PLANT BREEDING NEWS
EDITION
173
30 November 2006
An Electronic Newsletter of Applied Plant
Breeding
Sponsored by FAO and Cornell University
Clair H. Hershey,
Editor
chh23@cornell.edu
Archived issues available at: FAO Plant Breeding
Newsletter.
CONTENTS
1. NEWS, ANNOUNCEMENTS AND RESEARCH NOTES
1.01 Sustainable food for the world:
rethinking policy, technology and the environment
1.02 FAO says “world hunger
increasing"
1.03 ASEAN endorses major initiatives to boost regional rice production
1.04 American Association for the
Advancement of Science honors University of Arkansas rice breeder Karen Kuenzel
Moldenhauer
1.05 Innovative partnership under University of Saskatchewan leadership creates oat
variety breakthrough
1.06 ICRISAT and partners launch initiative on open access
information on agricultural research
1.07 Progress over 20 years of sunflower
breeding in central Argentina
1.08 Enabling Australian wheat breeding programs to develop varieties suited to
specific agro-ecological zones
1.09 Bayer’s hybrid rice launched in
Vietnam
1.10 Dupont, CIMMYT collaborate on African maize
1.11 PhilRice cited as potential APEC & ASEAN
training center for genetic resources, agri biotech, and
intellectual property rights
1.12 Malaysia's Protection of New Plant Varieties Act 2004 to be
enforced in 2007
1.13 The Turkish seed legislation is now in the hand of an
autonomous body
1.14 Iowa State
University and USDA/ARS researchers study soybean's family
tree
1.15 Genebanks in the CGIAR: bolstering world food security
1.16 Remarkable variation in maize genome structure
inferred from haplotype diversity at the bz locus
1.17 Bees and birds
increase global production of food crops
1.18 Got cotton? Texas researchers'
discovery could yield protein to feed millions
1.19 Potatoes developed for new
markets
1.20 Making wheat flour more nutritious
1.21 Perennial wheat research looks at
options for producers
1.22 Pioneer developing drought-tolerant corn
1.23 Canola acquires
weevil resistance trait from yellow mustard
1.24 Availability of the initial 4X genome sequence for sorghum inbred line Tx623.
1.25 Soybean genetic marker technology
speeds yield enhancement
1.26 First genetic map of taro published
1.27 Engineering broad root-knot resistance in transgenic
plants by RNAi silencing of a conserved and essential root-knot
nematode parasitism gene
1.28 Plant studies reveal how, where seeds store iron - Findings
address worldwide iron deficiency and malnutrition
1.29 New gene tool to diagnose plant
disease
1.30 New
research on plant steroids improves plant development
1.31 Improved resistance to controlled deterioration in
transgenic seeds
1.32 Generation Challenge Program (GCP)
Latest News Alerts
2. PUBLICATIONS
2.01 IFPRI discussion
paper: Applied economics literature about the impact of genetically engineered
crop varieties in developing economies
2.02 Workshop Draft Report – Strategies
to strengthen sustainable use of plant genetic resources in Ghana
2.03 The promises and challenges of
biofuels for the poor in developing countries
2.04 Plant Mutation
Reports ---call for papers
3. WEB
RESOURCES
3.01 Newsletter on organic seed and plant breeding
4 REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION
4.01 Looking for a US commercial lab to
do DNA fingerprinting
5 GRADUATE PROGRAMS AND
POSITION ANNOUNCEMENTS
5.01 Cornell Plant Breeding invites applications for admission to our Ph.D. program
5.02 Chaudhary Charan Singh University (India) Seeks Candidates for PhD and Post-doctoral Work
5.03 Postdoctoral Research Associate
Position Announcement (1): Rice research
5.04 Postdoctoral Research Associate Position Announcement (2): Rice research
5.05 Professor/Associate
Professor/Senior Lecturer of Applied Biotechnology: African Centre for Crop Improvement
6 MEETINGS, COURSES AND WORKSHOPS
7 EDITOR'S
NOTES
=========================
1. NEWS,
ANNOUNCEMENTS AND RESEARCH NOTES
1.01 Sustainable food for the world: rethinking policy, technology
and the environment
Urbana, Illinois
by Bob
Sampson
Genetically modified crops and new information technologies will
be central to meeting the food demands of a rapidly growing world population
sustainably, said a University of Illinois
agricultural economist in a recent article in the Harvard International
Review.
"Humanity has made big strides in feeding a rapidly growing
population. However, it is unacceptable to have 800 million hungry people in the
world," said Gerald Nelson, a professor in the Department of Agricultural and
Consumer Economics.
The complete article, "Sustainable Food for the
World: Rethinking Policy, Technology and the Environment," is in the Harvard
International Review online edition and can be read at (http://hir.harvard.edu/).
Improvements in agricultural technology are a critical part of a
positive future for world food, Nelson wrote.
"GM crops will be part of
the technology improvements, but other kinds of technological change are needed
as well," he said. "Applications of information technology to agriculture have
the promise of encouraging more complex and environmentally friendly production
practices."
GM crops, particularly, corn, soybeans, and cotton, continue
to gain acceptance in the market because they increase farm income, Nelson
noted.
"The way they are grown is usually more environmentally friendly
than the practices they replace," he said. "Second and third generation GM crops
will increase the set of improved characteristics, adding drought tolerance, for
example.
"There will also be those with moral or ethical objections to
genetic modification, but over time, their numbers will likely decline as
benefits from individual GM crops become more widespread and well known. Experts
have found no food-health problems with commercial GM crops currently in use and
only minor environmental issues, although the potential for pest resistance is
worrying."
Nelson added that the controversies over GM crops have had a
significant benefit.
"Our regulatory systems have been challenged to
improve and become more transparent," he said.
A combination of global
positioning systems, precision agriculture, automated farm implements and vastly
improved data collection and analysis may make it possible in the next 50 years
for a farmer to grow 20 or 30 different crops--instead of just two or
three--that mature at different times and require different applications and
seasons.
"This sounds like science fiction, but the technology pieces are
in place, and it is only a matter of implementation, a process that could take
anywhere from 10 to 30 years, depending on the incentives provided by the
marketplace and the policy environment," he said.
More environmentally
friendly pesticides and management practices have reduced the food-safety
benefits enjoyed by organic products in past decades.
"An organic diet
today doesn't provide the same food-safety benefits," he said.
Plus, he
noted the USDA's decision to create an official definition of organic food and a
federally sanctioned label has had "unexpected and far-reaching consequences for
the organic industry."
The result, he said, has been the "Wal-martization
of organic food, as that giant corporation and others have recognized a valuable
market opportunity."
Nelson emphasized that technology will be vital to
meeting future world food demands.
"The genetics and production practice
improvements that involve more knowledge-intensive inputs, including organic
practices, will need to be location-specific," he said. "Citizens must demand
that their governments allow the private sector to operate profitably while
providing a regulatory environment that encourages sustainability, safety, and
equality."
Source: SeedQuest.com
17 November 2006
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1.02 FAO says “world hunger
increasing"
There are more hungry people in the developing world
today than in 1996. "Far from decreasing, the number of hungry people in the
world is currently increasing - at the rate of four million a year," said Food
and Agriculture Director-General Jacques Diouf during the launch of the annual
FAO report "The State of Food Insecurity in the World".
Diouf reminded
the audience in Rome that despite a pledge made by leaders of 185 countries
during the 1996 World Food Summit in Rome to reduce the number of undernourished
people by half, the situation remains "unacceptable and intolerable".
The
FAO report recommended ways to solve the problem of world hunger. These include
focusing programs and investments on "hotspots" of poverty and undernourishment;
enhancing the productivity of smallholder agriculture; creating the right
conditions for private investment, including transparency and good governance;
making world trade work for the poor, with safety nets put in place for
vulnerable groups; and a rapid increase in the level of Official Development
Assistance (ODA) to 0.7 percent of GDP.
See FAO's release at http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2006/1000433/index.html
From
CropBiotech Update 3 November 2006:
Contributed by Margaret E. Smith
Dept.
of Plant Breeding & Genetics
Cornell University
mes25@cornell.edu
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1.03 ASEAN endorses major initiatives to
boost regional rice production
Rice production in Southeast Asia
has received a major boost with the endorsement of 3 new strategies by
ASEAN
Singapore -- Rice production in Southeast Asia – arguably the
region’s most important industry – has received a major boost with the
endorsement of three new strategies by the Ministers of Agriculture and Forestry
of the ten-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN).
Implemented and coordinated by the International Rice Research
Institute (IRRI), the new measures are aimed at three major challenges facing
rice production in ASEAN:
1. The environment. ASEAN has endorsed the
development of a series of environmental indicators for rice production in the
region focused on production, biodiversity, pollution, land degradation, and
water.
2. Getting the latest knowledge and information to rice farmers.
ASEAN has endorsed the further development of the Rice Knowledge Bank (RKB) for
rice farmers (www.knowledgebank.irri.org/), Asia’s first digital extension service in
agriculture. The RKB is a repository of rice information contributing to the
development of localized and integrated Web sites with credible, reliable, and
demand-driven information for rice farmers.
3. Developing the next
generation of rice farmers and scientists. Few young people in Asia today are
interested in rice production, despite its obvious importance to the region, so
ASEAN has endorsed the development of rice camps for young Asians to encourage
them to consider a career in rice.
The decision to endorse the three new
activities was made at the 28th meeting of the ASEAN Ministers of Agriculture
and Forestry (AMAF) in Singapore on 16 November 2006. In a joint press statement
issued at the end of the annual meeting, the AMAF endorsed:
“The further
development of a series of environmental indicators for ASEAN rice production as
presented as a joint activity with the International Rice Research Institute
(IRRI). The ministers also endorsed the continued development of a digital Rice
Knowledge Bank for ASEAN rice farmers, and the establishment of rice camps at
IRRI to educate the young people of ASEAN on the importance of rice farming and
rice research.”
Full details of the joint press statement of the 28th
AMAF meeting can be viewed at www.aseansec.org/18812.htm . AMAF
includes two of the world’s biggest rice exporters, Thailand and Vietnam, which
in 2003-05 produced 160.7 million tons of rice out of a world total of 601.4
million tons.
“To have ASEAN member countries endorse these very
important activities at the ministerial level is obviously a crucial step
forward, and we are very grateful for such high-level political support,” Dr.
Robert S. Zeigler, IRRI’s director general, said. “With major Asian rice
producers such as Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Myanmar now
officially part of these activities, we hope to reach out to other countries in
Asia – especially China and India – for their support also.”
Dr. Zeigler
said having all the ASEAN nations supporting the Rice Knowledge Bank makes it
one of the most important tools for Asian agriculture now available on the
Internet. “ASEAN is also now a world leader in the development of environmental
indicators for agriculture, as this level of ministerial support has not been
achieved anywhere else.”
Contact: Duncan Macintosh
d.macintosh@cgiar.org
International Rice Research Institute
Source: EurekAlert.org
28 November 2006
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1.04 American Association for the Advancement of Science
honors University of Arkansas rice breeder Karen Kuenzel
Moldenhauer
Fayetteville, Arkansas
The American Association for
the Advancement of Science announced Thursday that it has awarded the
distinction of AAAS Fellow to University of
Arkansas (U of A) rice breeder Karen Kuenzel
Moldenhauer.
Moldenhauer, who holds the university's Rice Industry Chair
for Variety Development, is based at the Rice Research and Extension Center
(RREC) near Stuttgart, which is a unit of the U of A System's Division of
Agriculture.
The rice breeding program has developed 19 improved
varieties since 1982, when Moldenhauer, also a professor in the Department of
Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences at UA, Fayetteville, joined the faculty
as leader of the program.
Moldenhauer was selected as a fellow in the
AAAS section on agriculture, food and renewable resources. Her role in the team
effort to improve the genetic potential of rice varieties for yield, quality,
diseases resistance and other traits was cited as a major factor in the
sustainability of rice production in Arkansas and other states. Arkansas farmers
produce about half of the rice grown in the United States.
Moldenhauer
has a Ph.D. degree in plant breeding from Iowa State University.
Source:
SeedQuest.com
27 November 2006
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1.05
Innovative partnership under University of Saskatchewan
leadership creates oat variety breakthrough
Saskatoon,
Saskatchewan
Livestock producers will soon have access to a new variety of
oat with a nutritional profile similar to barley, thanks to an innovative
partnership among producers, the provincial government, and the University of
Saskatchewan.
"This oat variety is the first designed to combine a more
digestible hull with a higher fat content," said plant sciences professor Brian
Rossnagel, an oat and barley breeder at the University of Saskatchewan (U of S) Crop Development
Centre (CDC).
"This is a significant development for the cattle feed
and oat industries."
While oat is generally cheaper to grow and has
higher yield potential, it packs less nutritional punch than barley because it
has more hard-to-digest hull relative to kernel (or groat). The new variety,
CDC SO-I, boasts a higher-fat groat and a more digestible hull. Its
registration was recently approved by the Canadian Food Inspection
Agency.
Now that it has been registered, CDC SO-I will go to FarmPure Seeds Inc. of Regina to produce
Pedigreed seed. Commercial planting of the new variety should begin by 2009.
"This is a superb example of technology transfer, where the university,
farmers, and the government have worked together to bring a really innovative
variety to market," said Trenton Baisley, president of Super Oats Canada Ltd.
and CEO of FarmPure Seeds.
The name of the new variety, CDC SO-I, (CDC
Super Oats, variety number one) is derived from its unique genesis. The project
began in 1999 as an idea at the CDC to develop better feed oat by "fast
tracking" the research cycle. Rather than developing field-ready varieties for
animal testing, CDC plant breeders produced prototype varieties with the desired
nutritional traits.
These prototype varieties would normally need more
work to bring to commercialization. Instead, collaborators at the U of S
department of animal and poultry science and the Prairie Feed Resource Centre
(now the Feeds Innovation Institute (FII)) conducted feed tests on livestock
with the prototypes to see if the plant breeders were on the right
track.
"Doing the feed testing and variety development work
simultaneously allowed the research team to determine if the prototype had
promise early in the process," said Scott Wright, FII executive director at the
U of S department of animal and poultry science. "This helped bring CDC SO-I to
market many years earlier than the traditional route."
Funding totaling
$210,000 over six years was provided through Super Oats Canada, a
producer-researcher consortium created in 1999. Later, the Saskatchewan
government, through its Agriculture Development Fund, was inspired to join the
CDC SO-I project with matching funds totaling $207,000.
"Saskatchewan
Agriculture and Food and the Crop Development Centre have a long history of
working together," Agriculture and Food Minister Mark Wartman said. "The success
of this project highlights the benefits of drawing on additional resources and
direction from industry and other university departments."
Super Oats
Canada has committed to continued funding to the CDC for improved oat varieties
of this type both for the domestic market and to strengthen the position of
Canada's farmers in the international arena.
"We export 90 per cent of
the feeds produced in Saskatchewan," Wright said. "There are huge opportunities
to create more value adding, to support and build the local feed industry, and
position Saskatchewan as a world leader."
Source: SeedQuest.com
8
November 2006
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1.06 ICRISAT and partners launch initiative on open access
information on agricultural research
Patancheru, Andhra Pradesh,
India
The International Crops Research
Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), in collaboration with the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the
United Nations, has launched an initiative to promote open access information
sources in agricultural sciences and technology in India.
The initiative
was launched at the First AGRIS workshop on open access in agricultural sciences
and technology: Indian initiatives organized at ICRISAT headquarters at
Patancheru on 6 and 7 November.
The workshop brought together library
and documentation specialists from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research
(ICAR) institutes, state agricultural research universities. There were also
representatives from specialized institutions such as the National Institute of
Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE), the Indian Institute of Science
(IISc), the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), the Indian Statistical
Institute (ISI) at Bangalore, and the National Informatics Center (NIC).
Launching the first phase, the participants of the workshop decided to
suggest the establishment of the two pilot open access information repositories
in the agricultural domain within the first year. One would be in Delhi with
support from ICAR, and the other in Hyderabad with support from ICRISAT and
MANAGE.
According to Dr Dyno Keatinge, Deputy Director General of
ICRISAT, speaking on behalf of Director General William Dar, the new initiative
will create a new platform for information sharing on agricultural research in
India.
Dr P M Bhargava, Vice Chair of Indian National Knowledge
Commission, participated in the workshop, and said that the technology and
application can take agricultural information sharing into a new paradigm.
Though open access documentation systems have been popular in many other
areas of science communication in India, it is not being used in agricultural
research documentation. The initiative has been launched to bridge this gap. It
will also implement lessons learnt from existing global open access systems such
as AGRIS, the international information system for the agricultural sciences and
technology, initiated by FAO.
The AGRIS Secretariat in Rome has taken up
several new initiatives in the last few years in face of the exponential growth
in available information on agricultural research. Development of new metadata
(information that describes how, when and by whom data has been collected and
formatted) standards to share information coupled with open source software now
in use can ensure open access for users worldwide.
The new open access
agriculture information will enable agricultural scientists to obtain
information through the Internet that are more searchable, more value added
information such as who is the writer, citation and source
credibility.
Source: SeedQuest.com
8 November 2006
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1.07 Progress over 20 years of sunflower
breeding in central Argentina
A study that analyzed 20 years of
research data showed that the oil yield of commercial sunflowers in central
Argentina has been continuous. From 1983 to 2005, there was a genetic gain of
11.9 kg per hectare per year, for oil yield. This increase was attributed to
plant breeding activities that produced varieties with biotic stress resistance
and yielding ability in favorable environments. Sunflower production in
Argentina started in the 1930s with open-pollinated varieties, then with hybrids
in the early 1970s.
The study, conducted by Abelardo de la Vega and
colleagues, noted a slowdown in the progress of yield improvement in the last
ten years, from 1995–2005. However, they have attributed this to breeding
activities which focused on grain-oil concentration during that period. The
researchers have determined that sunflower germplasm pools still have
substantial genetic variability that can be exploited to sustain yield
improvement until 2010.
Abstract of the report with links to the full
article for subscribers: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2006.05.012.
Field
Crops Research
Volume
100, Issue 1 , 4 January 2007, Pages 61-72
Abelardo J. de la Vega
(a), Ian H. DeLacy (b), and Scott C. Chapman (c)
(a) Advanta Semillas
S.A.I.C., Ruta Nac. 33 Km 636, C.C. 559, 2600 Venado Tuerto, Argentina
(b)
School of Land and Food Sciences and A.C.P.F.G., The University of Queensland,
Brisbane, Qld 4072, Australia
(c) CSIRO Plant Industry, Queensland Bioscience
Precinct, 306 Carmody Rd., St. Lucia, Qld 4067, Australia
Source: CropBiotech Update via
SeedQuest.com
24 November 2006
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Contents)
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1.08
Enabling Australian wheat breeding programs to develop varieties suited to
specific agro-ecological
zones
Australia
Segmenting Australia’s wheatbelt into
classification regions enables breeding programs to develop varieties suited to
specific agro-ecological zones.
Addressing the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) supported growers’ day at the Australian Cereal Chemistry Conference,
Richard Williams of Curtin University said Australia’s dynamic wheat breeding
industry was still changing and he proposed further changes to its current
classification zones.
Completing his PhD, he is testing whether
Australia’s wheatbelt could be divided into zones that reduced environmental
variance more than the existing seven classification zones.
His research
has been funded by Australian Wheat Board (International) Ltd and all Australian
wheat breeding programs contributed data.
Mr Williams said variety
breeding had changed due to target regions expanding, a greater diversity of
germplasm being used and rationalisation of testing regimes, which could
potentially increase quality variability.
He compared the group of
current classification zones to divisions of the wheatbelt based on sowing
recommendations, agro ecological data, annual rainfall, seasonal climatic
profiles, grain filling maximum temperatures and latitude.
A conclusion
is that Australia’s wheat variety classification system could benefit from
focusing its boundaries on such environmental divisions of the wheatbelt.
He believes that such divisions could offer improved quality
consistency, an important feature of being competitive in the international
marketplace.
In addition, the best ranked divisions comprised less than
seven zones, creating potential efficiencies in the new variety classification
process.
Mr Williams believes this would save costs for plant breeding
companies and increase benefits for growers.
The Crop Doctor is
GRDC Managing Director, Peter Reading
Source: Source: GRDC's The Crop Doctor via SeedQuest.com
22
November 2006
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1.09 Bayer’s hybrid rice launched in Vietnam
RBayer
CropScience launched its hybrid rice Arize B-TE1 in Can Tho, located in the
Mekong Delta region. The event made Bayer the first company to introduce hybrid
rice seeds in Vietnam. The hybrid rice was touted to have higher yield than the
best inbred under similar conditions. In addition, it also claims to have
superior grain, cooking, and taste qualities.
The introduction of Arize
in Vietnam is a move by Bayer to expand its rice business. Bayer is already
marketing hybrid rice in India and the Philippines, but it aims to expand its
market in 10 countries in 10 years.
For the complete press release:
http://www.bayercropscience.com/bayer/cropscience/cscms.nsf/id/EN_NR20060928?open&ccm=400.
Source: CropBiotech Update 20 October 2006:
Contributed by Margaret
E. Smith
Dept. of Plant Breeding & Genetics
Cornell University
mes25@cornell.edu
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1.10 Dupont, CIMMYT collaborate on
African maize
A public-private partnership between Dupont and the
Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maiz y Trigo (CIMMYT) has been forged to
provide research, product development and technical support collaboration on
maize for Africa. Initial projects will be on maize nitrogen utilization to
increase and stabilize maize yields while future research will focus on drought
tolerance, Striga tolerance and protein enhancement.
"Production
agriculture improvements are the first steps to solving economic and health
problems in Africa," said Masa Iwanaga, CIMMYT director general. "With the right
products for the diverse African growing environments, there is enormous
potential to turn the existing situation around."
For more of the
collaborative project, visit http://pioneer.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=press_releases&item=193
Contributed
by Margaret E. Smith
Dept. of Plant Breeding & Genetics
Cornell
University
mes25@cornell.edu
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1.11 PhilRice cited as potential APEC & ASEAN
training center for genetic resources, agri biotech, and intellectual property
rights
The Philippines
PhilRice, The Philippine Rice Research Institute,
has the capability to become the APEC and ASEAN training center for genetic
resources, agricultural biotechnology and intellectual property rights (IPR), a
representative from the United States Agency for International Development
(USAID) said following a visit to the Institute together with other delegates of
the 10th Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Agricultural Technical Working
Group (ATWG) Research, Development and Extension on Agricultural Biotechnology
(RDEAB).
The delegates came to the Philippines earlier this month to
attend a weeklong workshop on "Global Status and Regulations of Agricultural
Biotechnologies and Opportunities for Technical Cooperation", which was held in
Manila.
The workshop tackled emerging issues on agricultural biotechnology in
the Asia Pacific region whereby representatives of some member-economies
presented agricultural developments and situations in their
countries.
The second part of the workshop was a two-day capability
building session exclusively handled by PhilRice. The first day was a visit of
the delegates to PhilRice followed by workshop hands-on and discussion on
genetic resources, agricultural biotechnology, intellectual property rights, and
prior art on the second day.
Atty. Ronilo A. Beronio, Deputy Executive
Director of PhilRice and Director of its Intellectual Property Management Office
(IPMO), said the capability building session tackled issues on genetics
resources, agricultural biotechnology, and IPR and how these influence the
conduct of biotechnology product commercialization and research and development
activities.
The visit provided the delegates an opportunity to see how
PhilRice is actually handling these issues. According to Beronio, "PhilRice is
being recognized for its ability to deal with these issues at the public
institution level".
During the visit, PhilRice researchers introduced the
Institute's research activities. Dr. Gabriel Romero, a rice geneticist, shared
how PhilRice maintains its genetic resources. He said the collection is
carefully maintained to provide rice genetic needs in the future. The genebank
can store seeds up to 100 years.
PhilRice Plant Breeding and
Biotechnology Division chief Dr. Antonio Alfonso presented PhilRice's
initiatives in rice biotechnology. He told the delegates that PhilRice's strong
capability in rice biotechnology was acquired through generous support from the
government and several international donors.
PhilRice's active
participation in the Golden Rice Network and Pro-Vitamin Rice Consortium, he
said, illustrates the complexity of IP-related concerns surrounding a given
technology and highlights the potential public benefits from a biotechnological
breakthrough.
While radical developments in agricultural biotechnology
take place, the country also needs to provide adequate and effective protection
and management of its IP. Ms. Jane Payumo, PhilRice's Intellectual Property
Management Office shared PhilRice's experiences in building its capacity on IPR
management and other related developments, its IP rights portfolio and its
management thrusts.
Mr. Jerry Serapion, Senior Science Research
Specialist taught the delegates how to use the Internet to access patent
documents and technology information from around the world. The technique allows
researchers in effectively dealing with freedom to operate issues attached to
borrowed technology.
The APEC-AWTG-RDEAB Workshop was participated in by
delegates from Chile, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, People's
Republic of China, Peru, Thailand, The Russian Federation and
Vietnam.
The workshop aimed to provide a forum that would facilitate the
exchange of information and knowledge among countries, formation of concerted
efforts and forging commitments in building capacities and resource sharing of
APEC economies on emerging research, extension and development issues and
technologies in agricultural biotechnology.
Source: SeedQuest.com
28
November 2006
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1.12 Malaysia's Protection of New Plant Varieties Act 2004 to be
enforced in 2007
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Malaysia sees the
introduction of new varieties of plants as an important component in commercial
agriculture.
This is not only in terms of maintaining productivity and
competitiveness but also in meeting the ever changing demand of fickle-minded
consumers, said Agriculture and Agro-based
Industry Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
“Breeding of new
varieties of plants requires substantial investment in terms of time, skills,
labour, material resources and capital,” he said.
“To encourage such
investment, it is pertinent to provide exclusive rights to plant breeders to
enable them to recover their investment and to reap the benefits of their
innovative skill and creativity.
“This approach is in consonance with
the National Agriculture Policy (1998-2010), as good quality planting materials
are recognised as pre-requisites for the sustenance of productivity and
competitiveness of the agriculture sector.”
Muhyiddin said this in a
speech read out by his deputy Datuk Mah Siew Keong for the opening of the 7th
Asian Regional Technical Meeting for Plant Variety Protection here yesterday.
The minister said that Malaysia, being a signatory to the Trade Related
Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement, is obliged to provide
intellectual property rights protection for new varieties of plants – either by
a patent or by an effective sui generis (class of its own), or a combination of
both.
Muhyiddin said Malaysia had fulfilled its international obligation
by enacting the Protection of New Plant Varieties Act 2004.
The Act will
be enforced from next year.
He said the rights of breeders of new plant
varieties would be protected, and that the Act would play an important role in
the transformation of Malaysian agriculture.
“It is envisaged that plant
breeders in the country will be encouraged to produce more superior varieties,
while local farming communities can also have greater access to more superior
varieties from abroad,” he added.
“The Act will also provide recognition
to, and protection of contribution made by, farmers, local communities and
indigenous people towards the creation of new plant varieties.
“It will
encourage investment in the development of the breeding of new plant varieties
in both the public and private sectors.”
He said the main provisions of
the Act were based largely on the International Union for the Protection of New
Plant Varieties model, with reference to the Convention of Biological Diversity
and existing intellectual property rights systems in Japan, Australia, India and
Thailand.
Source: The Star via
SeedQuest.com
14 November 2006
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1.13 The Turkish seed legislation is now
in the hand of an autonomous body
Turkey has a specific ecological
advantage in seed production. For example, maize seed can be dried to below 14%
moisture content in the field, which facilitates healthy and cheaper seed
production. All major EU maize seed companies produce seeds in Turkey and export
to their European partners. Similar to this fact, the Turkish seed sector has a
lot of advantage in European and CWANA (Central and Western Asia - North Africa)
seed market. Such a blooming future of seed business was in need of more
flexible legislation. Actually Turkish government did put a lot off services
into the privatization list and seed issues were one of them. Seed law with its
40 years of services has been changed dramatically. Now, four general
directorates are leaving their responsibilities to an autonomous body: the
TURKISH SEED ASSOTIATION. The new Turkish seed law (passed 31 October 2006)
might be a promising example for seed legislation in transition countries,
because the union is composed completely by non governmental SUB association
like seed producers, seed multiplier, seedling companies, plant breeders,
nurseries etc. Its application may take more or less one year.
Contributed by Nazimi Acikgoz
agbiyotek@mail.ege.edu.tr (a monthly
Turkish agro biotechnology newsletter)
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1.14
Iowa State University and USDA/ARS researchers study
soybean's family tree
Ames, Iowa
A group of U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural
Research Service researchers in Iowa State
University's agronomy department are sequencing the soybean genome to
discover the similarities and differences with its relatives in the legume
family.
Working in collaboration with the Department of Energy's Joint
Genome Institute, Randy Shoemaker, Steven Cannon and their colleagues hope
comparisons of the DNA in related plants can help researchers understand how
agronomic traits evolved and, in turn, aid plant breeders in creating improved
crop varieties.
"This information will be especially useful in helping
plant breeders target oil and protein quality, disease resistance and other
valuable traits," Cannon said. "This information can speed up the entire
breeding process. For example, breeders could evaluate seedlings rather than
waiting for the trait to be visible in mature plants."
Studies of the all
the DNA in a plant, known as the genome, are underway in several species,
including another ISU project focusing on the corn genome.
This year the
Joint Genome Institute announced soybean genome sequencing. As part of this
effort, Cannon and the USDA-ARS research group at Iowa State will work with
others at many institutions to assemble and make sense of this
sequence.
Including soybean, there are three species in the legume family
with genome sequencing projects. Research programs to sequence the legumes
Medicago truncatula (closely related to alfalfa) and Lotus japonicus have been
underway for some time at other institutions.
Cannon and colleagues
working on these two sequencing projects recently published a paper comparing
the genomes in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. One
of the main conclusions, according to Cannon, is that the species have much in
common.
"Although these species have been separated for about 40 million
years, very long stretches of the chromosomes directly correspond with one
another," Cannon said. "This will help researchers transfer knowledge about
important traits between these and other legume species."
Of special
interest to the team is uncovering how soybeans express traits that are
beneficial to human health and how the plants fix nitrogen, which is used for
producing protein and other bio-molecules.
"This information will be very
helpful in better understanding biochemical pathways that produce
health-promoting compounds such as isoflavonoids and other beneficial
compounds," Cannon said.
The genome sequence also will help determine
what genes are helpful in creating resistance to common diseases such as
Phytophthora (stem rot) and Asian soybean rust.
Source:
SeedQuest.com
13 November 2006
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1.15
Genebanks in the CGIAR: bolstering world food
security
When the CGIAR celebrated
World Food Day last month, it drew attention to the vital role of genebanks,
announcing World Bank approval of a US$10 million grant in support of this work.
More than 600,000 plant samples reside in the 11 genebanks operated by
CGIAR-supported Centers. “Our genebanks represent the most important
international effort to conserve genetic resources of staple crops, forages and
agroforestry species,” said CGIAR Director Francisco Reifschneider.
“The
plant samples are not the Centers’ property,” added Emile Frison, Director
General of the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI), “but are
global public goods, held in trust for humanity.”
“Investing in
agriculture for food security” was the theme of World Food Day, which the Food
and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations marks each year on
October 16, the anniversary of its founding. “Of the many investments needed,
none is more fundamental than support for genebanks, which safeguard the crop
diversity on which food security depends,” noted Katherine Sierra, Vice
President of the World Bank’s Sustainable Development Network and CGIAR Chair.
Safeguarding the Genetic Base of Food Production
The new grant
strengthens and complements other efforts under way since the 1990s to better
safeguard the genetic base of world food production. Two major reviews revealed
a need for additional investment to fully guarantee long- term preservation of
the collections held in trust by the CGIAR Centers. The CGIAR responded with
measures designed to ensure that the genebanks meet international standards for
conservation and to make the collections more widely available to
users.
In 1994, the CGIAR System-wide Genetic Resources Programme (SGRP)
was set up to coordinate activities across Centers. The SGRP then established
the System-wide Information Network for Genetic Resources to improve access to
information about the in-trust plant collections. More recently, the Global Crop
Diversity Trust was created to build a solid financial foundation for ensuring
the conservation and availability of crop diversity for food security worldwide.
In 2003, the World Bank began supporting a two-part initiative to
improve the conservation and management of the collections held by the CGIAR as
global public goods. During the first phase (mid-2003 to 2006), with a grant of
US$13.6 million, the Centers processed, regenerated, characterized and tested
more than 275,000 plant samples.
In a second 3-year phase to begin in
2007, the Centers will use the new grant of $10.46 million to further improve
their stewardship of the collections, increase collaboration and contribute
importantly to the development of a global system for conservation and use of
crop genetic resources.
A Global System for Conserving and Using Crop
Diversity
This work will take place within the framework of the
International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, which
came into force in 2004 and has since been ratified by more than 100 countries.
The Treaty creates a multilateral system that offers signatory countries access
to selected genetic resources from all other signatories.
On World Food
Day, the Centers signed agreements in Rome with FAO, which will bring the
in-trust collections into the new multilateral system. “This significant step,”
said Jane Toll, SGRP Coordinator and Director of IPGRI’s Global Partnerships
Programme “puts the CGIAR genebanks at the heart of an emerging global system
for the conservation and use of plant genetic resources.”
Each year the
Centers distribute as many as 50,000 samples, mainly to national programs in
developing countries. Plant breeders and farmers employ these resources in crop
improvement, putting to use genes for traits such as better nutritional quality,
specific consumer preferences and tolerance to drought and other harsh
conditions. “This work is vital for enabling agriculture to remain esilient in
the face of changing global conditions in the climate, environment and economy,” commented Frison.
To cite a recent example, CGIAR wheat researchers and
colleagues in Ethiopia and Kenya identified resistance to a new race of a major
disease, black stem rust, among samples of traditional wheat varieties. They are
now incorporating the resistant lines into wheat breeding programs in an effort
to ward off a global rust epidemic.
The genebanks have also proved
vital, on dozens of occasions, for helping rural people recover from more sudden
shocks to food systems, caused by natural disasters or conflict. For example, in
dealing with the aftermath of genocide in Rwanda, Hurricane Mitch in Honduras
and Nicaragua, and the consequences of war in Afghanistan and Iraq, the
genebanks were instrumental in replenishing stocks of local and improved crop
varieties.
Source: SeedQuest.com
November 2006
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1.16 Remarkable variation in maize genome structure
inferred from haplotype diversity at the bz
locus
Qinghua Wang and Hugo K. Dooner
The Waksman Institute,
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ 08855; and
Department of Plant Biology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New
Brunswick, NJ 08901
ABSTRACT
Maize is probably the most diverse
of all crop species. Unexpectedly large differences among haplotypes were first
revealed in a comparison of the bz genomic regions of two different inbred
lines, McC and B73. Retrotransposon clusters, which comprise most of the
repetitive DNA in maize, varied markedly in makeup, and location relative to the
genes in the region and genic sequences, later shown to be carried by two
helitron transposons, also differed between the inbreds. Thus, the allelic bz
regions of these Corn Belt inbreds shared only a minority of the total sequence.
To investigate further the variation caused by retrotransposons, helitrons, and
other insertions, we have analyzed the organization of the bz genomic region in
five additional cultivars selected because of their geographic and genetic
diversity: the inbreds A188, CML258, and I137TN, and the land races Coroico and
NalTel. This vertical comparison has revealed the existence of several new
helitrons, new retrotransposons, members of every superfamily of DNA
transposons, numerous miniature elements, and novel insertions flanked at either
end by TA repeats, which we call TAFTs (TA-flanked transposons). The extent of
variation in the region is remarkable. In pairwise comparisons of eight bz
haplotypes, the percentage of shared sequences ranges from 25% to 84%. Chimeric
haplotypes were identified that combine retrotransposon clusters found in
different haplotypes. We propose that recombination in the common gene space
greatly amplifies the variability produced by the retrotransposition explosion
in the maize ancestry, creating the heterogeneity in genome organization found
in modern maize.
Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Published online
before print November 13, 2006
Source: Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA,
10.1073/pnas.0603080103, via SeedQuest.com
http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/0603080103v1?etoc
3
November 2006
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1.17 Bees and birds increase global production of food
crops
The first global study to estimate crop production that is
dependent on animal pollination reveals that pollinators such as bees, birds and
bats affect 35 percent of the world's crop production. This increased the
outputs of 87 of the leading food crops worldwide, says an international
research team led by Alexandra-Maria Klein from the University of Goettingen in
Germany and Claire Kremen of the University of California Berkeley which
reviewed scientific studies from 200 countries.
Results of the review
showed that out of the 115 crops studied, 87 depend to some degree upon animal
pollination. This accounts for one-third of crop production globally. Of those
crops, 13 are entirely reliant upon animal pollinators, 30 are greatly dependent
and 27 are moderately dependent. Staple crops such as wheat, corn and rice were
crops that did not rely upon animal pollination.
"The stability of crop
yields not only depends on pollination, but also on further ecosystem services,"
Klein said. "Therefore, we need landscapes carefully managed for a diversity of
functionally important groups of organisms that sustain many important ecosystem
services such as pollination, pest, pathogen and weed control, and
decomposition."
The full paper is available at the Proceedings of the
Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. For more information, email Sarah Yang of
the University of California at scyang@berkeley.edu.
From
CropBiotech Update 27 October 2006:
Contributed by Margaret E. Smith
Dept.
of Plant Breeding & Genetics
Cornell University
mes25@cornell.edu
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1.18 Got cotton? Texas researchers'
discovery could yield protein to feed millions
COLLEGE STATION -- A
scientific method used to explore cancer and HIV cures now has been successfully
used by agricultural researchers in the quest to develop food for the world's
hungry.
"The exciting finding is that we have been able to reduce
gossypol – which is a very toxic compound – from cottonseed to a level that is
considered safe for consumption," said Dr. Keerti Rathore, Texas Agricultural
Experiment Station plant biotechnologist. "In terms of human nutrition, it has a
lot of potential." The cottonseed from these plants meet World Health
Organization and U.S. Food and Drug Administration standards for food
consumption, he said, potentially making the seed a new, high-protein food
available to 500 million people a year.
The work, announced today (Nov.
20) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was done by Rathore
and a team of scientists from the Experiment Station, Texas A&M University
and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Southern Plains Research Center in
College Station.
Gossypol naturally occurs within the glands in all the
above-ground parts of the cotton plant including the seed. Rathore said the "beauty of this project" is that the gossypol has been reduced only in the
cottonseed -- where the high levels of protein are packed -- but not in the rest
of the plant where the compound serves as a defense against insects and disease.
The team used RNAi, or technology that can "silence" a gene. This
enabled them to target the gossypol gene only in the cottonseed but let the gene
express itself in the rest of the plant. The discovery of RNAi is what landed
the Nobel Prize for Medicine this year for U.S. scientists Andrew Z. Fire and
Craig C. Mello.
"What we have done is use this technology to selectively
inhibit a gene that codes for an enzyme that is involved in the gossypol
biosynthetic pathway in the seed, " Rathore said.
Cotton fibers have
been spun into fabric for more than 7,000 years. For most of that time, products
from the fuzzy seed that is extracted in the fiber process have been edible only
for cattle. They can tolerate gossypol only after digesting it through the four
compartments of their stomachs.
"Very few people realize that for every
pound of cotton fiber, the plant produces 1.6 pounds of seed," Rathore pointed
out. "The world produces 44 million metric tons of cottonseed each year.
Cottonseed typically contains about 22 percent protein, and it's a very
high-quality protein."
In all, about 10 million metric tons of protein
are contained in that amount of seed, he said.
Decades ago, California
and Texas researchers were able to breed cotton varieties that contained no
gossypol glands throughout the plant. But glandless varieties were a commercial
failure, Rathore said, because the lack of any gossypol made the plants a
delicious treat for insects and diseases.
Processes have been developed
to extract gossypol, making the oil available for human consumption but at great
expense, he said. Plus, the meal that is left after the oil is removed still
contains the gossypol and thus is not edible for humans, or for pigs, chickens
or turkeys.
Plants with the new trait developed by the team could make
the plant more valuable both as a fiber and a food crop.
"One could
utilize the cottonseed either directly as food if there is no gossypol or as
feed for livestock," he said.
The food value of the cotton crop may be
for countries "where there are small farmers who grow cotton, and if they could
use the seed they could get much more value from it," Rathore noted.
He
believes food products ultimately could be developed from the cottonseed of
these new plants. Though the glandless cotton varieties bred by Experiment
Station researchers in the late 1970s and 1980s suffered from insects and
disease, one of the food products -- TAMUnuts -- made from the seed of these
plants could be eaten by humans.
This discovery will yield not just one
new variety, but rather "a new trait that can be bred into any good commercial
variety, and the trait should be maintained generation after generation," Rathore said.
The researchers have been successful in maintaining the
trait through three generations in lab work. The next step will be to screen for
the best plants from the many lines they have produced, then grow plants with
the trait in a greenhouse.Field demonstrations will follow that, he said.
He estimates at least another decade in the development of cotton
varieties for widespread commercial production.
Contact: Kathleen
Phillips
ka-phillips@tamu.edu
Texas A&M University - Agricultural
Communications
Source: EurekAlert.org
20 November 2006
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1.19 Potatoes developed for new
markets
CORVALLIS, Ore.
The skin of the potato is a deep garnet
red, its flesh a brilliant ruby. When boiled and mashed it turns a creamy
fuchsia. As a chip it's a delicate rose pink that would fit in at tea parties
and fundraisers. This stylish spud is one of several new varieties under
consideration for possible organic production in the Northwest.
Researchers at Oregon State University, working under the Pacific
Northwest Tri-State Program, are evaluating thousands of potential selections in
both traditional and specialty-type market classes. Isabel Vales, OSU's foremost
researcher on potato breeding and genetics, is focusing on molecular and
conventional breeding for resistance to pests and disease. The aim is to
identify selections that have the potential to be grown under organic systems
without the use of synthetic pesticides.
Synthetic pesticides are often
expensive, but because of current crop requirements, they play an important role
in large-scale production. As varieties are developed that are better suited to
their environment the need for synthetics may decline, possibly resulting in
improved net returns for growers.
Much of the vegetable breeding being
done today focuses on value-added traits. These traits may include better taste,
unusual shapes, different skin and flesh colors and increased levels of
phytochemicals -- chemicals in plants thought to have protective or disease
preventive properties. These traits could add selling power in all markets,
Vales said.
Added-value varieties that include disease, pest and various
stress resistances may have more to offer growers than any other growing input,
adds Brian Charlton, a cropping systems and potato variety researcher at the OSU
College of Agricultural Sciences Klamath Basin Research and Extension Center.
The average adult in the United States eats about 136 pounds of potatoes
annually in the form of fresh potatoes, fries and chips, as well as in processed
foods like soup. Farmers in Idaho, Washington and Oregon grow the majority of
U.S. consumed spuds.
Potatoes from the Tri-State program have yet to be
evaluated to suitability in organic systems, said the researchers. The OSU
potato team is gathering together crop and soil scientists, horticulturists, and
food scientists to identify selection criteria for organically grown potatoes.
"We are interested in developing potatoes suitable for organics, and
also on evaluating taste and chemical composition of the more promising lines," said Vales. The organic market continues to grow with each production season.
U.S. organic food sales grew at a double-digit rate from $1 billion in 1990 to
more than $14 billion in 2005 and are expected to exceed $16 billion by the end
of 2006. This is the fastest growing segment of the food industry, offering many
opportunities and areas of concern, said Vales. In order for Northwest growers
to have an edge in organic markets they will need varieties that can compete
with traditional breeds. Mainstream growers are constantly looking at ways to
remain competitive and boost their net returns per acre, Charlton adds. As
organic produce moves closer to conventionally grown foods in price, many
growers see putting at least some of their land into organic and transitional
production as a way to add value to their crops.
"I envision more and
more growers adopting sustainable or true integrated pest management practices
in an effort to curtail input costs," said Charlton.
"Unfortunately,
products grown under these parameters are often lost in the marketplace.
Consumers generally have a choice between conventional and organic with few
options in the middle."
By Aimee Lyn Brown
Contact: Isabel Vales
isabel.vales@oregonstate.edu
Oregon State University
Source:
EurekAlert.org
15 November 2006
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1.20
Making wheat flour more nutritious
Washington,
DC
Your favorite bread, breakfast cereal or pasta might tomorrow be made with
wheat flour that's more nutritious than ever. Agricultural Research Service
(ARS) and university scientists have identified a gene that can increase the
protein, iron and zinc content of wheat kernels. The gene, known as Gpc-B1, does
that in bread wheats and pasta wheats alike.
Today, nearly all Americans
eat enough protein for good health, but more than 36 million of us don't get
enough zinc, and more than 15 million are short on iron. The wheat research, by
enriching the nutrients in one of the world's leading crops, holds the potential
to improve Americans' health and that of millions of the world's malnourished.
Plant geneticist Ann E. Blechl helped prove the Gpc-B1 gene's prowess in
enhancing wheat flour's nutritional bounty. She used a technique called "RNA
interference" to lower what are known as the gene’s expression levels in wheat
plants. Blechl did the work in her laboratory at the ARS Western Regional
Research Center in Albany, Calif.
Collaborators working under the
direction of wheat breeder and professor Jorge Dubcovsky of the University of
California-Davis found that kernels harvested from the plants with lowered
Gpc-B1 levels had at least 30 percent less protein, zinc and iron. According to
Blechl, the work proved that Gpc-B1 controlled all of these nutrients. The
finding predicts that incorporating additional copies of the functioning gene
into bread and pasta wheats will be valuable.
Blechl is an international
authority on the use of RNA interference and other biotech approaches to explore
the largely untapped capabilities of genes of grain-bearing crops.
Dubcovsky, Blechl and colleagues in Haifa, Israel, report their findings
in the current issue of the journal Science. A summary can be viewed on the
World Wide Web by going to www.Sciencemag.org, then clicking on "current issue."
The research was sponsored by two U.S. Department of
Agriculture agencies--ARS and the Cooperative State Research, Education and
Extension Service--and the United States-Israel Binational Agricultural Research
and Development Fund.
ARS News Service
Marcia Wood, marcia.wood@ars.usda.gov
Source: SeedQuest.com
24 November 2006
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1.21 Perennial wheat research looks at
options for producers
Perennial wheat? The possibility is being
looked at by a Texas Agricultural Experiment Station researcher.
Annual
wheat, which is traditionally grown in the Great Plains, is planted in the fall
and dies after harvest in mid-summer. But Dr. Charlie Rush, Experiment Station
plant pathologist, is testing some perennial lines of wheat bred in Washington
state.
These perennial lines regrow after harvest and may survive for up
to five years, Rush said. And eastern Washington is climatically similar to the
Texas Panhandle, except it has harsher winters.
"This wheat, if it works
here, will start growing back as soon it rains or is irrigated after harvest,"
he said. "Right now, we don't know if it will work in our area or not. But there
definitely could be some applications for it if it does."
The perennial
wheat could be used as a ground cover for highly erodible lands, wildlife
habitat and an alternative crop for Conservation Reserve Program lands, Rush
said. However, primarily he is interested in evaluating use of perennial wheats
in dual purpose grain-grazing cropping systems that are prevalent in the
southwestern Great Plains.
Over the years, different breeders have
crossed bread wheat with wild wheat grass in order to acquire a variety of
desirable traits, such as drought tolerance and resistance to diseases and
insects, Rush said. In making these crosses, some of the resulting lines
inherited the perennial trait.
Perennial wheat programs are already
underway in Kansas and Washington. But it was work on disease resistance by Dr.
Tim Murray, professor and chair of the plant pathology department, and Dr.
Stephen Jones, wheat breeder, both at Washington State University, that first
gained Rush's interest.
"For perennial wheats to have a place in our
dual-purpose cropping systems, they must have good resistance to disease and
insects," Rush said.
For this reason, his primary concern is determining
how the 20 experimental lines will hold up against wheat streak mosaic and
greenbugs, something both Jones and Murray also are researching.
In
addition to screening for disease and insect resistance, Rush is also evaluating
the perennial wheat lines for forage quality and yield, water use efficiency and
drought tolerance.
"If they have drought tolerance and natural
resistance to diseases and insects, it opens up real possibilities," he said.
"Producers could save the cost of replanting at the very least. But it could
also allow cattle to graze later in the spring and earlier in the fall, and
still allow farmers to harvest for grain."
Also, Rush said, producers
would be able to avoid the fallow period that sets fields up for erosion. If the
perennial wheat is rained on or irrigated in July, it is possible that cattle
might be able to start grazing as early as August.
"Since perennial
wheats typically yield only 70 percent of the best bread wheat cultivars, I
don't see this as competition for the grain crop, but primarily as another
option on forage," he said.
Lower yields are the primary reason
researchers have not been very interested in perennial wheats, Rush said. But
with increasing energy costs and environmental concerns, perennial wheats are
worth a new look, especially for the dual-purpose systems.
In September,
Rush planted three replications of 20 lines of perennial wheat in September,
plus seven non-perennial varieties already in commercial production in the High
Plains for comparison. Additionally, he bordered the plots on one side with a
variety highly susceptible to wheat streak mosaic virus and on the other side
with a highly resistant variety.
"One of the things that could quickly
kill this project is if all the perennials are highly susceptible to wheat
streak mosaic," he said. "We don't want to have that bridge for the virus and
mites to over-summer and threaten the fall wheat crop.
"However, we are
confident that some of the lines will be disease-tolerant, because some of Dr.
Murray's preliminary findings on resistance to wheat streak in Washington
state," Rush said.
Additional testing for insect and disease resistance
will be conducted in the greenhouse with the perennial lines being inoculated
with wheat streak mosaic virus and tested for resistance to greenbug and
possibly bird cherry oat aphids, which also vector barley yellow dwarf virus, he
said.
All the insect screening will be conducted by Dr. Jerry Michels,
Experiment Station entomologist at Bushland.
"Because this whole
research is so brand new, we're limited in the number of treatments we can do
until there's more of this perennial wheat seed available," Rush said.
Disease screening and forage quality sampling using remote imaging
techniques to measure the biomass, instead of clipping it, has already started
and "we're getting good data," Rush said.
In the first sampling, some of
the perennial wheat lines yielded roughly the same amount of forage as the bread
wheats and also exhibited good resistance to wheat streak, he said.
"I
can hardly wait until our next field day to show our regional wheat producers
these new wheat lines," Rush said.
Contact: Dr. Charlie Rush
crush@ag.tamu.edu
Texas A&M University - Agricultural
Communications
Source: EurekAlert.org
27 November 2006
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1.22 Pioneer developing drought-tolerant
corn
Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc, a subsidiary of Dupont, is
focusing its efforts on developing corn hybrids that use water sources more
efficiently and thus help farmers maintain yields during periods of water
stress. "We want growers to benefit overall by having hybrids that can reduce
yield loss during temporary water stress yet maintain maximum yield potential
under optimal conditions," said Marc Albertsen, director of agronomic traits and
lead evaluation for Pioneer.
The company is using a combination of
approaches that include conventional breeding, molecular breeding and transgenic
programs. Pioneer adds that it also uses a variety of tools, including gene
shuffling which optimizes desired traits by multiplying the effectiveness of
beneficial genes.
While the enhanced transgenic trait is still being
developed, Pioneer has already developed several hybrids with drought tolerance
and high-yield potential.
Read Pioneer's press release at http://pioneer.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=press_releases&item=194
From CropBiotech Update 27 October 2006:
Contributed by Margaret E.
Smith
Dept. of Plant Breeding & Genetics
Cornell University
mes25@cornell.edu
(Return to Contents)
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1.23 Canola acquires weevil resistance
trait from yellow mustard
The cabbage seedpod weevil Ceutorhynchus
obstrictus (Marsham) is an insect pest of major economic importance in the
production of canola (Brassica napus L. and B. rapa L.) in Europe
and North America. Larvae feed on developing seeds within the pods, with each
larva consuming about five to six seeds during development. Once they mature,
the larvae chew circular exit holes in the walls of the seed pods, and pupate in
the soil. Through introgression or 'backcrossing' using yellow mustard as the
parent, researchers from the University of Alberta and the University of Guelph
in Canada have developed canola plants with resistance to the weevil. The
results are published in the October issue of Crop
Science.
Studies were conducted to test the hereditary material of
the offspring, produced by crossing Sinapis alba L. (yellow mustard) x
B. napus and then backcrossing progeny to the B. napus parent, as
potential sources of resistance to the weevil. Of the genotypes evaluated in
field trials in 2001, 18 had an average of fewer than 0.05 weevil exit holes per
pod, an indicator for resistance against the weevil, and these genotypes were
used for further testing. Subsequent tests confirmed several genotypes that
evidently carried genes for resistance to the pest from the yellow mustard
parent.
The development of weevil-resistant canola is a significant first
step towards integrated management of cabbage seedpod weevil, resulting in
substantial reductions in insecticide use in this crop.
The complete
research article "Introgression of Resistance to Cabbage Seedpod Weevil to
Canola from Yellow Mustard" is available at http://crop.scijournals.org/cgi/content/full/46/6/2437.
For the abstract, readers can visit http://crop.scijournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/46/6/2437.
From
CropBiotech Update 10 November 2006:
Contributed by Margaret E.
Smith
Dept. of Plant Breeding & Genetics
Cornell University
mes25@cornell.edu
(Return to Contents)
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1.24 Availability of the initial 4X genome sequence for sorghum inbred line Tx623.
TO: Anyone
interested in the sorghum genome sequence
As you may know, the US
Department of Enegy Joint Genome Institute, under its ‘Community Sequencing
Program’ has made rapid progress toward its commitment to provide 8X sequence
coverage of the genome of Sorghum bicolor L. genotype, BTx623. These data
will be combined with publicly available sequences, assembled into ‘contigs’
(contiguous sequences without gaps) and ‘scaffolds’ (reconstructed stretches
with any gaps spanned by at least two end-sequenced clones), and integrated with
extensive phusical and genetic maps to yield genetically-oriented
pseudomolecules that are anticipated to substantially cover most sorghum
chromosomes.
Sorghum sequence assemblies will be made available in
advance of publication, under the principles of the ‘Ft Lauderdale’ agreement to
protect the interests of scientists who wish to share pre-publication data with
the community, i.e. with a request that users defer publication of any
whole-genome scale analyses until the sequencing group has published its primary
analysis. Leading scientific journals are also being notified. A 4x assembly is
now available at https://www.jgi.doe.gov/downloads/Soghum_bicolor.
Use Sorghum_bicolor and ico@hgr as login and password, respectively. We
anticipate that the genetically-oriented 8x assembly will be available in early
2007, barring unexpected delays.
A team has been assembled to conduct
initial annotation and analysis of the sequence for publication in a leading
refereed journal. Although many dimensions of the planned analysis are covered,
inquiries about possible participation in this effort should be directed to Dr
Paterson (paterson@uga.edu). Team members
are responsible for providing their own funding to support
participation.
Since the primary publication of the sequence will only be
able to succinctly describe a few key features, two leading journals have
offered to consider companion papers that address specific features in detail,
for coordinated publication shortly following the primary sequence, in a ‘special section’ or perhaps ‘special issue’.
1. Genome Research (www.genome.org/) has agreed to consider
large-scale genomic studies that present novel data of biological
significance.
2. The Plant Genome (www.crops.org/genome/) has agreed to
consider research that shows clear potential for translating genomic technology
into agronomic advancement.
Both journals will review sorghum
genome-related submissions according to their established mechanisms and
standards. At an appropriate time, the respective journals will provide further
details.
We hope that this information is useful in planning for
engagement of these new genomic resources for sorghum in your work. We also hope
that you share our excitement about these new resources, which promise to add
new dimensions to our understanding of botanical and genomic diversity, as well
as new opportunities for improvement of leading food, feed, forage & turf,
and biofuels crops. We encourage you to consider how the sorghum sequence might
fit into your research plans, to s;ubmit manuscripts to the coordinated reviews
as appropriate, and to contact us with any questions.
Andrew H
Paterson
Lead Proposer, CSP Sorghum Sequencing Project
Chair, Shorghum
Genomics Executive Committee
Daniel S. Rokhsar
Program Head for
Computational Genomics
Joint Genome Institute
Contributed by C Tom
Hash
Principal Scientist (Breeding)
ICRISAT
c.hash@cgiar.org
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1.25 Soybean genetic marker technology
speeds yield enhancement
New molecular breeding tools help increase
the pace at which farmers can increase the amount of soybeans harvested per
acre, according to a review of historical U.S. soybean yield. Researchers at
DuPont subsidiary Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. found that yields of
Pioneer brand soybean varieties developed with proprietary genetic markers
improved yield three times faster than the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
industry average.
Varieties developed with molecular markers showed
average yield increase of 1.4 bushels per acre per year, while
Non-Marker-Assisted Selection Pioneer varieties improved yields at a rate of 0.5
bushels per acre per year. On the other hand, USDA soybean yield data show yield
increase at 0.4 bushels per acre per year. "The data clearly demonstrates that
genetic markers have incredible potential to increase soybean yields at
accelerated rates," said John Soper, Pioneer soybean research director. "They
are going to go a long way in helping growers produce enough soybeans for new
food, fuel and industrial applications."
Molecular markers allow plant
breeders to screen many plants for genes that contribute to increased yield
potential and stability. Only plants that carry the desired traits are used to
develop new products.
Read the press release at http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/pioneer/26118/.
From
CropBiotech Update 17 November 2006:
Contributed by Margaret E.
Smith
Dept. of Plant Breeding & Genetics
Cornell University
mes25@cornell.edu
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1.26 First genetic map of taro
published
The first quantitative trait loci (QTL) map on taro root
crop (Colocasia esculenta) was constructed using two types of molecular
markers. J. Quero-Garcia and collaborators from three other countries used
simple sequence repeats (SSRs) and amplified fragment length polymorphism
(AFLPs) to get genetic maps from taro populations in Vanuatu.
The map was
derived from first generation offpring that they have obtained by crossing two
sets of local taro cultivars. The researchers wrote in their paper that they
were able to successfully identify QTLs that are responsible for yield, corm
dimensions, and yellow flesh color. They recommend that additional SSR and AFLP
markers be used to produce a saturated and robust map of taro.
The
abstract of the paper can be accessed at http://www.springerlink.com/content/7250141745x2480j/.
From
CropBiotech Update 17 November 2006:
Contributed by Margaret E.
Smith
Dept. of Plant Breeding & Genetics
Cornell University
mes25@cornell.edu
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1.27 Engineering broad root-knot resistance in transgenic
plants by RNAi silencing of a conserved and essential root-knot nematode
parasitism gene
Guozhong Huang*, Rex Allen*, Eric L. Davis, Thomas
J. Baum, and Richard S. Hussey*
*Department of Plant Pathology, University of
Georgia, Athens, GA 30602-7274; Department of Plant Pathology, North Carolina
State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7616; and Department of Plant Pathology,
Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011
Edited by Maarten J. Chrispeels,
University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA, and approved August 8, 2006
(received for review June 8, 2006)
ABSTRACT
Secreted parasitism
proteins encoded by parasitism genes expressed in esophageal gland cells mediate
infection and parasitism of plants by root-knot nematodes (RKN). Parasitism gene
16D10 encodes a conserved RKN secretory peptide that stimulates root growth and
functions as a ligand for a putative plant transcription factor. We used in
vitro and in vivo RNA interference approaches to silence this parasitism gene in
RKN and validate that the parasitism gene has an essential function in RKN
parasitism of plants. Ingestion of 16D10 dsRNA in vitro silenced the target
parasitism gene in RKN and resulted in reduced nematode infectivity. In vivo
expression of 16D10 dsRNA in Arabidopsis resulted in resistance effective
against the four major RKN species. Because no known natural resistance gene has
this wide effective range of RKN resistance, bioengineering crops expressing
dsRNA that silence target RKN parasitism genes to disrupt the parasitic process
represents a viable and flexible means of developing novel durable RKN-resistant
crops and could provide crops with unprecedented broad resistance to RKN.
Readers can access the full article, “Engineering broad root-knot
resistance in transgenic plants by RNAi silencing of a conserved and essential
root-knot nematode parasitism gene” at http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/103/39/14302.
For the abstract, visit http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/103/39/14302
Link:
http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/103/39/14302
Source:
Proceedings ot the National Academy of Sciences of
the United States of America via SeedQuest.com
September 2006
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1.28 Plant studies reveal how, where
seeds store iron - Findings address worldwide iron deficiency and
malnutrition
Washington, DC
Biologists have learned where and how
some plant seeds store iron, a valuable discovery for scientists working to
improve the iron content of plants. Their research helps address the worldwide
problem of iron deficiency and malnutrition in humans.
The team found
that iron is stored in the developing vascular system of the seed of
Arabidopsis, a model plant used in research. In particular, iron is stored in
the vacuole, a plant cell's central storage site. The researchers also learned
this localization depends on a protein called VIT1, known to transport iron into
the vacuole.
"Iron deficiency is the most common human nutritional
disorder in the world today, afflicting more than 3 billion people worldwide," said Mary Lou Guerinot, a biologist at Dartmouth College in N.H. and the principal
investigator on the study. "Most of these people rely on plants for their
dietary iron, but plants are not high in iron, and the limited availability of
iron in the soil can limit plant growth. Our study suggests that iron storage in
the vacuole is a promising, and, before now, largely unexplored target for
increasing the iron content of seeds. Such nutrient-rich seeds would benefit
both human health and agricultural productivity."
The findings were
published online in the Nov. 2, 2006, ScienceExpress, the advance publication
site for the journal Science.
The researchers combined traditional mutant
analysis (turning on and off the VIT1 protein) with a powerful X-ray imaging
technique to create a map of where iron is localized in the seed. Guerinot was
surprised by the finding because most studies on iron storage focus on another
protein called ferritin.
"This project is a wonderful example of the
power of using new combinations of tools--in this case, genetics and
high-resolution 3-dimensional X-ray fluorescence imaging--to understand gene
function," said Jane Silverthorne, a program director in NSF's Division of
Biological Infrastructure, which funded the research. "The discovery that iron
localizes in specific parts of a seed opens the possibility of developing seed
crops such as grains and beans with increased content of this important
nutrient."
The findings reveal how essential it is to look beyond
ferritin to understand how iron is stored by plants. The researchers say the
stored iron in the vacuole is a key source of iron for developing seedlings.
Seedlings that do not express the VIT1 protein grow poorly when iron is
limited.
In addition to funding from the National Science Foundation, the
study was also supported by the National Institutes of Health. The imaging was
carried out at the Department of Energy's National Synchrotron Light Source at
Brookhaven National Laboratory.
Other authors of the paper include Sun A
Kim and Tracy Punshon, both of Dartmouth, Antonio Lanzirotti of the University
of Chicago, Liangtao Li and Jerry Kaplan of the University of Utah School of
Medicine, José Alonso with North Carolina State University, and Joseph Ecker
with the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an
independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education
across all fields of science and engineering, with an annual budget of $5.58
billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 1,700
universities and institutions. Each year, NSF receives about 40,000 competitive
requests for funding, and makes nearly 10,000 new funding awards. The NSF also
awards over $400 million in professional and service contracts
yearly.
Source: SeedQuest.com
3 November 2006
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1.29 New gene tool to diagnose plant
disease
Washington, DC
Scientists leverage new tool to diagnose
plant diseases
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) plant pathologist
William Schneider has used, or is familiar with, just about every kind of method
of identifying organisms that cause plant diseases, from light microscopes to
so-called genetic fingerprinting.
Each has its place in the field of
disease diagnostics. But what's really excited Schneider is a procedure called
TIGER, short for "Triangulation Identification for Genetic Evaluation of Risks."
According to Schneider, with the ARS Foreign Disease-Weed Science
Research Unit in Fort Detrick, Md., TIGER has the potential to identify
virtually every kind of microbe that may be present in a given sample--and to do
so in a matter of minutes.
Other methods, including those that use
polymerase chain reaction (PCR)--best known for its role in genetic
fingerprinting--take hours, days or weeks. And even then, such methods typically
detect only up to a few dozen microbes at a time.
Speed coupled with
accuracy, sensitivity and ease of use promise to make TIGER a frontline tool in
detecting new, as-yet-undescribed pathogens, or exotic ones that originate
outside the United States, like citrus greening, citrus canker and soybean
rust.
Schneider's "neighbors" at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute
of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) in Fort Detrick were among the first there to
use TIGER as part of the military lab's mission to detect, diagnose and counter
human pathogens, such as those encountered by deployed troops. Last summer,
Schneider began collaborating with Chris Whitehouse of USAMRIID's Diagnostic
Systems Division to test and build TIGER's capacity to identify crop pathogens.
Along with ARS postdoctoral researcher Elena Postnikova, Schneider and
Whitehouse are conducting research on three fronts, starting with 14 genera of
plant disease bacteria. Of particular interest is verifying TIGER's use of
generalized primers as a sort of one-size-fits-all "homing beacon" to
distinguish bacteria from other microbes in a sample, such as leaf
tissue.
Read more about the research in the November 2006 issue of
Agricultural Research magazine, available online at http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/nov06/plant1106.htm
ARS News Service
Agricultural Research Service, USDA
Jan
Suszkiw, jan.suszkiw@ars.usda.gov
ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research
agency.
Source: SeedQuest.com
3 November 2006
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++++++++++++++++++++
1.30 New research on plant steroids
improves plant development
Washington, DC
Cooperative State Research, Education and
Extension Service (CSREES) Research Results
Plant steroids play an
essential role in plant growth and development and provide stress protection.
Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, in La Jolla, CA, and
the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, MD, are unlocking the
mysteries between plant steroids and plant growth. Their research, funded by
USDA, could lead to new plant varieties with desirable growth
traits.
Joanne Chory and colleagues identified a new protein that stops
the growth process in plants when there is an absence of brassinosteroids, a
type of plant steroid. These steroids induce a signaling mechanism in plant
cells that flips a proverbial switch causing the plant to grow and develop
properly.
For a signal to be transmitted to a plant cell,
brassinosteroids attach to a receptor on the plasma membrane of the cell, like a
lock and key mechanism. The brassinosteroid receptor on the plasma membrane is
called BRI1. Once BRI1 is activated by brassinosteroid binding, it interacts
with BAK, a co-receptor that continues the reception chain.
In the
absence of brassinosteroids, BRI1 kinase binds with the newly identified
protein, BKI1 instead of BAK, shutting down the receptor and stopping the
signal. This stunts growth and produces mutant dwarf plants.
During
testing, the researchers found that reintroducing brassinosteroids into the
system causes BRI1 to bind to the brassinosteroid, and BKI1 rapidly dissociates
from the plasma membrane. The reception chain continues from there and normal
growth resumes.
BKI1-like genes are present in many plant species,
including economically important crops, such as rice, maize, and soybean. Over-
or under-expression of BKI1 in these species will provide a valuable tool to
control the strength of brassinosteroid signaling in plant cells and will allow
the creation of novel plant varieties with desirable traits.
This
research was published in August 25 th issue of Science in the article titled “ Brassinosteroids regulate dissociation of BKI1, a negative regulator of BRI1
signaling, from the plasma membrane.”
The USDA’s Cooperative State
Research, Education and Extension Service funded this research project through
the National Research Initiative (NRI) Genetic Processes and Mechanisms of
Agricultural Plants Program. The NRI is the largest peer reviewed, competitive
grants program in CSREES. It supports research, education, and extension grants
that address key problems of national, regional, and multi-state importance in
sustaining all components of agriculture.
CSREES advances knowledge for
agriculture, the environment, human health and well-being, and communities by
supporting research, education, and extension programs in the Land-Grant
University System and other partner organizations. For more information, visit
http://www.csrees.usda.gov.
Source:
SeedQuest.com
9 November 2006
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1.31
Improved resistance to controlled deterioration in transgenic seeds
Results of a study on transgenic tobacco
indicated that a protein called HaHSFA9 from a sunflower gene could increase the
resistance of seeds to deterioration and increase longevity. The protein also
helps in improving seed germinability in the field under high soil temperature.
Researchers at the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas in
Spain believe that there are similar genes to HaHSFA9 in other monocot and dicot
plant species. Once found, these genes may be transferred to major crops to
increase the longevity of their seeds, or to reduce the negative effects of high
temperatures during seed formation.
The open access article is available
at
http://www.plantphysiol.org/cgi/content/full/142/3/1102.
Pilar Prieto-Dapena, Raúl Castaño, Concepción Almoguera and Juan Jordano*
Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología, Consejo Superior de
Investigaciones Científicas, 41080 Seville, Spain
Source: CropBiotech Update via
SeedQuest.com
24 November 2006
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Contents)
++++++++++++++++++++++
1.32
Generation Challenge Program (GCP) Latest News
Alerts
(Selected articles, the Editor, PBN-L)
from 31
October-17 November 2006
GCP PowerPoint Presentation Available
2006-11-17 11:51:51
The Generation Challenge Programme has created a
basic introduction to the GCP that is available to the public at http://www.generationcp.org/brochure.php. The Po... Visit
Here
Seed companies boost crops using traits of relatives
2006-11-08 08:40:18
A recent article by Wall Street Journal reporter
Scott Kilman features marker assisted plant breeding. Large biotech companies
including Monsanto,... Visit
Here
Change in IRRI's Copyright Policy To Facilitate the Free
Exchange of Vital Information 2006-11-07 07:19:41
Source: IRRI
Author: n/a The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) has announced a
change to its intellectual property (IP) policy... Visit
Here
To subscribe, visit the GCP Home Page
(Return to Contents)
=========================
2 PUBLICATIONS
2.01 IFPRI
discussion paper: Applied economics literature about the impact of genetically
engineered crop varieties in developing economies
Melinda Smale,
Patricia Zambrano, José Falck-Zepeda, and Guillaume Gruère
ABSTRACT
A vast literature has accumulated since crop varieties with
transgenic resistance to insects and herbicide tolerance were released to
farmers in 1996 and 1997. A comparatively minor segment of this literature
consists of studies conducted by agricultural economists to measure the
farm-level impact of transgenic crop varieties, the size and distribution of the
economic benefits from adopting them, consumer attitudes toward GE products, and
implications for international trade. This paper focuses only on the applied
economics literature about the impact of transgenic crop varieties in
non-industrialized agricultural systems, with an emphasis on methods. A number
of studies have surveyed the findings for both industrialized and
non-industrialized agriculture, at various points in time, but surveys of
methods are less frequent and have typically examined only one overall question
or approach. Clearly, the methods used in research influence the findings that
are presented and what they mean. Understanding the methods therefore enhances
understanding of the findings. Four categories of impact analysis are
considered: farmers, consumers, industry and trade. In part due to
methodological limitations and the relatively brief time frame of most analyses,
results are promising, but the balance sheet is mixed. Thus, findings of current
case studies should not be generalized to other locations, crops, and traits.
The aim of this review is to progress toward the defining a "best practices" methodology for national researchers who seek to produce relevant information
about emerging crop biotechnologies for national policymakers.
Full
discussion paper: http://www.ifpri.org/divs/eptd/dp/papers/eptdp158.pdf
Source:
SeedQuest.com
October, 2006
(Return to
Contents)
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2.02 Workshop Draft Report – Strategies
to strengthen sustainable use of plant genetic resources in Ghana
The
workshop was organized at FAO regional office in Accra, Ghana. There were
23 plant breeders, bank curators and biotechnologists in the event; they were
from universities, the national research programme, seed company, and the
Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
The national plant breeding and
associated biotechnology assessment was carried out in Ghana by Mr. Walter
Alhassam; it covered the 1985-2001 period. The results indicated that
there are 19.2 plant breeders and 7.2 biotechnologists, numbers that maybe
considered low for the importance of agriculture in the Ghanaian economy (40.9%
of the GDP and 40.6% of the export earnings). However, there are well
structured plant breeding programmes for important food security crops such as
maize, rice, cassava, and legumes, but there have not been continuous varietal
releases for some of the food security crops. The breeding programmes
count on conventional breeding methods, including participatory approaches such
as plant variety selection (PVS), and uses local materials as sources of genetic
variability. There is a gap between varieties released by the public
institutions and farmers’ adoption of these varieties. Lack of an adequate
seed distribution system was named as one of the elements contributing to
it.
The comments to be considered in the design of the strategies to
strengthen Ghana’s plant breeding and related biotechnology capacity are
summarized as:
Human resources capacity building – The
participants felt that the general needs for human resources capacity building
are not fully attended by the Government strategic plan. Therefore, to
strengthen the national plant breeding and associated biotechnology capacity
they proposed to have short-, medium- and long-term training programmes.
They should aim at bringing new breeders and biotechnologists to the national
system (increase the number of breeders and biotechnologists), upgrading the
skills of the breeders and biotechnologists who are currently working in the
different varietal development programmes (increase the educational level
through MSc and PhD courses), and providing training courses on emerging
breeding and biotechnology tools. For the last component it was mentioned
that the CGIAR centres seem to be the most appropriated places for
training. The importance of providing training opportunities for the
supporting staff (technicians and others) was also
highlighted.
Infrastructure capacity building – There is need for
investments in upgrading and building infrastructure for the breeders and
biotechnologists. The necessities were listed as construction of
laboratories facilities for breeding and biotechnology activities, green and
screen houses (including a containment facility), cold room for seed storage,
irrigation systems, etc.
Policy related issues – There are several
issues where appropriate policies can significantly contribute to strengthening
the national plant breeding and associated biotechnology capacity, such as:
legislation to have breeder’s right effective in the country; national
strategies to sustain breeding and biotechnology activities; mechanisms to
promote public-private partnerships; establishment of levies on seeds sales and
on imported and exported agricultural products; an effective seed system
including a seed law and mechanisms to decentralize and certify quality; and
marketing incentives to add value to farmers’ products. All plant breeding
and biotechnology activities depend on donor’s support this jeopardizes the
required long-term sustainability of these programmes, thus the intervention of
the Government by promoting mechanisms that lead to sustainability is crucial to
ensure that varieties are continuously delivered to
farmers.
Biotechnology – All participants stated that
biotechnology is a tool to enhance plant breeding and that conventional breeding
methods still have a major role to play. However, there are opportunities
to strengthen the national capacity in this area to deal with specific problems,
for which the conventional strategies have not been so successful. In
general, the laboratory facilities need to be upgraded, scientists need to be
trained, but the main limiting factor is financial resource to keep the
laboratories running (availability of consumables). There was a general
agreement that a national centre of excellence well equipped and with the
required manpower is necessary. Regarding training the idea is to have
breeders trained in the biotechnology techniques as well as the biotechnologists
themselves; this would forge the linkages between the two groups and would
increase efficiency of the use of the tools.
Gene bank – Ghana has
a national gene bank with around 8000 accessions from the most important plant
species for the country. Cowpeas have the largest collection with around
690 accessions. In general, for all species the majority of the entries is
coming from collections made at farmers’ field. Each research institution
also has its own gene bank, normally used to conserve working collections.
The major concern associated to conservation of PGR is related to the
facilities, energy shortage and lack of maintenance are key issues for long-term
preservation. With the current structure the conserved PGR are still at
risk and to strengthen use of PGR efforts have to be made to improve this
situation. There has been a lot of work done to morphologically
characterize the materials around 70% is already characterized and the data is
available in the gene bank database, however, there has not been work done to
add molecular characterization because of lack of equipment.
Designing
breeding strategies to strengthen national capacity – To design breeding
strategies to strengthen Ghana’s capacity to use PGR the following issues were
pointed out as key ones:
-Conventional breeding methods, including PVS, have
a major role to play
-All plant breeding and biotechnology programmes are
donor dependent
-The country does not have the necessary number of breeders
and biotechnologists to work with all limiting factors relevant to the food
security crops
-Biotechnology has a role to play as tool to enhance breeding
activities and it requires support the creation of a national center of
excellence
-The Government of Ghana has to play a strong role in supporting
breeding activities and to be prepared for long-term commitment in the
area
-High priority should be placed on capacity building to increase the
number of scientists and to upgrade their educational level
-Seed delivery
systems have to be strengthen, including approval of legislations to support and
regulate the sector
-Networking in the region can contribute to deal with
problems of food security crops of regional importance
-PGR access is not a
major issue but conservation and availability of information are limiting
factors to promote use.
Contributed by Elcio Guimaraes
FAO-AGPC
Elcio.Guimaraes@fao.org
(Return to
Contents)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2.03 The promises and challenges of biofuels for the poor in developing
countries
Introduction
Bioenergy, that is, biofuels of biological
and renewable origin, like bioethanol, biodiesel, and biomass for energyis the
subject of increasing attention around the world. Oil prices have climbed to
unprecedented heights, and concerns about the environmental effects of fossil
fuel use are on the rise. Bioenergy appears to offer hope for addressing these
concerns while also providing new opportunities for poor people and farmers in
developing countries. Can bioenergy fulfill the promise claimed by its
proponents? Can it become an environmentally sustainable, economically viable,
pro-poor source of energy? And what challenges will meeting these goals
present?
This set of policy briefs examines the potential opportunities
and risks bioenergy may pose for poor people and farmers in developing
countries. The briefs consider economic, social, environmental, and science and
technology issues. They look at how increased bioenergy production may affect
the global food balance and examine the need for further research and
development in the bioenergy field. Lessons from the experiences of Europe, as
well as Brazil and other developing countries, are reviewed. Recommendations on
how to move forward to develop bioenergy in ways that can serve the poor and the
environment are presented.
We express our warm appreciation to editors
Peter Hazell and R. K. Pachauri, as well as to the contributors, for their
valuable insights and perspectives on the promises and challenges of bioenergy
for agriculture in developing countries. We also thank Heidi Fritschel for
excellent editing and production management of these briefs.
Joachim von
Braun, Director General
Rajul Pandya-Lorch, Head, 2020 Vision
Initiative
Reference
Ortiz, R,, J.H. Crouch, M.
Iwanaga, K. Sayre, M. Warburton, J. Araus, J. Dixon, M. Bohn, B.V.S. Reddy, S.
Ramesh & S. Wani. 2006. Bio-energy and agricultural
research-for-development. Vision 2020 for Food Agriculture and the
Environment Bioenergy and Agriculture: Promises and Challenges
7. 2 pp. http://www.ifpri.org/2020/focus/focus14/focus14_07.pdf
2020 Focus No. 14 http://www.ifpri.org/2020/focus/focus14.asp.
Bioenergy and Agriculture
Promises and Challenges
Peter Hazell, and R.
K. Pachauri (eds.)
November 2006
http://dx.doi.org/10.2499/2020focus14
download
Full
Text of all Briefs
(PDF
363K)
Individual Briefs in Focus 12:
Overview
Peter Hazell and R. K. Pachauri
(PDF 84K)
Developing Bioenergy: Economic and Social Issues
Daniel G. De
La Torre Ugarte
(PDF 84K)
Biofuels and the Global Food Balance
Mark W. Rosegrant, Siwa
Msangi, Timothy Sulser, and Rowena Valmonte-Santos
(PDF 87K)
Environmental Effects of Bioenergy
Sivan Kartha
(PDF 93K)
Potential of Carbon Payments for Bioenergy
Odin Knudsen
(PDF
78K)
Science and Technology Options for Harnessing Bioenergy's
Potential
Jeremy Woods
(PDF 100K)
Bioenergy and Agricultural Research for Development
Rodomiro
Ortiz, Jonathan H. Crouch, Masa Iwanaga, Ken Sayre, Marilyn Warburton, Jose Luis
Araus, John Dixon, Martin Bohn, Belum V. S. Reddy
(PDF 94K)
Brazil's Experience with Bioenergy
Jos oberto Moreira
(PDF 88K)
Bioenergy in Europe: Experiences and Prospects
Oliver
Henniges and Jrgen Zeddies
(PDF 92K)
Bioenergy in Developing Countries: Experiences and Prospects
Daniel M. Kammen
(PDF 88K)
Bioenergy and the Poor
Stephen Karekezi and Waeni Kithyoma
(PDF
105K)
Developing Bioenergy: A Win-Win Approach That Can Serve the
Poor and the Environment
Peter Hazell
(PDF
77K)
Related Publication
The Promises and
Challenges of Biofuels for the Poor in Developing Countries
2006. Joachim
von Braun and R. K. Pachauri. IFPRI 2005-2006 Annual Report Essay.
(PDF
1.8M)
Contributed by Rodomiro
Ortiz
CIMMYT
R.ORTIZ@CGIAR.ORG
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+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2.04 Plant Mutation Reports ---call for
papers
Plant Mutation Reports (PMR) is a newly established
scientific journal, sponsored by the Joint FAO/IAEA Program on Nuclear
Techniques in Food and Agriculture, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna,
Austria. It is a transformation of two formerly published journals, Mutation
Breeding Newsletter and Mutation Breeding Reviews.
PMR publishes (mini)
reviews, research articles, short communications in all areas of basic and
applied plant mutation research, e.g., mutagenesis and experimental mutagenesis;
mutation induction and characterization; mutation genetics and breeding;
genomics and molecular genetics of induced mutation. It also publishes
description papers on mutant germplasm and mutant varieties. Papers on
social-economic impact analysis of induced mutations and mutant varieties are
also accepted.
The PMR is not only free of cost to authors; it is
also free of cost to readers. We further assure you that once your paper is
identified as being of scientific value and accepted for publication in PMR, we
will offer you our assistance with improving the format and the language of your
manuscript. A free subscription to hard copies is available on request to
institutions, i.e. research institutes, universities, or research groups. Online
subscription is free for both organizations and individuals. You can download
the publication from the Agency’s website: http://www-pub.iaea.org/mtcd/publications/newsletter.asp?id=130.
Free hard copies may be available from time to time depending on availability.
If you are interested in receiving either a hard copy, or the content of the
latest issues, or you would like to receive more information about this journal,
please send an email to Plant.mutation@iaea.org.
Contributed by Qingyao SHU
Plant Breeding and Genetics
Section
Joint FAO/IAEA Division
International Atomic Energy
Agency
Q.Y.Shu@iaea.org
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=========================
3. WEB
RESOURCES
3.01 Newsletter
on organic seed and plant breeding
The September-November issue of
the Newsletter on Organic Seed and Plant Breeding is now available on the ECO-PB website at http://www.eco-pb.org/07/nops_0911_06.pdf
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
-International workshop on different models to finance plant
breeding.
-Successful international meeting on the use of organic seeds in
vegetable production.
-First announcement on the conference ‘Plant Breeding
for organic and low-input farming systems: dealing with genotype-environment
interaction.
-Dutch expert group on vegetables advices onion on the
national annex.
-Proceedings of the COST SUSVAR workshop on Cereal crop
diversity: Implications for production and products (Ed. H Østergård and L
Fontaine, 2006).
-Susceptibility of spring barley to loose smut and
usefulness of different sources of loose smut resistance.
-New EU policy
project on conservation varieties 2007-2009.
Newsletter: http://www.eco-pb.org/07/nops_0911_06.pdf
Source:
SeedQuest.com
November 2006
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========================
4. REQUESTS FOR
INFORMATION
4.01 Looking
for a US commercial lab to do DNA fingerprinting
Looking for a US
commercial lab to do DNA fingerprinting of vegetatively propagated turfgrass
cultivars. Fingerprinting results have to stand up to scrutiny by the PVP office
and/or patent office and legal challenges.
Edzard van Santen, Ph.D.
Professor
Breeding and Genetics
Dept. of Agronomy and Soils
202
Funchess Hall
Auburn University, AL 36849-5412
USA
Tel: 01-334-844-3975
Fax: 01-334-844-3945
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========================
5. GRADUATE
PROGRAMS AND POSITION ANNOUNCEMENTS
5.01
Cornell Plant Breeding invites applications for admission to our Ph.D. program
USDA National Needs Graduate Fellowships
are available for U.S. citizens/permanent residents interested in combining
plant breeding, crop genomics, and bioinformatics. Participating faculty
conduct a broad range of research activities and encourage interdisciplinary
projects. Excellent facilities are available for laboratory,
computational, greenhouse and field studies. Fellows will have
opportunities for lab rotations, international activities and interactions with
industry.
Financial support includes a 12 month stipend of at least
$26,000, full tuition, and health insurance. Support is provided for the
full duration of the Ph.D. program.
For additional
information:
Elizabeth Earle, Director of Graduate Studies, Field
of Plant Breeding
(ede3@cornell.edu: 607-255-3102)
Mark Sorrells,
Chair, Dept. of Plant Breeding & Genetics
(mes12@cornell.edu: 607-255-2180)
Plant
Breeding web site: http://plbrgen.cals.cornell.edu/
Graduate
School web site: http://www.gradschool.cornell.edu/
Cornell
University web site: http://www.cornell.edu/
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+++++++++++++++++++++
5.02
Chaudhary Charan Singh University (India) Seeks Candidates for PhD and Post-doctoral Work
Chaudhary Charan Singh (CCS)
University in Meerut (INDIA)--formerly Meerut University--is searching for two
candidates interested in completing PhD and post-doctoral work on the following
two projects:
(1) Physical mapping of molecular markers on bread wheat
chromosomes
(2) Development and use of molecular markers of QTL analysis
for fibre quality and lignin content in jute (Corchorus olitorius/capsularia)
...Visit
Here
Source: Generation Challenge Program (GCP) Latest News
Alerts
1 November 2006
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+++++++++++++++++++++
5.03 Postdoctoral Research Associate Position Announcement (1): Rice
research
USDA Postdoctoral Research Associate
DESCRIPTION OF
DUTIES: The position is located at the Dale Bumpers National Rice Research
Center, Stuttgart, Arkansas. The incumbent will clone an additional
component in the Pi-ta resistance gene-mediated resistance pathway. The incumbent will perform the following duties: 1) Analysis of F2:3
progeny of crosses among all mutants expressing Pi-ta and with rice
cultivars possessing Pi-ta and with rice cultivars lacking Pi-ta;
2) identify BAC clones containing NBS-LRR candidates in the Pi-ta region;
3) Sequence analysis of all candidates in progeny of the crosses; 4) Identify
DNA region (s) that were mutated outside of Pi-ta by fast neutrons in
Katy mutant 2354 that render it susceptible; 4) Generate constructs for
complementation tests, and 5) perform pathogenicity and PCR assays as
needed.
QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS: Recent Ph.D. in Plant
Genetics, Molecular Biology, Plant Pathology or a closely related field is
required. Knowledge of genomics, functional genomics, microbial culture
and inoculation methods for disease assays, PCR, Real time PCR, Southern and
Northern blots using non-radioactive materials, sequencing and bioinformatics
are desirable.
Dr. Yulin Jia
USDA-ARS Dale Bumpers National Rice Research
Center
Stuttgart, AR 72160
Phone: 870 672 9300 ext 229
Fax: 870 673
7581
Email: yjia@spa.ars.usda.gov
Forwarded
by Ann Marie Thro
CSREES, USDA
athro@csrees.usda.gov
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+++++++++++++++++++++
5.04 Postdoctoral Research Associate
Position Announcement (2): Rice research
DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES: A
two-year Postdoctoral Research Associate Position will be available on Jan
1, 2007 funded by the National Science Foundation. The postdoc will be hired
through the University of Arkansas Rice Research and Extension Center, and will
perform research at the USDA-ARS Dale Bumpers National Rice Research
Center. Specific objectives involve analyzing the sequence data flanking Pi-ta and identifying SNP diversity across the Pi-ta genomic region. The incumbent will also be responsible for growing plants,
performing infection assays and other activities related to determining disease
reaction to rice blast in sampled accessions. QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS:
Ph.D in Genetics, Biology, Molecular Biology and Plant Pathology or related
degree is required. Experience in DNA sequence analysis, evolutional
analysis, bioinformatics and rice pathology are desirable.
QUALIFICATION
REQUIREMENTS: Ph.D in Genetics, Biology, Molecular Biology and Plant
Pathology or related degree is required. Experience in DNA sequence
analysis, evolutional analysis, bioinformatics and rice pathology are desirable.
FOR SPECIFIC INFORMATION ON THE DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THIS
POSITION OR TO SUBMIT AN APPLICATION, CONTACT:
Dr. Yulin Jia
USDA-ARS
Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center
Stuttgart, AR 72160
Phone: 870
672 9300 ext 229
Fax: 870 673 7581
Email: yjia@spa.ars.usda.gov
Forwarded
by Ann Marie Thro
CSREES, USDA
athro@csrees.usda.gov
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+++++++++++++++++++++
5.05 Professor/Associate Professor/Senior Lecturer of
Applied Biotechnology: African Centre for Crop
Improvement
(One post)
Fixed-term appointment (5
years)
African Centre for Crop Improvement
School of Biochemistry,
Genetics, Microbiology and Plant Pathology
Faculty of Science and
Agriculture
Pietermaritzburg Campus
University of
Kwazulu-Natal
Reference no:. SA63/2006
The African Centre for Crop
Improvement (ACCI) is an externally funded centre, training plant breeders at
the PhD level, from 15 African countries. Students undertake two years of
academic study at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, followed by three years of
field research in their home countries, working in their national research
programmes. The ACCI is also undertaking institutional support of several
African universities, in the field of Plant Breeding. The Generation
Challenge Programme is funding the position and includes research funding. The
School has a well equipped Molecular Biology unit.
The successful
candidate will typically be a plant breeder who has developed expertise in the
use of biotechnology tools to advance practical plant breeding. S/he will teach
postgraduate modules in Plant Biotechnology as it relates to Plant Breeding and
supervise students using biotechnology tools in their PhD research. The post
will require visiting students in the field, requiring travel in Africa. S/he
will undertake independent research in the application of Plant Biotechnology to
African food crops, developing a “biotechnology toolbox” for plant
breeders. The incumbent will also assist in the institutional support
programme at selected African universities.
Applicants at all three
levels will be considered.
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:
FOR ALL LEVELS:
-A
PhD or equivalent degree, in an appropriate field of plant
breeding;
-Experience of supervision of postgraduate students or mentoring of
junior staff;
-Experience in modern molecular
techniques.
PROFESSOR
-Ten years of work experience at tertiary
institution/s OR ten years in appropriate industry/ies or research
institute/s;
-Independent research competence as demonstrated by
international peer-reviewed publications, with a sustained publication record in
the field of plant breeding;
-Successful supervision of doctoral students OR
management and development of staff in industry.
ASSOCIATE
PROFESSOR
-Five years of work experience at tertiary institution/s OR five
years in appropriate industry/ies or research institute/s;
-Independent
research competence as demonstrated by international peer-reviewed publications,
with a sustained publication record in the field of plant
breeding;
-Successful supervision of masters and doctoral
students.
SENIOR LECTURER
-Evidence of current research activity and
a record of publication in the field of plant breeding.
ADVANTAGES:
-A
current rating by the National Research Foundation for South African
candidates;
-Evidence of sourcing and management of research
funding.
Applicants must stipulate the level of appointment at which they
are applying.
For further information about the ACCI kindly contact the
Director, Professor MD Laing, on +27 (0)33 260 5524, via e-mail at laing@ukzn.ac.za or visit the website at http://www.acci.org.za
The
remuneration package offered includes benefits and will be dependent on the
qualifications and/or experience of the successful applicant. The selection
process will commence on 8 December 2006 and will continue until a suitable
candidate is appointed or a decision is taken not to fill the
post.
Applicants are required to submit a covering letter, highlighting
their experience in each of the minimum requirements listed above, together with
a detailed CV including the name, full address, fax number and e-mail address of
three referees, to Mrs J. Poulter, Human Resources Administration, University of
KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X01, Scottsville, 3209, Fax. No. +27 (0) 33 260 5356
or e-mail poulterj@ukzn.ac.za
All
Appointments will be in terms of the prevailing University Employment Equity
Policy and the Employment Equity Plan of the faculty/division (available on
request). The University reserves the right not to make an appointment or to
stop the process at any stage to headhunt or re-advertise the post to meet its
equity goals. Candidates who do not meet the minimum criteria will not be
considered.
Contributed by Professor Mark Laing
Director, African
Centre for Crop Improvement
University of KwaZulu-Natal
South
Africa
E-mail laing@ukzn.ac.za
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===========================
6.
MEETINGS, COURSES AND WORKSHOPS
Note: New announcements (listed first)
may include some program details, while repeat announcements will include only
basic information. Visit web sites for additional details.
NEW
ANNOUNCEMENTS
CIMMYTs Wheat Improvement Course 2007
(intermediate)
Date and venue: The course will take place from
February 26 to May 25, 2007 in research station at Ciudad Obregon and CIMMYT
headquarters at El Batan.
Requirements: The course is designed for
scientists working for at least 2 years in National Agricultural Research System
or private sector in the area of wheat breeding/pathology/physiology.
Recommended entrance level is MSc in agriculture or BSc with least 5 years
practical experience in field breeding. Participant must be nominated by his/her
employer. Proficiency in spoken and written English language is
essential.
The concept: The course will combine mentoring and
problem solving approach - each participant with clearly defined research
objective will be assigned a relevant CIMMYT scientist. The CIMMYT scientist
will be responsible for the participants program and practical activities in the
field. Strong emphasis is given to the importance of inter-disciplinary approach
and the program participants will interact with various CIMMYT scientists. To
promote interaction among the participants and CIMMYT scientists, lectures and
discussions for all participants will be organized on specific days every
week.
Course
Objectives:
To impart
research skills and knowledge needed to design and run sustainable modern wheat
improvement program with specific
objective;
To familiarize
with new improved wheat germplasm, CIMMYTs current research and breeding thrusts
and provide opportunity to select wheat materials that will be sent to
participants;
To encourage
and develop participants ability to synthesize and use information and knowledge
about new technologies related to wheat
improvement;
To improve
participants awareness of the roles and importance of support disciplines such
as pathology, wheat chemistry/quality, statistics, physiology, biotechnology,
GIS, social sciences, etc.;
To foster positive attitudinal changes among participants such as improved
confidence, increased motivation, and heightened appreciation of the benefits of
team work and interdisciplinary research.
Number of participants is
limited to 10. Deadline for application is December 11,
2006.
Course fee is US$ 9,000 (for shorter participation US$ 105/day).
Course costs include accommodation, per diems, health insurance, Mexican visa,
transport to/from Obregon, airport transport, computer with internet, book
allowance, training fee). Course fee does NOT include return flight ticket to
Mexico and travel incidentals.
Petr Kosina
Knowledge Sharing and
Capacity Building Coordinator
CIMMYT - International Maize and Wheat
Improvement Center
CIMMYT ! - 40 years of global partnership
(1966-2006)
www.cimmyt.org
Contributed by Petr
Kosina
p.kosina@CGIAR.ORG
+++++++++++++
10-16 June 2007.
7th International Symposium in the Series: Recent Advances in
Plant Biotechnology (First Announcement),Stara Lesna, High Tatras, Slovak
Republic
organized by
Institute of Plant Genetics and
Biotechnology,
Slovak Academy of Sciences, Slovak
Republic
and
Institute of Plant Molecular Biology, Biology Centre,
Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Czech Republic
Preliminary
Scientific Programme
The symposium programme includes invited keynote
lectures and short oral, as well as poster presentations. Selection of oral
presentations will be made by the organizers based on submitted abstracts. The
programme consists of five topics, each introduced by invited speaker:
1.
Morphogenesis and embryogenesis in in vitro systems
2. Genetic
transformation strategies for plant improvement
3. The quality control of
regenerated plants
4. Plant-pathogen interaction
5.
Applied plant biotechnology
The Symposium Secretary Handles
all queries regarding abstract submission, registration, accommodation and
booking of air tickets for invited speakers:
Alena Gajdosova, Institute
of Plant Genetics and Biotechnology
Nitra, Slovak Republic
Phone: +
421/37 73 36659
Fax: + 421/37 73
36660
E-mail: alena.gajdosova@savba.sk
Deadlines:
Preliminary registration form - December
31, 2006
Final registration and payment - February 28, 2007
Abstract
submission
- March 31, 2007
Contributed by Elcio Guimaraes
FAO/AGPC
Elcio.Guimaraes@fao.org
+++++++++++++
*
14-18 September 2008. The 12th International Lupin Conference
will be held in Perth, Western Australia from 14-18 September. On
behalf of the International Lupin Association (ILA), the 12th International Lupin Conference Organising Committee invites you to Western
Australia. Attached is the first circular for further details. More
detailed information will be forwarded to you in the second circular in early
2007. Please reply either to this email address or to conference@lupins.org.
If you cannot
read the attached pdf document, please download a free copy of Acrobat Reader
from http://www.adobe.com
Looking forward
to hearing from you soon.
Contributed by George D.
Hill
Secretary/Treasurer
International Lupin Association
Lincoln
University, New Zealand
Hill1@Lincoln.ac.nz
REPEAT
ANNOUNCEMENTS
* 2006-2008. Plant Breeding Academy,
University of California, Davis.
The University of California Seed
Biotechnology Center would like to inform you of an exciting new course we are
offering to teach the principles of plant breeding to seed industry personnel.
This two-year course addresses the reduced numbers of plant breeders
being trained in academic programs. It is an opportunity for companies to invest
in dedicated personnel who are currently involved in their own breeding
programs, but lack the genetics and plant breeding background to direct a
breeding program. Participants will meet at UC Davis for one week per quarter
over two years (eight sessions) to allow participants to maintain their current
positions while being involved in the course.
Instruction begins
Fall 2006 and runs through Summer 2008 (actual dates to be
determined)
For more information: (530) 754-7333, email scwebster@ucdavis.edu, http://sbc.ucdavis.edu/Events/Plant_Breeding_Academy.htm
*
21-26 January 2007. Temperature Stress in Plants, Ventura, California.
The program will cover the physiology, biochemistry, and genetics/genomics of
plant responses to high and low temperatures. In addition to model species,
important issues regarding agronomic, horticultural and ornamental species will
be addressed. For more information, visit http://www.grc.uri.edu/programs/2007/tempstrs.htm.
*
8-9 February 2007. A national workshop on “Sustaining plant
breeding as a vital national capacity for the future of U.S. agriculture,”
Raleigh, NC. Co-organized by CSREES, USDA; and by the Departments of Crop
Science and Horticultural Science, North Carolina State University. http://www.plantbreedingworkshop.ncsu.edu/
* 23-27
March 2007. 2nd International Conference on Plant Molecular
Breeding (ICPMB), Sanya, Hainan, China. www.icpmb.org
* 26-29 March 2007. Biotechnology,
Breeding, and Seed Systems for African Crops, Maputo, Mozambique. Co-hosted
by the Rockefeller Foundation and the Instituto de Investigação Agrária de
Moçambique (IIAM). More information at:
http://www.africancrops.net/rockefeller/icv3/
.
* 24-28 June 2007. The 9th International Pollination
Symposium on Plant-Pollinator RelationshipsDiversity in Action. Scheman
Center, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa. The official theme is: "Host-Pollinator Biology Relationships - Diversity in Action." The Conference
webpage can be viewed at
http://www.ucs.iastate.edu/mnet/plantbee/home.html
*
9-14 September 2007. The World Cotton Research Conference-4, Lubbock,
Texas, USA (http://www.icac.org). There is no
cost of pre-registration and if you pre-register you will receive all the
up-coming information on WCRC-4.171 researchers from over 20 countries have
pre-registered.
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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@csrees.usda.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.
(Return to Contents)