites in shady areas and along the coastal
salt marshes. "These samples can be used to breed new varieties with
shade and drought tolerance," Hanna said.
Each night Hanna turned his hotel room into a makeshift lab. He dried the
grass samples on the lampshade, threshed the grass and careful placed the
samples in labeled collection bags.
These collection bags were later inspected at the airport, taken to Washington, D.C., and returned to Hanna at his UGA lab in Tifton, Ga.
Germplasm now available to all scientists
The UGA research team collected centipede samples
from 53 sites in China. They were helped on the trip by Nanjiang
Botanical Gardens researcher Jianxiu Liu, with whom they shared the collected samples.
"We now have germ plasm for our research and
for the (U.S. Department of Agriculture) national seed bank," Hanna said.
"And we have the Chinese people to thank for the success of our trip.
SeedQuest.com
17 December 2004
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1.12 Gene in corn plants that may have paved the way
for development of maize
Biologists at the University of California,
San Diego have identified a gene that appears to have been a critical
trait in allowing the earliest plant breeders 7,000 years ago to transform
teosinte, a wild grass that grows in the Mexican
Sierra Madre, into maize, the world’s third most planted crop after rice and
wheat.
In a paper that appears in the December 2 issue of the journal Nature, the scientists report their discovery
of a gene that regulates the development of secondary branching in plants,
presumably permitting the highly branched, bushy teosinte
plant to be transformed into the stalk-like modern maize.
The researchers say the presence of numerous variants of this gene in teosinte, but only one variant of the gene in all inbred varieties
of modern maize, provides tantalizing evidence that Mesoamerican crop breeders
most likely used this trait in combination with a small number of other traits
to selectively transform teosinte to maize, one
of the landmark events in the development of modern agriculture.
“What we know is that this gene is critical for branching to take place in
maize, including the branches that give rise to the ears of corn,” says Robert
J. Schmidt, a professor of biology at UCSD who headed
the research team. “And we presume that there was something unusual in the
morphology that these early farmers selected from the wild teosinte
that made it easier for them to plant, grow or harvest their crops.
This gene will give us some important new clues to what genetic traits these
plant breeders focused on when they transformed teosinte
to maize. In a broader context, it is quite possible that the same gene in
other plant species is equally essential to the overall architecture that
a particular plant assumes by programming the very cells that produce new
branches.”
The gene cloned by the scientists is called barren stalk1 because when
the gene product is absent a relatively barren stalk results—one with leaves,
but without secondary branches. In maize, these secondary branches include
the female reproductive parts of the plant—or ears of corn—and the male reproductive
organ, or tassel, the multiple branched crown at the top of the plant.
Teosinte has numerous tassels and tiny ears in its
highly branched architecture, while maize has only one tassel and much fewer,
but much larger, ears. This suggests that the limitations to branching imposed
by some combination of the barren stalk1 and other genes that were
selected for by the early plant breeders allowed the early genetic mutants
of teosinte to concentrate more of the plant’s resources into
producing bigger ears that could be harvested.
The recessive mutation leading to barren stalks in corn plants was first identified
in 1928 from seeds collected in South America by early maize geneticists. Because the mutation so dramatically
affected the reproductive parts of the plants, and because the development
of maize involved changes in the architecture of the teosinte plant, Schmidt realized that the mutation was important
and set about to study the genetic and developmental basis of the mutation
further with Matthew Ritter and Christopher Padilla, two former graduate students
in his laboratory.
The isolation of the barren stalk1 gene and the discovery that it was
responsible for this recessive mutation was subsequently made by Andrea Gallavotti, a postdoctoral fellow in Schmidt’s laboratory.
Other coauthors of the paper include Ritter, now
at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo; M. Enrico Pe’ of the University of
Milan; Junko Kyozuka of the University of Tokyo;
Robert Meeley of DuPont subsidiary, Pioneer Hi-Bred International,
Inc.; and Qiong Zhao and John Doebley
of the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
Doebley, a professor of genetics at Madison and
an expert in the evolution of teosinte to maize,
was intrigued by the realization that the barren stalk1 gene was located
in one of five regions of the maize genome known to be important in the breeding
of teosinte to maize. With the help of his graduate
student, Qiong Zhao, the two scientists found that
many variants of the gene exist in teosinte, yet
only one was incorporated into modern maize inbreds.
This led them to conclude that targeted selection of this particular barren
stalk1 variant by humans was likely an important addition to the traits
responsible for the development of modern maize.
“This gene seems to have been the target of human selection,” says Doebley. “The fact that humans preferred some allelic form
of this gene over others is a smoking gun. But we don’t have the direct proof
yet. We need to do some follow up studies to see if this gene was really involved.”
The project was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and
the National Institutes of Health
Source: SeedQuest.com
2
December 2004
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1.13 Evolving role
of genebanks
Genebanks as repositories of plant genetic resources
need to adapt to the changing demands of different clients and the fast developing
field of molecular genetics. Hence, it is necessary to readjust the value
assigned to genetic resources and find new ways of better exploiting them.
This is the main raised by paper on "The Evolving Role of Genebanks in the Fast Developing Field of Molecular Genetics"
released by the International Plant Genetics Resources Institute and edited
by M. Carmen de Vicente.
Clients are now seeking expertise from traditional breeding to molecular biology
and genomics. This requires a broader range of services and staff that can
transcend various disciplines. Several issues should therefore be addressed,
such as the attributes that a genebank should maintain,
the convenience of networking to outsource certain types of expertise and
procedures, the gap this situation may create among genebanks, and the benefits genebanks
offer in countries with varying levels of development.
The paper suggests that regional networks be established with the aim of characterizing
the germplasm of specific crops through molecular
markers. Such networks would facilitate the use of the most appropriate tools,
reduce costs for individual parties and improve strategies for conservation
and use.
See the full paper at http://www.ipgri.cgiar.org/publications/pdf/986.pdf
Contributed by Margaret E. Smith, Dept.
of Plant Breeding & Genetics, Cornell University
Source: CropBiotech Update
19 November 2004:
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1.14 GRDC-supported
research finds ways to make future varieties tolerant to pre-harvest sprouting
Australia
Pre-harvest sprouting (PHS) is the most common cause of downgrading of grain
at delivery due to weather damage.
PHS is caused when grain is exposed to prolonged wet conditions at the later
stages of ripening or when mature, but still in head in the field.
A decade of Grains Research and Development
Corporation (GRDC) supported research has investigated
the causes of the defect, developed reliable screening methods and found ways
of making future varieties tolerant to PHS.
The GRDC is supporting breeders to produce varieties
with appropriate quality and agronomic characteristics and free of underlying
genetic defects predisposing them to PHS.
Source: SeedQuest.com
16 December 2004
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1.15 Wheat variety responses to stripe rust
Cereal Rust Update, Volume 2 number 4, University of Sydney, Plant Breeding
Institute
University of Sydney
Plant Breeding Institute
Cereal Rust Laboratory
by Colin Wellings,
Harbans Bariana and Robert Park
The stripe rust epidemic throughout the majority of Australian wheat growing
regions in 2004 has prompted the question of variety reaction to the disease.
Expected variety responses for eastern Australia wheats were circulated in several reports,
the most recent being Cereal Rust Report Volume 1, Issue 5 (January 2004).
In general, varieties have performed to expectation in 2004. The pathotype survey has, to date, shown no evidence of change
in the pathogen population and in general, the relative rankings of variety
response to stripe rust have not altered appreciably.
Document in PDF format: http://www.seedquest.com/News/releases/2004/pdf/10757.pdf
Source: SeedQuest.com
December, 2004
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1.16 Carrots come in purple, too
Colors can mean nutrition, too, as researchers
with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Vegetable
Crops Research Unit in Madison, Wisconsin proved recently, with their new
line of conventionally-bred rainbow carrots. The bright vegetables now come
in yellow, dark orange, bright red, and even purple.
Yellow carrots owe their color to xanthophylls, compounds
that have been linked to good eye health. Lycopene,
a carotene found in tomato, has been shown to prevent certain types of cancer,
and gives the carrots their bright red blush. Purple carrots carry anthocyanins, powerful
antioxidants that can guard the body's cells from the destructive effects
of free radicals.
Read the full article at http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/nov04/carrot1104.htm
Contributed by Margaret E. Smith, Dept. of Plant Breeding & Genetics,
Cornell University
Source: CropBiotech Update
19 November 2004:
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1.17 An apple a day may keep Alzheimer’s at bay
Not only the apple, but other fruits and vegetables rich in antioxidants may
delay or even prevent Alzheimer's disease,
Cornell University scientists report in the Dec. 1 issue of the Journal of
Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
Quercetin, a potent antioxidant, appears to protect
brain cells against oxidative stress, a tissue-damaging
process associated with Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative disorders.
It is concentrated in the skin of red apples, and is also present in onions,
blueberries, and cranberries
In the latest experiments, scientists treated rat
brain cells with varying concentrations of either quercetin
or vitamin C. The cells were then exposed to hydrogen peroxide to simulate
the type of oxidative cell damage that is believed to occur with Alzheimer's.
These results were then compared to brain cells that were similarly exposed
to hydrogen peroxide but were not pre-treated with antioxidants.
Brain cells that were treated with quercetin had
significantly less damage to both cellular proteins and DNA than the cells
treated with vitamin C and the cells that were not exposed to antioxidants.
This demonstrates quercetin's stronger protective
effect against neurotoxicity, according to the researchers.
Studies on the influence of diet on brain cell health have already been conducted
since 2002. In one experiment, mice with genetic defects similar to Alzheimer's
disease were fed apple juice, then put in a maze
to test their memory. Mice that had the Alzheimer's-like defect were forgetful
and explored the same corridors repeatedly. After drinking apple juice, their
memories improved so much that they performed nearly as well as normal mice.
Normal mice who drank apple juice improved even more. Mice who drank too much apple juice did not benefit in the experiment,
and actually had trouble in the maze.
Read the original press release at http://acswebapplications.acs.org/applications/ccs/application/index.cfm
Contributed by Margaret E. Smith, Dept. of Plant Breeding & Genetics,
Cornell University
Source: CropBiotech Update
19 November 2004:
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1.18 ICRISAT to assist
RP legume industry
The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in Hyderabad, India and the Philippine Council for
Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD) have joined forces on a project that aims to enhance
the adoption of ICRISAT-bred legumes and associated
technologies.
With a grant from the Philippine government, ICRISAT
will provide the seeds of improved legume varieties, particularly peanut,
chickpea, and pigeonpea; technical advice for the
use of the technology; and training of project staff. PCARRD,
on the other hand, will provide institutional support for project planning,
implementation, monitoring, and evaluation.
For further information, contact Dr. CLL Gowda at c.gowda@cgiar.org.
Contributed by Margaret E. Smith, Dept. of Plant Breeding & Genetics,
Cornell University
Source: CropBiotech Update
26 November 2004:
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1.19 New index possible for screening salt tolerant rice lines
The concentration of glycinebetaine, a molecule
produced in plants in response to salt stress, may be used as a rapid biochemical
index for the screening of new salt-tolerant lines of rice. Suriyan
Cha-um of the National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology and colleagues discuss
this finding in an article in the latest issue of Science Asia.
Glycinebetaine (Glybet)
is involved in plant stress responses to extreme salt, drought, temperature,
and light conditions. Studies have shown that Glybet
acts as an osmoprotective agent by stabilizing both
the quaternary structures of proteins and the highly ordered structure of
membranes against the adverse effects of salinity and water-deficit.
Using Thai jasmine rice seedlings, researchers found that betaine
aldehyde dehydrogenase
(BADH), a key enzyme in the Glybet
synthesis pathway, showed progressive elevation during the first four days
after growth under salt-stress conditions (342 mM
NaCl), but gradually decreased thereafter (days 6-8). This
increase in BADH activity was accompanied by an
accumulation of Glybet. In contrast, the BADH activity and Glybet content
of control seedlings (0 mM NaCl)
remained at a low and constant level during the same 8-day interval.
Significant reductions in the concentrations of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll
b, total chlorophyll, and total carotenoid content
of salt-stressed seedlings were also observed with increasing exposure time
to salt-stressed conditions.
Glybet accumulation in rice seedlings is consistent
with the known defense response in plants, and assaying
BADH activity and/or Glybet
accumulation may be further used in screening for salt-tolerant varieties
of rice.
Download the complete article, "Biochemical and Physiological Responses
of Thai Jasmine Rice to Salt Stress," at
http://scienceasia.tiac.or.th/PDF/vol30/v30_247_253.pdf
Source: CropBiotech Updatevia
AgBioView
17 December 2004
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1.20 University of Toledo scientists engineer flower
to thrive in below-freezing temperatures
Toledo, Ohio
A team of researchers at the University
of Toledo has created petunias that survive in temperatures so low that
other flowers curl up and die in two hours.
The team of plant scientists, including Stephen Goldman, R.V.
Sairam, and Parani Madasamy, say this is only the beginning of the freeze-tolerant
flower species they can create. By inserting a gene from a weed that doesn't
mind the cold, the plants thrive in temperatures as low as 22 degrees Fahrenheit.
"We can transform pretty much any crop using this gene," said Mr.
Sairam, assistant director of UT's
Plant Science Research Center.
The genetic alteration also confers drought and salinity tolerance, said Mr.
Madasamy, who performed the hands-on work in the project.
He is a research assistant professor in the Plant Science Research Center.
The group hopes the work will benefit northwest Ohio greenhouse growers.
"The second-largest cost in the greenhouse industry is utilities,"
said Mr. Goldman, director of the Plant Science Research Center. "When you're competing with people out of Florida and out of California, it's a big thing."
Freeze-tolerant plants might allow growers to reduce spring growing temperatures
by 10 to 20 degrees.
"That sounds really interesting" said Gene Klotz, owner of Klotz
Flower Farm on Napoleon
Road in Bowling Green. "The cost
of heating wasn't such a big factor a few years ago. Now the cost, I would
say, is at least 35 percent, maybe even a little more. Where, before, we could
look at maybe 10 percent.
"What I don't now for sure is, how well will the plant grow at those
temperatures?" Mr. Klotz said. If growth slows down in the cold, the
benefit could diminish.
And at the moment, the researchers can't answer that question. The petunias
will be tested by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which funded the research,
to see how low the plants can go, how well they grow, and how long they can
survive at reduced temperatures.
Despite these open questions, the UT researchers
already are talking to two California growers.
"They wanted this in poinsettias. They said this would be much bigger
than a multi-million dollar" advance, if it worked, Mr. Sairam
said.
While today's crop of freeze-baby petunias were made with a gene from a mustard-family
weed called Aribidopsis, the researchers also have
learned how to induce the petunia's own genes to prevent icy death.
By using a plant's own genes, Mr. Sairam says, the
group hopes to overcome objections to genetic modification, which typically
involves introducing genes from other species into a plant.
Finally, the plant could be altered so it wouldn't produce seed, allowing
reproduction only through cuttings. That would eliminate transgenic pollen.
Many worry that genetically altered pollen will allow uncontrolled genetic
modification of related species in the environment.
But as promising as these developments sound, Tom Wardell,
past president of the Toledo Area Flower and Vegetable Growers Association,
and owner of Wardell's Farm Market in Waterville, said there's no guarantee they'll get to growers soon, if they
get there at all.
"I don't know if the seed companies are even going to be interested in
something like that," Mr. Wardell said. "You
can do a lot of things in a laboratory situation, but there's still a lot of steps to be taken."
Source:
December 15, 2004
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1.21 Rubisco without
the Calvin cycle improves the carbon efficiency of developing green seeds
Jörg Schwender,
Fernando Goffman, John B. Ohlrogge
& Yair Shachar-Hill
Plant Biology Department, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan
48824, USA
Summary
Efficient storage of carbon in seeds is crucial to plant fitness and to agricultural
productivity. Oil is a major reserve material in most seeds, and these oils
provide the largest source of renewable reduced carbon chains available from
nature. However, the conversion of carbohydrate to oil through glycolysis results in the loss of one-third of the carbon
as CO2. Here we show that, in developing embryos of Brassica
napus L. (oilseed rape), Rubisco
(ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate
carboxylase/oxygenase) acts without the Calvin cycle and in
a previously undescribed metabolic context to increase
the efficiency of carbon use during the formation of oil. In comparison with
glycolysis, the metabolic conversion we describe
provides 20% more acetyl-CoA for fatty-acid synthesis
and results in 40% less loss of carbon as CO2. Our conclusions are based on
measurements of mass balance, enzyme activity and stable isotope labelling,
as well as an analysis of elementary flux modes.
Nature Volume 432 Number 7018 p. 779
- 782
Source: Agnet
Dec 9/04 via SeedQuest.com
December 9, 2004
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1.22 Rice genome is decoded; now expect new varieties
to crop up
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20041214a1.htm
An international team of scientists has completed the sequencing of the rice
genome, an accomplishment that should lead to the development of new varieties
of rice to meet different needs, including resistance to disease.
Takuji Sasaki of the National Institute of Agrobiological Science (left) presents farm minister Yoshinobu Shimamura with data on
the sequencing of the rice genome at the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
Ministry.
Researcher Takuji Sasaki of the National Institute
of Agrobiological Science and head of the Japanese
team in the international effort, said Monday that scientists from 10 economies
completed mapping some 370 million out of 390 million base pairs -- or 95
percent of the genome -- with an accuracy of 99.99 percent.
The team made the report to agriculture minister Yoshinobu
Shimamura.
Analysts say they expect the research to contribute to the identification
of useful genetic functions and lead to rapid improvement of crop varieties
and an increase in food production.
The results could also be used for production of new varieties of maize and
wheat that have similar features in their genetic maps to rice.
The rice used for the research was a Japanese variety called Nippon Bare,
in which the researchers found an estimated 40,000 genes.
Japan took the lead in deciphering the rice genome in 1991 and continued
to play a central role after the international joint research team began decoding
the genome in 1998, and was responsible for studying six of the 12 chromosomes
found in rice, team members said.
The international team declared in December 2002 that it had deciphered the
genome after mapping 92 percent of it but has continued the project to map
the remainder.
The researchers said they are the first to release the results of precise
deciphering of the rice genome. The results have a margin of error of less
than one-10,000th, the researchers said earlier.
The international team includes researchers from the United States, Taiwan, Thailand, China, South Korea, India, France, Britain, Brazil and Japan.
GM corn, soybeans found growing wild
TSUKUBA, Ibaraki Pref. (Kyodo) Genetically modified
corn and soybeans have been found growing wild near Shimizu port in Shizuoka Prefecture, citizens' groups opposing GM foods said Monday.
The groups also said GM rapeseed has been found growing wild near Fukuoka's Hakata port. Members of the groups suspect the plant was spilled
during the transport process.
The discovery of GM rapeseed follows its detection at ports in Ibaraki, Chiba, Kanagawa, Aichi, Mie and Hyogo prefectures.
"Corn and soybean seeds are less likely to disperse than rapeseed, and
it's amazing that they grow wild," said Masaharu
Kawata, a lecturer of chemical biology at Yokkaichi University in Mie Prefecture.
Groups including Stop GM Seeds Network Japan conducted the study by collecting the plants and testing them.
The GM corn includes genes that kill insects such as moth worms, while the
GM soybeans are engineered to be more resistant to weed killer.
Source: - The Japan Times via AgBioView.com
14 December 2004
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1.23 New technique to generate GM wheat
In "A reverse genetic, nontransgenic
approach to wheat crop improvement by TILLING," or targeting induced
local lesions in genomes, Ann J Slade, and her colleagues of Anawah
Inc., in Seattle, Washington introduce a technique that can identify new mutations
in a polyploid plant, such as wheat, as well as
uncover inherent variation within an organism's genome and eliminate the need
to introduce a foreign DNA to get a new strain. The paper is published in
the latest issue of Nature Biotechnology.
With TILLING, DNA from multiple individuals is pooled, and the Polymerase
Chain Reaction (PCR) is used to amplify a targeted
region of the genome. The PCR product from the pool
is heated and reannealed, allowing DNA strands from
mutants and wild types to base pair with each other. The individuals composing
the positive pools are sequenced to determine which individual carries the
mutation, and further tests may be undertaken to reveal the nature of the
mutation. Unlike conventional mutation breeding, TILLING provides a direct
measure of mutations induced.
Slade identified 246 alleles of the waxy genes of wheat and was able to produce
a new strain yielding large amounts of amylopectin
in its grains. This full waxy wheat can be useful for making breads and pastas,
as well as enhancing the strength and printing properties of paper products.
Read the abstract
Contributed by Margaret E. Smith, Dept. of Plant Breeding & Genetics,
Cornell University
Source: CropBiotech Update
10 December 2004:
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1.24 In-house fungus corn’s new defense
If endophytes are organisms that live in another
living organism without harming or benefiting ther
host, then Acremonium zeae
is the latest exception. Once considered a benign fungus, Agricultural Research
Service microbiologist Don Wicklow and University of Iowa scientist Jim Gloer recently showed that
A. zeae can protect corn from Aspergillus
flavus and Fusarium
verticillioides.
Both A. flavus and F. verticillioides
infect ripening corn kernels: Aspergillus contaminates
corn crops with aflatoxin, which is harmful to both
humans and livestock; while F. verticilliodes causes
stalk rot. A. zeae, Wicklow and Gloer found, produces substances called pyrrocidines,
which can disrupt activity of either pest. Wicklow conducted field studies
to make sure the lab-based observations of A. zeae's
antifungal activity are not the result of a natural corn defense
or the byproduct of human error.
Further research may reveal another possible approach: inoculating corn seed
with the endophyte as a living barrier against
A. flavus and F. verticillioides.
Read more at http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/dec04/fungus1204.htm
Contributed by Margaret E. Smith, Dept. of Plant Breeding & Genetics,
Cornell University
Source: CropBiotech Update
10 December 2004:
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1.25 Strawberries get scientific treatment
Fruit flavor is essential to its selling
power, and the compounds affecting such factors in strawberry were explored
by Asaph Aharoni and colleagues,
of Plant Research International in the Netherlands, in the paper "Gain
and Loss of Fruit Flavor Compounds Produced by Wild and Cultivated Strawberry
Species," available in this month's The Plant Cell.
The molecular mechanisms by which fruit flavor and
aroma compounds are gained and lost during evolution and domestication are
largely unknown. In the latest research, however, scientists found that wild
and cultivated strawberries differ by very little at the genetic level, even
as whole compounds are unique to either variety. Wild varieties contain olefinic monoterpenes and
myrtenyl acetate, while cultivated strawberries
contain the monoterpene linalool and the sesquiterpene
nerolidol.
A gene, named FaNES1, is responsible for the difference, and its protein product
is found exclusively in the fruit of cultivated strawberry varieties. Although
the gene is present in either variety, it is mutated in the wild variety,
hence accounting for the difference in their flavors.
The study also sheds light on the molecular differences between wild and cultivated
varieties of other soft fruits, especially those which contain terpenes, including some citrus species and the mango. The
study may also be used to improve current fruit species and perhaps even strengthen
their hold on the market.
Read the
abstract
Contributed by Margaret E. Smith, Dept. of Plant Breeding & Genetics,
Cornell University
Source: CropBiotech Update
3 December 2004:
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1.26 Lower enzyme level found to increase corn’s drought
tolerance
In a paper in the December Issue of The Plant Journal, Dr. Daniel R. Gallie and his research team at the University of California,
Riverside report that ACC
synthase Expression Regulates Leaf Performance and Drought Tolerance in
Maize.
ACC synthase
is the enzyme responsible for producing ethylene, a hormone that regulates
plant responses to environmental stresses, and initiates fruit ripening and
leaf death, among other important functions.
In their experiments, Gallie and co-workers screened
thousands of corn plants for naturally occurring mutants that were deficient
in ACC synthase.
The researchers isolated several such plants, and one in particular that produced substantially lower
levels of ethylene. The mutant plant, they found, was more resistant to the
effects of adverse environmental conditions, including drought. Researchers
then engineered plants to produce less ACC synthase, thereby
reducing the level of ethylene, and found that all the leaves of the altered
plants contained higher levels of chlorophyll and leaf protein, and functioned
better than control leaves.
For several years, Gallie said, a number of studies
on global climate have predicted an increase in global temperature, and regional
conditions of drought, which may have already begun. The findings by Gallie and his research team suggest that ethylene controls
the level of leaf function under normal growth conditions, as well as during
adverse environmental conditions.
For more information, visit http://www.newsroom.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/display.cgi?id=928
Contributed by Margaret E. Smith, Dept. of Plant Breeding & Genetics,
Cornell University
Source: CropBiotech Update
26 November 2004:
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1.27 Update 12-2004 of FAO-BiotechNews
(excerpted by the editor, PBN-L)
We hope you have found these Updates useful and interesting in 2004 and we
wish you all the best for the coming year.
The Coordinator of FAO-BiotechNews, 17-12-2004
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
E-mail address: FAO-Biotech-News@fao.org
FAO website http://www.fao.org
FAO Biotechnology website http://www.fao.org/biotech/index.asp
(in Arabic,
Chinese, English, French and Spanish)
*** NEWS *** (http://www.fao.org/biotech/news_list.asp?Cat=131)
1) FAO e-mail conference on public participation and GMOs
– Background document
The background document for the FAO e-mail conference entitled "Public
participation in decision-making regarding GMOs
in developing countries: How to effectively involve rural people" is
now available. The 12-page document gives a brief overview of the current
status regarding GMOs in crops, forests, fisheries,
livestock and agro-industry; discusses the decision-making areas where the
public could be involved; provides a brief overview of some relevant international
agreements and discusses some of the specificities regarding information access
and participation for people in rural areas in developing countries. See http://www.fao.org/biotech/C12doc.htm
or contact biotech-admin@fao.org
to request a copy of the document by e-mail. The e-mail conference runs from
17 January to 13 February 2005 and is hosted
by the FAO Biotechnology Forum.
To join the Forum (and also register for the conference), send an e-mail to
mailserv@mailserv.fao.org leaving
the subject blank and entering only the following text on two separate lines:
subscribe BIOTECH-L subscribe biotech-room4 Forum members wishing to register
for the conference should leave out the first line of the above message.
4) First world conference on organic seed - report and proceedings
On 5-7 July 2004, the "First world conference on organic seed: Challenges
and opportunities for organic and the seed industry" was held at FAO
Headquarters, Rome, Italy, organised by FAO, the International Federation
of Organic Agriculture Movements and the International Seed Federation. There
were eight plenary sessions including aspects ranging from seed production,
propagation and quality, through harmonisation of standards and technical
regulations, to economics and biodiversity aspects, and the co-existence between
organic agriculture and GMOs was also addressed.
The 19-page conference report and 188-page conference proceedings are now
available. See http://www.fao.org/organicag/faodoc-e.htm or contact nadia.scialabba@fao.org
for more information.
12) Regional dialogue on IPRs, innovation and sustainable
development
On 8-10 November 2004, a "Regional dialogue on intellectual property
rights (IPRs), innovation and sustainable development"
was held in Hong Kong, S.A.R., China, organised by the International Centre
for Trade and Sustainable Development, the University of Hong Kong, the United
Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the International Development
Research Centre. One of the five main issues discussed during the dialogue
was biotechnology and the protection of plant varieties.
The draft meeting report and meeting documents, including "Fitting plant
variety protection and biotechnological inventions in agriculture within the
intellectual property framework: Challenges for developing countries"
by S.K. Verma, are now available. See
http://www.iprsonline.org/unctadictsd/dialogue/2004-11-08/2004-11-08_docs.htm or contact ictsd@ictsd.ch for more information.
13) OECD - Consensus document on new varieties of barley
The OECD Environmental Health and Safety Division has just published the "Consensus
document on compositional considerations for new varieties of barley (Hordeum
vulgare L.): Key food and feed nutrients and anti-nutrients".
It is number 12 in its Series on the Safety of Novel Foods and Feeds. See
http://appli1.oecd.org/olis/2004doc.nsf/linkto/env-jm-mono(2004)20 or contact ehscont@oecd.org
for more information.
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=========================
2 PUBLICATIONS
2.01 Genetic Improvement of Cacao
The Brazilian book ‘Melhoramento Genético
do Cacaueiro’ by Luiz
Antônio dos Santos Dias, 2001 (xii + 578 pp.) has been translated
into an English Internet version in EcoPort (http://www.ecoport.org)
as ‘Genetic Improvement of Cacao’. The translation is by Cornelia Elisabeth
Abreu-Reichart, Viçosa, M.G., Brazil;
aided by the Editor and Peter Griffee, Senior Officer
for Industrial Crops, of FAO’s Crop and Grassland
Service (AGPC) and supported by FAO. In the translation
the word ‘improvement’, in the Brazilian sense, has been used almost throughout
as it is more encompassing than ‘breeding’. The work spans cacao improvement
from the ancient Mayas and Aztecs through germplasm,
conventional selection, gene banks and to modern
biotechnological techniques. It was introduced to Peter by Elcio
Guimarães, also a Senior Officer in AGPC. As Peter's home is Brazil
he was able to see, at once, the extraordinary quality of this book in uniting
multidisciplinary aspects of cacao and shortly after entered the Portuguese
version into EcoPort.
The translation has been a lengthy task but lightened by the intense sense
of collaboration and enthusiasm of all concerned. Some of the original diagrams
have yet to be translated but this will be done shortly. We would like feed-back
and alerts on any possible errors that you may notice. Please contact Luiz
(lasdias@ufv.br) and Peter (peter.griffee@fao.org)
in such cases. For any comments on the EcoPort technology involved please contact Tonie Putter (Supervisor@ecoport.org),
the creator of EcoPort. The following URL takes you to the cover - just click
on "Table of Contents" and choose the section of interest or use
the yellow scroll arrow. Each section is a maximum of 23 KB to facilitate
those with slow connections. N.B.: Care with "Get full eArticle"
as it is over 1.4 MB. At the end of the Table of Contents the Entities (plant,
arthropod, fungus, location etc.), References and Glossary terms are listed
as well as being linked in the text.
http://www.ecoport15.org/perl/ecoport15.pl?SearchType=earticleView&earticleId=197&page=-1&checkRequired=Y
In world literature to date there has been no work which deals exclusively
with cacao genetic improvement. Until now, all initiatives in this respect
have not gone beyond chapters inserted in books on the crop’s agronomy or
on genetic improvement of species in general. This work, on the contrary,
offers to be the first book which treats the subject exclusively and in depth;
unique in the world. The original is mostly by Brazilian scientists. Much
of it is universally applicable to tree species, but it is focussed on questions
and solutions on Brazilian cacao cultivation. The objectives which drove the
initiative were: i) to make available the accumulated
knowledge to all the scientific community; ii) fuel the debate on the subject
for all interested sectors (scientists, extension workers, students and producers,
and iii) give more visibility to the scientific data on the subject, which
otherwise would be restricted to a group of national and international scientists
who work in a few cacao research institutions around the world. This translation
will greatly amplify accessibility globally.
The collaborators are renowned international scientists in their specialities;
all belonging to research institutions of national or international prestige.
They were encouraged to give light to innovations on the state of the art
of cacao improvement. Conceived to be encompassing and, at the same time,
as profound as possible, the work is highlighted by its logical sequence and
clarity of the themes developed in its 13 chapters. In Ch. 1, the principal
aspects of cultivation and the strategies of environmental improvement are
presented. In order to overcome the crisis which assails the cacao economy,
it deals with the socio-economic panorama that predicts changes of attitude
of producers, researchers and institutions. Chs.
2, 3, 4 e 5 basically cover, the collection, conservation and rational use
of genetic resources of Theobroma, the genus
to which cacao (Theobroma cacao L.)
belongs. The diversity in Theobroma is focussed
in Ch.2 with a view to improvement by incorporation of genes from wild species
into the genetic make up of the cultivated one. Ch. 3 presents a new scenario
for the origin and distribution of cacao, with important reflections on the
collection and conservation of germplasm. The ecology
of natural populations in its most diverse aspects is dealt with in Ch. 4.
How to collect, conserve, evaluate, characterize and use germplasm
saved are topics developed in Ch. 5.
From Ch. 6 onwards the book focuses on the actual genetic improvement. For
the first time, the methodology of mixed mathematical models is introduced
to cacao breeding, with a view to making it more precise and efficient. Chs. 7 and 8 cover the state of the art of resistance to diseases,
in particular witches’ broom, emphasizing the heredity mechanism and the biochemical
and physiological bases of this resistance. Asexual breeding is highlighted
and covered in Ch. 9. The introduction of molecular markers in breeding and
the possibilities open for these new tools are reported in Ch. 10. Another
grey area, never really covered in cacao breeding, (Ch.
11) is experimentation. In Ch. 12, breeding success is illustrated by the
comparative results of improved cultivars against traditional ones. Finally,
Ch. 13 capitalizes on all improvement aspects, harmoniously integrating sexual
and asexual improvement and biotechnology to project the future of breeding
programmes.
Contributed by Peter Griffee, FAO/AGPC
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=========================
3. WEB RESOURCES
3.01 Cereal News
Bulletin
Announcement of the first issue of the Cereals News Bulletin recently
published in the ECP/GR Cereals Network Web pages.
http://www.ecpgr.cgiar.org/Networks/Cereals/cerealsnews.asp
The Cereals News Bulletin is an initiative of the ECP/GR
Cereals Network, in
order to exchange information on work related to cereals. The aim is to
inform and stimulate Network members and to raise public awareness.
The Bulletin is published exclusively on-line by the ECP/GR
Secretariat and
includes contributions from Network members.
Contributed by Aixa Del Greco
Regional Office for Europe
International Plant Genetic Resources Institute – IPGRI
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++++++++++++++++++++++++
3.02 Conference 12 of the FAO Electronic Forum on Biotechnology
in Food and Agriculture
(excerpted by the editor, PBN-L)
We wish to announce that Conference 12 of the FAO Electronic Forum on Biotechnology
in Food and Agriculture begins on 17 January and runs for four weeks, finishing
on Sunday 13 February 2005. The title of the conference is "Public participation
in decision-making regarding GMOs in developing
countries: How to effectively involve rural people". The conference,
as usual, is open to everyone, is free and will be moderated.
The purpose of this message is to provide you with the Background Document
for the conference and to invite you to join.
The 12-page Background Document aims to provide information that
participants in the conference will find useful for the debate. After
the Introduction section, a brief overview of the current status regarding
GMOs in food and agriculture is provided (Section 2), followed
by discussion of the decision-making areas where the public could be involved
(Section 3). A brief overview of international agreements that are relevant
to the topic is then given (Section 4). Some of the specificities regarding
information access and participation for people in rural areas in developing
countries are then discussed (Section 5). The questions that should be addressed
in the conference are listed in Section 6 and, finally, references to articles
mentioned in the document and abbreviations are provided in Section 7.
The Background Document is also available on the web – at http://www.fao.org/biotech/C12doc.htm
If you wish to join, you should subscribe yourself.
I. TO SUBSCRIBE TO CONFERENCE 12:
To subscribe, please send an e-mail message to mailserv@mailserv.fao.org
leaving the subject blank and entering the one-line text message as follows:
subscribe biotech-room4
No other text should be added to the message (e.g. mail signature).
Note, you must first be a member of the Forum to
subscribe to the conference. If someone wishes to both join the Forum and
subscribe to the conference, they should send an e-mail to mailserv@mailserv.fao.org
leaving the subject blank and entering the following text on two separate
lines:
subscribe BIOTECH-L
subscribe biotech-room4
II. TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM CONFERENCE 12:
You may leave the conference whenever you wish. This can be done by sending
an e-mail message to mailserv@mailserv.fao.org
leaving the subject blank and entering the one-line text message as follows:
unsubscribe biotech-room4
No other text should be added to the message (e.g. mail signature).
III. TO SEND A MESSAGE TO CONFERENCE 12:
This conference is quite short, lasting just four weeks. We encourage you
therefore to participate actively right from the beginning of the conference.
You can send messages now. Messages will be posted from 17 January onwards
while the last day for receiving messages for posting will be 13 February.
All the e-mail messages posted during the conference will be placed on the
Forum website at http://www.fao.org/biotech/logs/c12logs.htm.
To contribute to the conference, send your message to
biotech-room4@mailserv.fao.org
Before doing this, remember to carefully read the Rules of the Forum as well
as the Guidelines for Participation in e-mail Conferences, which you got by
e-mail in the Welcome Text when you first joined the Forum (also available
on the Forum website http://www.fao.org/biotech/forum.asp).
Note: participants are assumed to be speaking on their own behalf and not
on behalf of their employers, unless they state otherwise.
IV. ARCHIVES:
All messages posted during the conference will be stored and can be retrieved.
The messages are stored in monthly files. To retrieve them you send an e-mail
message and the stored messages are sent to you by return as an e-mail message.
To get any messages posted in the conference during January 2005, send an
e-mail message to mailserv@mailserv.fao.org
leaving the subject blank and enter the one-line text message as follows:
send listlog/biotech-room4.jan2005
To get any messages posted during February 2005, send an e-mail message to
mailserv@mailserv.fao.org leaving
the subject blank and enter the one-line text message as follows:
send listlog/biotech-room4.feb2005
Note: lower case letters as shown here, and not upper case letters, must be
used. No other text should be added to the message (e.g., mail signature).
V. CONTACTING US:
This e-mail conference will be moderated, so that all messages will be screened
before they are posted to ensure that they follow the Guidelines for Participation
in e-mail Conferences and the Rules of the Forum (e.g. that they are not offensive),
are not too long (600 words should be the maximum length) and are directly
relevant to the topic of the conference. If you have questions or comments
about this e-mail conference you may contact the conference moderator at biotech-mod4@fao.org.
The conference will be moderated by the Forum Administrator, John Ruane.
John Ruane, PhD
FAO Biotechnology Forum Administrator
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========================
6. MEETINGS, COURSES AND WORKSHOPS
* 10-21 January 2005: Plant functional genomics and molecular genetics, Santiago, Chile.
This practical and theoretical course, organised at the University of Chile as part of the
International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology's training
programme, is divided in two parts. The first part (open to all interested
persons that register, deadline 6 January) is a series of lectures given by
invited speakers and the national faculty. The second part (limited to 14
students, that receive a fellowship from the organizer committee, deadline
30 November), is a practical course consisting of a series of experiments
that will be developed by the students.
For more information: E-mail aorellan@uchile.cl; Website: http://genoma.ciencias.uchile.cl/curso2005/
* 9-11 February 2005: Workshop. The way forward to strengthen national plant breeding and biotechnology
capacity. Organized by: FAO's Crop and Grassland
Service, Rome, Italy
Objectives: (1) To present and discuss the results of the survey carried out
to assess plant breeding and biotechnology capacities in selected countries;
(2) to identify priority crops and ecologies to focus activities to strengthen
national capacity to use plant genetic resources; (3) to help FAO design a
strategy to strengthen national capacity to sustainably
use plant genetic resources
Key points for discussion:
- Strategies to strengthen national plant breeding and biotechnology capacity
- Crop, country and/or regional strategy
- Balance between plant breeding and biotechnology
- How to achieve sustainability to use plant genetic resources
- Role of CG Centres
- Role of donor agencies
- Role of strong NARS
- Role of private sector
- Policies to enhance private sector investments
- Enabling policies for public and private actions
- Advice on future consultations
For more information: E-mail: elcio.guimaraes@fao.org
* 14-18 February 2005: 6th ISTA/FAO workshop on
electrophoretic methods and PCR-techniques for variety verification and GMO detection, Kingston, Jamaica
This hands-on training workshop is for seed testing analysts from the Caribbean
region. The aim is to train seed technicians in advanced methods for the verification
of species, cultivars and hybrids as well as for qualitative and quantitative
GMO detection.
For more information: E-mail: kakoli.ghosh@fao.org; Website: http://www.fao.org/ag/AGP/AGPS/new.htm
Organized by: Seeds and Plant Genetic Resources Service of FAO and the International
Seed Testing Association
* 5-7 March 2005: The Role of Biotechnology for the Characterisation and Conservation
of Crop, Forestry, Animal and Fishery Genetic Resources
International Workshop, Villa Gualino, Turin, Italy.
The workshop includes three sessions on the status of the world's agro-biodiversity;
the use of biotechnology for conservation of genetic resources; and genetic
characterisation of populations and its use in conservation decision-making.
There is also a poster session and a session on the final results from the
ECONOGENE project.
For more information:
Contact: Organising Secretariat
E-mail: mail@fobiotech.org
Website: http://www.fobiotech.org/FAO_2005.htm
Organized by: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO),
Fondazione per le Biotecnologie,
the ECONOGENE project and the Società
Italiana di Genetica Agraria.
Contributed by Elcio Guimaraes
FAO-AGPC
* (NEW) 7-8 March 2005. The 41st Illinois Corn Breeders School will be held March
7-8 at the Holiday Inn in Urbana, IL
This school is designed for commercial corn breeders. Details can
be found at: http://imbgl.cropsci.uiuc.edu
Contributed by John Dudley,
Department of Crop Sciences, University of IllinoisUC
* 29 March – 1 April 2005. Plant genetic resources of geographical and 'other'
islands. Conservation, evaluation and use for plant breeding (Meeting
of the EUCARPIA Section Genetic Resources), Castelsardo
(North Sardinia), Italy http://www.eucarpia.org/02meetings/index.html#genetres2005
Info: S. Bullitta
CNR-ISPAAM
Via Enrico de Nicola
07100 Sassari, Italy
Tel.: ++39 079 229332 Fax: ++39 079 229354
E-mail: bullitta@cspm.ss.cnr.it
Download: First
Announcement (MS Word)
* 18-21 April 2006: The 13th Australian Plant Breeding Conference
-- Breeding for Success: Diversity in Action, Christchurch Convention Center
in Christchurch, New Zealand.
For more details, visit http://www.apbc.org.nz,
or email Helen Shrewsbury, Conference Secretariat, at
* 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.
* 6-10 June 2005. 5th International Triticeae
Symposium held in Prague, Czech
Republic (www.vurv.cz/triticeae). Contacts: Vojtech Holubec and Frantisek Hnilicka triticeae@vurv.cz
* 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
* (NEW) June 14-17, 2005, Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia):
II International Symposium on Sweetpotato and Cassava - 2ISSC. Info: Dr. Tan
Swee Lian, MARDI, Rice
& Industrial Crops Research Centre, PO Box 12301, 50774 Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia. Phone: (60)389437516, Fax: (60)389425786, email: sltan@mardi.my web: http://www.mardi.my
* 16-19 June 2005: XI International Asparagus Symposium. Horst/Venlo
(Netherlands
Info: Ir. Pierre Lavrijsen, Asparagus bv, PO Box 6219, 5960 AE Horst, Netherlands.
Phone: (31)773979900, Fax: (31)773979909, email: plavrijsen@asparagus.nl or info@ias2005.com, web: www.ias2005.com
* August 2006: IX International Conference on Grape Genetics and Breeding,
Udine (Italy): Info: Prof. Enrico
Peterlunger, Università di Udine, Dip. di Produzione Vegetale e Tecnologie
Agrarie, Via delle Scienze 208, 33100 Udine, Italy.
Phone: (39)0432558601,
Fax: (39)0432558603, email: enrico.peterlunger@dpvta.uniud.it
* 13-19 August 2006: XXVII International Horticultural Congress, Seoul (Korea)
web: www.ihc2006.org
* 12-14 September 2005 Seeds and Breeds for the 21st Century, at
Iowa State University -- A conference engaging diverse stakeholders interested
in strengthening our public plant and animal breeding capacity.
The conference is announced by RAFI. It is
a follow up to a meeting held in 2003 in Washington DC on the same subject.
The proceedings of the 2003 meeting are on the web site at www.rafiusa.org.
The contact person is Laura Lauffer, 919 542 6067
Please share this information with other plant breeders
* 12-16 September 2005: III International Symposium on Cucurbits. Townsville,
North QLD (Australia):
Info: Dr. Gordon Rogers, Horticultural Research and Development, PO Box 552 Sutherland NSW 2232, Australia.
Phone: (61)295270826, Fax: (61)295443782, email: gordon@ahr.com.au
* 1-5 December 2006: Brazilian Cassava Conference, Brasilia, Brazil.
An International Conference on Cassava Plant Breeding, organized by Professors
Nagib Nassar and Rodomiro Ortiz. The conference will discuss cassava breeding
and food security in Sub-Saharan Africa, management of cassava reproduction
systems, cassava polyploidization and chimera production,
cassava genetic resources, and enriching cassava contents.
For more information, contact Prof. Nagib Nassar at nagnassa@rudah.com.br.
or Dr. Rodomiro Ortiz at
r.ortiz@cgiar.org.
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=======================
7. 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. 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.
(Return to Contents)