PLANT BREEDING NEWS
EDITION
205
An
Electronic Newsletter of Applied Plant Breeding
Clair
H. Hershey, Editor
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-Archived issues available at: FAO Plant Breeding Newsletter
1.
NEWS, ANNOUNCEMENTS
1.01 Farewell to Norman Borlaug: the world loses its leading
hunger fighter
1.02 A
third more mouths to feed by 2050: food production will have to increase by
70 percent - FAO convenes high-level expert forum
1.03 2050:
Climate change will worsen the plight of the poor
1.04 A revolution to combat world hunger
1.05 Intellectual property, technology and the next green
revolution for
1.06 Second
World Seed Congress held in
1.07 Seed Info No. 37: Extended survey dates
1.08
1.09
1.10 CIRAD and EMBRAPA adapt their joint strategy for
1.11 CGIAR
1.12 ‘Seeds of Life’ project develops higher yielding varieties
of cassava
1.13 High Yielding Cassava for
1.14 New pulse varieties from Pulse Breeding Australia offer
hearty benefits
1.15 UKM launched three new varieties for roselle industry
in
1.16 Drought-proof rice for African
farmers
1.17
1.18 GMO crops can help climate and environment, according
to a new report from the Danish Food Ministry
1.19 Crossbreeding GM crops may increase fitness of wild
relatives
1.20 A drought-screening facility for transgenic plants
promises further gains as drought-tolerant rice varieties begin to emerge
1.21
1.22 Food treasures of the wild in peril
1.23 Secrets in a seed: clues into the evolution of the
first flowers
1.24 Study Confirms Classic Theory
on the Origins of Biodiversity
1.25 Novel breeding strategy for plant resistance
1.26 Top wheat experts call for scaling up efforts
to combat Ug99 and other wheat rusts
1.27 Highly valued rice fragrance has origins in basmati
rice,
1.28 Scientists discover how to send
insects off the scent of crops
1.29 Genetic discovery could break wine industry bottleneck, accelerate grapevine
breeding
1.30 First standards for certified biodynamic plant breeding
1.31 IFOAM Conference on Organic Animal and Plant Breeding:
A successful venue
1.32 New Chickpea Varieties Set
to Ward Off Beet Armyworm
1.33 New pest-resistant Habanero joins peck of USDA/ARS-created
peppers
1.34 Kaempferol Blocks Bean
1.35 Cassava "accident"
brings tolerance hope
1.36 Two diseases could wipe out
African bananas, experts step up control efforts
1.37 Editing the plant genome
1.38
1.39 Research teams at the
1.40 KeyGene establishes
1.41 Breeding rust-resistant wheat with
1.42 Novel Gene Promises Durable
Resistance Against the Dreaded Rice Blast
1.43 Scientists Identify Witchweed
Resistance Gene
1.44 Scientists Identify Protein
Family that Helps Maintain Genome Stability
1.45 Unraveling the Potato Genome
1.46 When you
2.01 Hybrid: The History and Science of Plant Breeding
2.02 "GM Crops", first international peer-reviewed
journal of its kind
2.03 The Case for Biotech Wheat
2.04 Biotechnology
and Agricultural Development
2.05 Biotech
Crops in
2.06 Voices of Change: Stories of
Stakeholders in Crop Biotech
3.01 Keynote addresses from the 14th Australasian Plant
Breeding and 11th SABRAO Conference,
3.02
4.01 Graduate Assistantship, offered
in the
5.01 Maize Breeding Lead (Senior or Principal)
Scientist
5.02 Vacancy Announcement: Global Coordinator, Crops for the Future
6. MEETINGS, COURSES
7. EDITOR
1 NEWS, ANNOUNCEMENTS
1.01 Farewell
to Norman Borlaug: the world loses its leading hunger fighter
El Batan, Texcoco, México
The International Maize and Wheat
Improvement Center (CIMMYT) joins with members of the international development
community to mourn the passing of Nobel Peace Laureate and renowned wheat
scientist, Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, who died Saturday night at the age
of 95 from complications from cancer, after an exemplary life dedicated to
fighting hunger in developing countries.
Dr. Borlaug worked as a CIMMYT wheat breeder and research director for
nearly four decades and was a CIMMYT scientist at the time he received the
Nobel Peace Prize.
High-yielding wheat varieties and improved farming practices, first developed
by Borlaug and his team in
Borlaug received the 1970 Nobel Prize for those achievements, and his success
led to the establishment of a network of 15 international agricultural research
centers, including CIMMYT.
Borlaug’s full-time employment at CIMMYT ended in 1979, although he remained
a resident part-time consultant until his death. In 1984, he began a new career
as a university professor, teaching one semester a year at
Borlaug was especially proud of his role in establishing the World Food
Prize in 1986. This prize has grown in stature and is now considered the “Nobel
Prize” for food and agriculture. Some 25 men and women have been recognized
for their outstanding contributions to increasing the quantity, quality and
availability of world food supplies. Based in
Dr. Borlaug always considered himself to be a teacher, as well as a scientist.
Today, several thousand men and women agricultural scientists from more than
50 countries are proud to say they were Norman Borlaug
Borlaug used his fame and influence to champion the cause of smallholder
agricultural development around the globe. Over a 63-year career, he traveled
tirelessly to more than 100 nations, visiting farmers and agricultural scientists
in their fields. It is estimated that over his lifetime he personally spoke
to more than 500,000 students and ordinary citizens, explaining the challenges
and complexities of world food production.
Borlaug was voted a member of the academies of agricultural science of
11 nations, received 60 honorary doctorate degrees from those countries, and
was honored by farmer and civic associations in 28 countries.
Of all the places that he visited, his beloved home was
Although probably better known outside the
CIMMYT was also home to Dr. Borlaug, who was known as a simple and charismatic
figure, who spoke Spanish fluently and truly cared about people, greeting
and chatting with researchers and field workers alike. His dedicated pragmatism
and vision of applying science to benefit the poor live on as core values
of CIMMYT and several other institutions with which he was closely associated.
Norm, as he liked be called, lived his life as a dedicated hunger-fighter,
but one who was forever vigilant. As he said in his acceptance speech of the
1970 Nobel Prize: “…It is true that the tide of the battle against hunger
has changed for the better…but ebb tide could soon set in, if we become complacent…”
We can think of no greater tribute to Norm than to carry on the work to
which he dedicated his life: applying agricultural science for humanitarian
benefits. Thus, he lives on in our hearts and, through our efforts, the work
he began will also live on.
"Today we stand bereft of Borlaug’s physical presence, but not of
his spirit or ideals," says Thomas A. Lumpkin, CIMMYT Director General.
“Norm once said:
The CIMMYT family extends its condolences to the Borlaug family, who live
in
Thomas A. Lumpkin
Director General
CIMMYT
Julio Berdegué
Chair, Board of Trustees
CIMMYT
Source: CIMMYT
(International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center)
++++++++++++++++++++++
1.02 A third more mouths to feed by 2050: food production will have to increase
by 70 percent - FAO convenes high-level expert forum
Producing 70 percent more food for an additional 2.3 billion people by
2050 while at the same time combating poverty and hunger, using scarce natural
resources more efficiently and adapting to climate change are the main challenges
world agriculture will face in the coming decades, according to an FAO
discussion paper published today.
The UN agency will organize a High-Level Expert Forum in
The Forum will prepare the ground for the World Summit on Food Security,
to take place in
Cautious Optimism
"FAO is cautiously optimistic about the world
Ghanem said there was a need for a proper socioeconomic framework to address
imbalances and inequalities and ensure that everyone in the world has access
to the food they need and that food production is carried out in a way that
reduces poverty and take account of natural resource constraints.
Global projections show that in addition to projected investments in agriculture,
further significant investment will be needed to enhance access to food, otherwise
some 370 million people could still be hungry in 2050, almost 5 percent of
the global population.
According to the latest UN projections, world population will rise from
6.8 billion today to 9.1 billion in 2050 - a third more mouths to feed than
there are today. Nearly all of the population growth will occur in developing
countries. Sub-Saharan
Around 70 percent of the world population will live in cities or urban
areas by 2050, up from 49 percent today.
Food demand
The demand for food is expected to continue to grow as a result both of
population growth and rising incomes. Demand for cereals (for food and animal
feed) is projected to reach some 3 billion tonnes by 2050. Annual cereal production
will have to grow by almost a billion tonnes (2.1 billion tonnes today), and
meat production by over 200 million tonnes to reach a total of 470 million
tonnes in 2050, 72 percent of which will be consumed in developing countries,
up from the 58 percent today.
The production of biofuels could also increase the demand for agricultural
commodities, depending on energy prices and government policies.
Land
Despite the fact that 90 percent of the growth in crop production is projected
to come from higher yields and increased cropping intensity, arable land will
have to expand by around 120 million hectares in developing countries, mainly
in sub-Saharan
Globally, there are still sufficient land resources available to feed the
future world population. FAO cautioned, however, that much of the potential
land is suitable for growing only a few crops, not necessarily the crops with
highest demand and it is concentrated in a few countries.
Much of the land not yet in use also suffers from chemical and physical
constraints, endemic diseases and lack of infrastructure which cannot be easily
overcome. Therefore significant investments would need to be undertaken in
order to bring it into production. Part of the land is also covered by forests,
or subject to expanding urban settlements. A number of countries, particularly
in the Near East/North Africa and
Water
Water withdrawals for irrigated agriculture are projected to grow at a
slower pace due to reduced demand and improved water use efficiency, but will
still increase by almost 11 percent by 2050.
Globally, fresh water resources are sufficient, but they are very unevenly
distributed and water scarcity will reach alarming levels in an increasing
number of countries or regions within countries, particularly in the Near
East/North Africa and
Yield potential
All in all, the potential to raise crop yields to feed a growing world
population seems to be considerable, FAO said. "If the appropriate socio-economic
incentives are in place, there are still ample ‘bridgeable
Stronger interventions
FAO called for stronger interventions to make faster progress towards reducing
and finally eliminating the number of hungry and poor people. Investment in
primary agriculture should become a top priority and needs to increase by
some 60 percent since agriculture not only produces food but also generates
income and supports rural livelihoods.
Poverty reduction also requires investments in rural infrastructure (roads,
ports, power, storage and irrigation systems); investments in institutions,
research and extension services, land titles and rights, risk management,
veterinary and food safety control systems; and non-agricultural investment
including food safety nets and cash transfers to the most needy.
Without developing and investing in rural areas in poor countries, deprivation
and inequalities will remain widespread, though significantly less than today,
FAO said.
Website: http://www.fao.org
Source:
SeedQuest.com
1.03 2050: Climate change will worsen the plight
of the poor
Future of
agriculture and food security closely linked to climate change
While
globally the impact of climate change on food production may be small, at
least until 2050, the distribution of production will have severe consequences
on food security: developing countries may experience a decline of between
9 and 21 percent in overall potential agricultural productivity as a result
of global warming, the paper estimated.
The
paper reported that climate change is among main challenges to agriculture
in feeding the world
At
the same time, several agriculture-based mitigation options for climate change
could generate significant benefits for both food security and climate change
adaptation. Increasing soil carbon sequestration through forestry and
agro-forestry initiatives and tillage practices, improving efficiency of nutrient
management and restoring degraded lands are examples of actions that have
large mitigation potential and high co-benefits.
Climate
change is expected to affect agriculture and forestry systems through higher
temperatures, elevated carbon dioxide concentration, changes in rainfall,
increased weeds, pests and diseases. In the short term, the frequency of extreme
events such as droughts, heat waves, floods and severe storms is expected
to increase.
Emissions
from agriculture account for roughly 14 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Seventy-four percent of emissions from agriculture and most of the technical
and economic mitigation potential from agriculture - some 70 percent - are
in developing countries
The
FAO paper notes that a climate change agenda will need to recognize and value
agriculture
Impact
on food security
Climate
change will affect the four dimensions of food security: availability, accessibility,
utilization and stability, notes the FAO paper.
In
terms of availability, increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations are expected
to have a positive effect on the yield of many crops, even though the nutritional
quality of produce may not increase in line with higher yields.
Climate
change will increase the variability of agricultural production across all
areas, with increased frequency of extreme climate events. The poorest regions
will be exposed to the highest degree of instability of food production.
On
average, food prices are expected to rise moderately in line with increases
in temperature until 2050. After 2050 and with further increases in temperatures,
significant decreases in agricultural production potential in developing countries
are projected and prices are expected to rise more substantially.
Climate
change is likely to alter the conditions for food safety by increasing the
disease pressure from vector, water and food-borne diseases. The result could
be a substantial decline in agricultural productivity, including labour productivity,
leading to increases in poverty and mortality rates.
Agricultural
and food production in many developing countries are likely to be adversely
affected, especially in countries that have low incomes and a high incidence
of hunger and poverty and are already highly vulnerable to drought, flooding
and cyclone.
In
The
strongest negative impact of climate change on agriculture is expected in
sub-Saharan
The
climate is right
Adaptation
of the agricultural sector to climate change will be costly but vital for
food security, poverty reduction and maintaining the ecosystem. The current
impetus for investing in improved agricultural policies, institutions and
technologies to meet both food security and energy goals, provides a unique
opportunity to mainstream climate change related actions into agriculture,
the paper notes.
It notes that, until recently, agriculture has largely
remained a marginal issue in climate change negotiations, with some exception
as regards deforestation and forest degradation mitigation activities. Among
the reasons FAO identifies is that the scope of existing financing mechanisms
has tended to exclude many agricultural activities, including many soil carbon
sequestration activities.
++++++++++++++++++++++
1.04 A revolution to combat world
hunger
CGIAR centres will work together
on themed
Yojana Sharma
Last week, the world mourned the loss of Norman Borlaug, the agronomist
credited with saving as many as a billion people from starvation by introducing
high-yield crop varieties.
Borlaug
As the tributes to Borlaug continue, one networking organisation that should
be pivotal to addressing world hunger is poised to make far-reaching changes
to the way it works.
The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) has
already been the backbone of food security research for the poor. But without
radical reform — to link research with its applications; eliminate inefficiency
and raise the funding bar — some stakeholders and insiders fear that it might
not be fit for purpose.
But its plan for a new way to coordinate agricultural research is not without
controversy, calling as it does for a new consortium approach and a central
fund, and
From optimism to challenge
CGIAR — itself founded during the optimism of the Green Revolution in the
1970s — currently has 15 centres in its network, including the International
Rice Research Institute in the
As Ren Wang, director of CGIAR since 2007, comments: "We have done
a tremendous job in contributing to global food security and alleviation of
poverty. But certainly the centres can do much more to address global challenges."
Those challenges include reversing cuts in funding. Public backing for
agricultural research, which had been growing at a rate of 2.7 per cent annually
in the 1980s, dropped to 1.1 per cent growth in the following decade.
Meanwhile, good science is increasingly left "sitting in books and
research papers" rather than reaching producers and the poor, according
to George Rothschild, former director of the International Rice Research Institute,
and now chair of the UK Forum for Agricultural Research for Development. Then
there are the dramatic and recent effects of climate change.
Wang
Last year, when food security was pushed to the top of the political agenda,
a review found t hat CGIAR
Roadmap for reform
This summer, a roadmap for reform emerged after months of behind-the-scenes
discussions. The key idea is to rally donor funding around so-called
The proposal requires centres to restructure to work jointly on these mega-programmes,
financed from a fund that all donors pay into. This will effectively create
the first public international agricultural research fund.
There is also acknowledgement that more money is needed for agricultural
research — and that CGIAR must become a more attractive destination for funds.
After only recently restoring income to its 1995 level, the organisation now
plans to double its income from the current $530 million annual budget for
all 15 centres, to US$1 billion.
Under the outline agreed at CGIAR
The reform should reduce inefficiencies such as those at the
Dominated by mega-programmes
Although small and
"With the mega-programmes, CGIAR is trying to position itself for
research for development, not research for its own sake," says Rothschild.
The investment required for such programmes, according to IFPRI, is large
for typical agricultural research projects but small compared with general
development aid programmes.
The selection and design of the mega-programmes will be pivotal for the
CGIAR
There is broad agreement that mega-programmes will integrate food, environment
and policy issues with the millennium development goals of halving poverty
and hunger by 2015. A long list has been drawn up and several programme outlines
designed. But the scope, precise goal and number of programmes are still to
be decided.
"Mushy hybrid"
Consultations with NGOs and other partners will continue until the end
of the year, but ultimately the go-ahead for mega-programmes will mainly be
in the hands of donors, as CGIAR centres are totally dependent on their funds.
Some three-quarters of CGIAR funding comes from 12 donors, including the
European Union, the World Bank, the
"Bilateral funding is not going to go away," admits Hall. "But
what we won
But Andrew Bennett, closely involved in the talks as chair of the Center
for International Forestry Research, a CGIAR organisation in
Agricultural research faces many challenges, not least the devastating
Ug99 wheat rust disease
At the development end, meanwhile, Mark Holderness, executive secretary
of the Global Forum on Agricultural Research, which is coordinating consultations
with NGOs and farmers
"It is all about positioning between basic and applied research,"
says Christie Peacock, chief executive of
There are other potential downfalls. In
"Donors particularly want the CGIAR system to work in
FARA has held extensive consultations with the CGIAR on the reforms, "so
that key priorities for
And how will success be judged? If poverty targets are not met, will the
research centres get the blame? "We have to ask, are we being asked to
achieve an outcome beyond our resources and control?" says Bennett.
The end of a 40-year tradition
As these issues are debated, the reform team is pressing ahead. "Three
or four mega-programmes will be defined by March 2010 and vague ideas on another
four or five will be fleshed out in the course of next year," says Jonathan
Wadsworth, a senior agricultural researcher with the Department for International
Development in the
The central fund will, Wang hopes, be in place by the end of this year,
although it could affect cash flows to the centres in the meantime. "It
obviously involves a certain amount of risk," says Hall.
Also by December, a consortium board will be appointed, whose first task
will be to appoint a chief executive.
Some believe the toughest part will be for the 15 centres to give up their
own structures. Says one insider: "We will still have centres with
their own culture. You cannot wipe away 40 years of doing things in a particular
way."
Some think that scientists could leave CGIAR if the reforms compromise
research quality
Wang admits he does not "have all the answers" on how the consortium
will work. But he is more upbeat on the central fund. "This year we did
a survey of the 15 largest donors — 14 said they would like to join the fund,
although some have conditions." These include effective communication
between the centres and other national organisations.
How much donors will actually commit to is hard to predict. "If we
get about half the current CGIAR funds, or at least US$250 million for the
central fund, we can consider the reform to be a success. If we reach that,
it will be very unlikely that the reform will founder," says
And if that target is not reached, the consortium unravels, or there is
infighting over mega-programmes?
"The danger is that five years down the line we will need another
reform," says Bennett.
And the victims will be the hungry.
Source:
http://www.scidev.net/en/features/a-revolution-to-combat-world-hunger.html
SciDev.net
+++++++++++++++++++++++
1.05 Intellectual property, technology
and the next green revolution for
Achieving poverty alleviation, particularly in rural areas, will require
aid to agriculture, on which three-quarters of the world’s poorest depend
for their livelihoods. Representatives from the International Fund for Agricultural
Development, a UN agency dedicated to eradicating rural poverty, came to the
first World Intellectual Property Organization conference on key global challenges
13-14 July to discuss how intellectual property could be of use in those goals.
IFAD is led by Kanayo Nwanze, of
Intellectual Property Watch asked Nwanze to explain how
to best create incentives for technology development aimed at helping smallholding
farmers increase their production (as much agricultural technology to date
has been aimed at large agribusinesses). Intellectual Property Watch
also asked if steps could be taken to avoid the environmental fallout of the
last great leap forward in agricultural production, the so-called Green Revolution
of 1965-85, and how IP might influence the creation of that technology. Watch
his answers in the videocasts below.Achieving poverty alleviation, particularly
in rural areas, will require aid to agriculture, on which three-quarters of
the world’s poorest depend for their livelihoods. Representatives from the
International Fund for Agricultural Development, a UN agency dedicated to
eradicating rural poverty, came to the first World Intellectual Property Organization
conference on key global challenges 13-14 July to discuss how intellectual
property could be of use in those goals. IFAD is led by Kanayo Nwanze, of
Intellectual Property Watch asked Nwanze to explain how to best create
incentives for technology development aimed at helping smallholding farmers
increase their production (as much agricultural technology to date has been
aimed at large agribusinesses). Intellectual Property Watch also asked if
steps could be taken to avoid the environmental fallout of the last great
leap forward in agricultural production, the so-called Green Revolution of
1965-85, and how IP might influence the creation of that technology. Watch
his answers in two
videocasts.
Disclaimer: the views expressed in this column are solely those of the
authors and are not associated with Intellectual Property Watch. IP-Watch
expressly disclaims and refuses any responsibility or liability for the content,
style or form of any posts made to this forum, which remain solely the responsibility
of their authors
More news from:
Intellectual
Property Watch
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=10300&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: SeedQuest.com
++++++++++++++++++++++++
1.06
September 2009
Urgent government measures and increased public and private investment
in the seed sector are required for the long term if agriculture is to meet
the challenge of food security in the context of population growth and climate
change. This was the declaration of the Second
World Seed Conference held at the Food and Agriculture Organization of
the United Nations (FAO) Headquarters in Rome last September 8-10, 2009.
Obongo Nyachae, the CEO of the Seed Trade Association of Kenya (STAK),
shared that one key area that touched on Africa (and other developing countries)
was on the need for international organizations such as FAO, Organization
for Economic Cooperation and Development (OCDE), International Union for Protection
of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV), International Seed Testing Association
(
In addition, seed for relief purposes should be sourced through national
seed associations, where they exist, and that priority should be given to
improved seed rather than investing in Quality Declared Seed systems even
where national legislation exists that fully supports development of formal
seed supply systems.
Conference participants included policy makers, government officials, breeding
companies, breeders associations, stakeholders (certification agencies, seed
analysts, seed traders, technology companies, and academic institutions),
farmers
Press
release on the World Seed Conference
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=10420&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
September 2009
Source: CropBiotech Update via SeedQuest.com
+++++++++++++++++++++++
1.07 Seed
Info No. 37: Extended survey dates
Please
find a link to the electronic version of Seed Info No. 37 http://www.icarda.org/news/seed%20info/seedinfo_37/seedinfo_37.htm
To
date Seed Info is distributed to over 2000 people in over 100 countries (over
3000 electronic subscribers).Since we continue receiving feedback from our
readers we decided to extend the deadline for our on-line ICARDA Seed Info
User Survey http://www.icarda.org/publications/SurveySeedInfo/ICARDA_SeedInfo_User_Survey.asp
to 31 December 2009. We appreciate if you take few minutes of your time and
tell us what you think of the newsletter to help us improve the content and
the readership.
Contributed
by Zewdie Bishaw
Head,
Seed Section, ICARDA
1.08
The Indian Council of Agricultural
Research (ICAR) has been working on an ambitious "Seed Production in
Agricultural Crops" project to create awareness on the importance of
quality seeds among farmers. The project aims to quantum jump quality production
of seeds of improved varieties with superior genetics and to motivate farmers
to substitute age-old farm-saved seeds. The Planning Commission of India has
sanctioned Indian Rupee 2622 million for the seed project covering field crops,
horticulture and fisheries during 2005 to 2009 to enhance quality seed planting
material/fish seed production and capacity building of the National Agricultural
Research System by providing required infrastructure, equipment and implements.
In the annual review meeting
of the seed project held on 24 to 25 August 2009, Prof. Swapan Kumar Datta,
Deputy Director General (Crop Science) of the Indian Council of Agricultural
Research (ICAR) stressed the importance of educating farmers regarding the
significance of quality seeds and the need to replace farm-saved seeds with
quality seeds of improved varieties. He enumerated steps taken by ICAR under
the seed project that made a significant impact on national seed production
in the last three years and suggested strategies to formulate dynamic contingent
seed production plan and crop wise monitoring of seed production. "We
need to upgrade our production in terms of quality to play an important role
in seed trade at national and international levels," said Datta. The
seed project involves various agencies at national and state levels including
ICAR institutions and project directorates,
For details about the ICAR seed
project visit the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) website at:
http://www.icar.org.in/news/Replace-farm-saved-seeds%20.htm
For more information about crop biotech in
http://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/online/default.asp?Date=9/4/2009#4684
Source: CropBiotech Update, 4th Sept 09
Contributed by b.choudhary@cgiar.org
+++++++++++++++++++++++
1.09
A training base aiming to help foreign agrotechnicians and governmental
officials acquire
The Yuan Longping High-Tech Agriculture, a state-owned company named after
"the Father of China
Established in June 1999, the company boasting of a research team headed
by Academician Yuan Longping was designated as
But such training had begun long before the arrival of the honor. It has
so far trained more than 2,000 government officials and agrotechnicians from
50 countries through 30 training courses.
Board Chairman Wu Yueshi believed that the recognition from the Ministry
of Commerce would speed up
"Without skilled technicians and well-informed government officials,
hybrid-rice breeding and cultivation techniques could not be spread far across
the world, let alone ease global grain crops shortage," said Wu.
Antonio Mende Tavares, an agricultural official from
His training course was to end next Saturday.
Tavares said that
Minister Miata Beysolow of Commerce and Industry of Liberia said that
If this year
At a ministerial forum on the collaboration of hybrid-rice technique in
"I hope that when I was 90 years old, the per mu yield of super rice
could hit 1,000 kilograms," he said. "If the acres under hybrid
rice reached half of the total rice planting area, the world
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=10348&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: Chinese
Academy of Sciences via SeedQuest.com
1.10 CIRAD and EMBRAPA adapt their
joint strategy for
challenges
The two establishments signed a new joint strategic declaration in
CIRAD and EMBRAPA, whose mandates focus on agronomic research
for development, have been working together for over 25 years on joint research
projects. Now, they have made a 6-year commitment via a new joint strategic
declaration, which focuses on four areas:
“EMBRAPA is a
The CIRAD-EMBRAPA partnership is the foundation of Franco-Brazilian cooperation
in matters of agronomic research. In fact, it has one of the world’s highest
concentrations of expertise in this field. There are now more than 20 joint
projects, involving scientists based in
In addition, “this bilateral partnership is open to multi-partnership and
international networks, such as CIBA, which was created on the initiative
of EMBRAPA and CIRAD”, adds Philippe Petithuguenin, CIRAD’s regional director
in
The signing of this declaration follows the renewal of the 2007 framework
agreement, which sets out the administrative rules for the collaboration between
EMBRAPA-CIRAD.
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=10312&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.11 CGIAR
The Generation Challenge Programme
(GCP) of the Consultative Group on International
Agricultural Research (CGIAR) is pleased to announce the launch of a new,
five-year, multi-partner project to deploy a Molecular Breeding Platform (
Molecular breeding – an advanced approach that employs molecular markers
to select plants with desirable traits – is a more precise, rapid and cost-effective
method of plant breeding, in comparison to its phenotypic counterpart. It
has already proven to be of great benefit to the private sector, by improving
the efficiency of the breeding process and by reducing the time taken to develop
new varieties. However, plant breeders in the public sector and small private
enterprises, particularly in developing countries, have had limited access
to these tools and methods. This has slowed development of new cultivars and
compromised effectiveness in attaining or maintaining food security. There
are genes affecting important traits which are already tagged, as well as
new technologies for rapid improvement of cultivars that could be effectively
deployed in developing countries, if researchers there could have access to
the technology. The
GCP’s
Dr Paul Kimurto of
The platform will pilot 10 pre-existing projects on molecular-assisted
breeding covering seven crops across 15 countries in sub-Saharan
Through continuous interactions between users, developers and service providers,
it is anticipated that there will be a healthy balance of a user-driven platform
tempered with a degree of ‘technology push’ to ensure that users are kept
abreast of the latest methodologies to facilitate or advance their breeding
work.
GCP’s Dr Graham McLaren, who will coordinate the platform, observes, “Great
discoveries in molecular biology and information technology are having an
important impact on plant breeding in large private companies because they
can invest in infrastructure and capacity.” He adds, “This project will tap
into the economies of scale afforded by collective access to make these technologies
available to breeders at large, particularly in developing countries.”
“This project is uniquely positioned to promote research collaboration
and increase the number of plant varieties available to small farmers in the
developing world,” says
The
This project is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with
additional financial support from the UK Department for International Development
and the European Commission.
More news from: CGIAR
(Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research)
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=10095&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source:
SeedQuest.com
1.12 ‘Seeds of Life’ project develops
higher yielding varieties of cassava
Cassava is a staple crop throughout
From these, two varieties, Ai-luka 2 and Ai-luka 4, have been released
to East Timorese farmers, who are keenly anticipating yield increases of 51-65
per cent over local cassavas.
Ai-luka 2 and 4 have been well received by local farmers, not just for
their high yields, but for their good flavour as well.
The two new varieties came from
The ‘Seeds of Life’ food security program, funded jointly by the East Timor
Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, AusAID and the Australian Centre for
International Agricultural Research, aims to reduce hunger by lifting yields
of staple food crops through improving varieties.
CLIMA Director, Professor William Erskine, said CLIMA’s contribution to
this vital East Timorese research on better cassava varieties had been particularly
gratifying because of the greatly improved yields that have been achieved.
CLIMA has provided overall management for the project, including all its
Australian-funded activities and has provided important training for East
Timorese researchers at UWA.
“In a country where most families suffer from chronic food shortages and
rationing for up to six months of the year, an increase in yield as high as
65 per cent in a staple food such as cassava is going to make a big difference
to people’s lives,” Professor Erskine said.
“This breakthrough with cassava is just one of many successes with new
varieties of staple crops introduced to
“Another benefit is that it has increased food security and produced surpluses
for local markets, sometimes for the first time,” he concluded.
Significant yield increases have been achieved in many new crop varieties
over local cultivars, including maize, 53 per cent, peanuts, 31 per cent,
rice, 23 per cent and an extraordinary 80 per cent increase in sweet potatoes,
which has been accompanied by improved size and eating quality.
UWA has also been helping East Timorese agriculture by providing training
for four East Timorese students, ranging from language skills for later post-graduate
studies at CLIMA, through to PhD training for agricultural scientist, Marcal
Gusmao.
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=10534&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source:
SeedQuest.com
1.13 High
Yielding Cassava for
Good
news for cassava growers in east
The
new varieties, Ai-luka 2 and Ai-luka 4, have been well received by farmers,
who are who are keenly anticipating yield increases of 51-65 percent over
local cassavas. William Erskine, Director of Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean
Agriculture (CLIMA) which manages the Seeds of Life program, noted that "an
increase in yield as high as 65 percent in a staple food such as
cassava
is going to make a ! big difference to
people
For
more information on CLIMA, visit
Contributed
by Margaret E. Smith
Dept.
of Plant Breeding &
Source: Crop Biotech Update
1.14 New pulse varieties from Pulse
Breeding
Three new pulse varieties suitable for the northern grains region will
be launched in early October, offering unprecedented improvements in yield,
harvestability, disease resistance, tolerance to abiotic stresses, quality
and weed management.
James Clark, Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) northern
panel chair says the new varieties are part of a pipeline of pulse varieties
that will be released by Pulse Breeding Australia (PBA) in the next five years.
“The GRDC is pleased to support PBA in bringing northern region growers
a world-class breeding and germplasm enhancement program for chickpeas, field
peas and faba beans,” Mr Clark says.
“The improved reliability of five new pulse varieties to be released by
PBA this spring will increase growers’ confidence to use pulses in their cropping
programs.”
Col Douglas, Queensland Primary Industries and Fisheries (QPIF) chickpea
breeder, Hermitage Research Station says pulses are a vital part of crop rotations
and offer benefits that lead to better financial and environmental outcomes
for growers and the Australian grains industry.
“Pulses fix atmospheric nitrogen to reduce the fertiliser requirement of
following cereal crops, help reduce the incidence of cereal diseases, and
provide opportunities to manage herbicide resistance,” Mr Douglas says.
PBA aims to fast-track the release of new pulse varieties to Australian
growers that have better disease resistance, are higher yielding and are adapted
to Australian conditions.
Five new pulse varieties will be commercially available to Australian growers
for the 2010 winter cropping season, including two chickpeas, PBA HatTrick*
(photo) and PBA Slasher*.
PBA HatTrick is a desi-type variety well suited to all current chickpea-growing
areas in northern NSW and southern
It offers substantially better resistance to ascochyta blight than other
varieties grown in these areas, and is moderately resistant to phytophthora
root rot.
PBA HatTrick is high yielding and its seed is similar to Jimbour , suitable
for both splitting and direct consumption.
PBA, in association with Pulse
“This will give growers and advisors alike the opportunity to view and
assess these varieties in their local districts prior to their availability
next season,” Mr Douglas says.
Variety brochures outlining the varieties advantages, areas of adaptation,
agronomic and disease management information and marketing arrangements will
be available for each new variety.
PBA is funded by GRDC in conjunction with the Queensland Primary Industries
and Fisheries (QPI&F), NSW Department of Industry and Investment (NSWII),
University of Adelaide, South Australian Research and Development Institute
(SARDI), Department of Primary Industries, Victoria (DPI VIC), Department
of Agriculture and Food Western Australia (DAFWA) and Pulse Australia.
The chickpea launches will take place at Yenda, NSW on October 7; Moree,
NSW and
For more information, visit www.pulseaus.com.au or
contact Col Douglas, QPIF on 07 4660 3613.
* Varieties protected under the Plant Breeders Rights Act 1994.
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=10467&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.15 UKM launched three new varieties
for roselle industry in
Three new roselle varieties have been launched in
Today, the planted area is approximately 150 ha annually.
• Higher average yields (3.1-6.5 t ha-1) compared to varieties Terengganu
(2.7-3.6 t ha-1) and Arab (4.2-5.5 t ha-1)
• Reduced plant stature, medium plant size and more erect plant type (109-132
cm) compared to their parent variety; thus less prone to lodging
• Shorter maturity period (4-6 months crop cycle), thus earlier harvest
• Leaf colour is generally green except for UKMR-2 which has purplish-red
pigmentation in its stems and leaves.
• Attractive fruit shape but the fruit shape of UKMR-2 resembles that of
its parent. The calyx colour of UKMR-1,UKMR-2 and UKMR-3 is red, deep red
and light green, respectively.
• Desirable fruit physico-chemical characteristics for specific uses. For
example, the absence of anthocyanins in UKMR-3 gives an advantage in the extraction
of
The development of the three new varieties will enable the roselle industry
to move forward in terms of providing more choices for growers and market
varietal selection. Altogether, these new varieties provide a considerable
potential to increase the productivity of the roselle industry. At the same
time, these varieties will also promote the expansion of product development
for roselle (i.e. to provide a wide-ranging products from juice, concentrate
and tea to higher value-added functional foods, capsules and tablets), and
enable a myriad of roselle products to create new and foray into more market
niches.
Contributed by Mohamad bin
Universiti Kebangsaan
mbopar2004@yahoo.com
1.16 Drought-proof
rice for African farmers
It
takes, on average, 2,500 liters of water (by rainfall or irrigation) to produce
just 1 kilogram of rice using traditional cultivation methods. Considering
the effects of climate change, can farmers continue to grow rice if the water
supply becomes increasingly scarce? Drought is particularly devastating to
varieties.
One
striking example of drought-tolerant local rice is Oryza glaberrima, which
was domesticated in West Africa about ,500 years ago," says Dr. Moussa
Sié, program leader for Genetic Diversity and Improvement at the Africa Rice
Center (WARDA). "It can recover after droughts when water is available
again." The development of drought-tolerant
African varieties is one of the solutions to increase rice yields in drought-prone
environments. Generous support from donors, such as the UK Department for
International Development and he World Bank, has allowed seeds of these precious
varieties to be preserved in the WARDA gene bank, and then shared with researchers
around the world through the International Network for the Genetic Evaluation
of Rice-Africa. This collection of African rice genetic esources was the key
o the development of NERICA®-a cross between African and Asian rice varieties-by
WARDA.
Contributed
by Margaret E. Smith
Dept.
of Plant Breeding &
Source: AfricaRice:
1.17
The
seeds from which future planted forests originate are created in special plantations,
seed orchards. Through seed orchards the efforts of forest tree breeding comes
out into the actual forests. The international community had earlier no organization
or forum for research about this very central important activity.
However
autumn 2008 the International Union of Forest Research Organization created
a unit (working party) for seed orchards http://www.iufro.org/science/divisions/division-2/20000/20900/20901/
It had its first meeting in Korea starting 090909 at 09:09 with 25 oral presentations
and 45 posters. The main theme was seed orchards and the link to long-term
tree breeding in response to climate change. http://www-genfys.slu.se/staff/dagl/Korea09/
Contributed
by Dag Lindgren
1.18 GMO crops can help climate and
environment, according to a new report from the Danish Food Ministry
Today, GMO crops are grown on 8% of the world
The Danish Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries has released a report
on GMO’s showing that the production of genetically modified (GM) crops has
the potential to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases such as CO2. The report
also shows that GMOs are a promising way of producing plants that are more
resistant towards changes in climate conditions.
Danish trials show that GM crops give farmers an opportunity to achieve
the same harvest yield with reduced use of pesticides. That said, the report
highlights that there is still a need for research into the possibilities
and risks associated with GMOs, and the Food Ministry has therefore earmarked
DKr 65 million for research into the use of biotechnology in farming and food.
“Today, eight percent of the world
“It would be unwise of us not to choose genetic technologies simply because
we do not have sufficient information – these technologies have the potential
to contribute to meeting the challenges facing us in terms of the climate
and the environment as well as in questions of sufficient food supply.”
The report collates the existing knowledge about GMOs and one of its purposes
is to be a basis for the coming debate on the usefulness to society of growing
GM crops in the future.
According to the report, the Danes are the people in the EU who feel best
informed about GM foods; they are also among the consumers who associate the
lowest risk with genetic technologies. However, the report further shows that
Danish consumers have very poor faith in the public authorities
“Twenty percent of Europeans believe wrongly that their own genes will
be modified if they eat GM food,” says Food Minister Eva Kjer Hansen. “It
can be difficult to tell truth from fiction when you are talking about modern
biotechnology, and that is why I wanted this report, which collates the present
knowledge about the subject. There are many myths about GMOs and it is my
hope that we will be able to wave goodbye to some of them with updated knowledge
and debate.”
The report
Read more about the report and register for the conference at www.fvm.dk/gmokonference. (In
Danish only)
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=10401&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.19 Crossbreeding GM crops may increase
fitness of wild relatives
A new study has investigated the effects of interbreeding a genetically
modified squash crop with its wild relative. The findings demonstrate that
it could cause wild or weedy relatives to become more resistant to disease.
Genetic Modification (GM) can be used to develop crops that are resistant
to specific pests. However, there are concerns that if a GM crop interbreeds
with its wild or weedy relative the resistance could be transferred. This
could potentially make wild plants more competitive. The study investigates
the possible risks of a GM cultivated squash crop (Cucurbita pepo) crossbreeding
with a wild squash crop.
The researchers compared the resistance of wild squash and plants that
were a hybrid of the cultivated and wild squash varieties to viruses. One
half of the hybrids were GM, containing a gene that rendered the plant resistant
to zucchini yellow mosaic virus, and the other half were conventional non-GM
plants, which had not been specifically bred for virus resistance.
Second and third generations of the crossbred squash plants were exposed
to the virus over two years and compared with squash plants which were not
exposed to the virus. The research measured the fitness of the plants in terms
of variables such as number of seeds, flowers and fruit, pollen production,
and plant mass. It also investigated vegetative traits such as leaf area and
length between nodes where the leaves grow from the stem.
The results indicated that the presence of the virus dramatically decreased
the fitness of both the wild squash plants and the non-GM hybrids. In comparison,
the GM hybrid plants continued to be resistant to the virus over the two generations.
With the exception of pollen production, the virus produced negative effects
on all fitness components of the wild and non-GM plants, decreasing seed production
by 80 to 100 per cent. In the first year, the non-GM plants had a slightly
higher resistance to the virus than the wild squash, indicating a possible
benefit of conventional non-GM crops. However, the following year the resistance
was lower.
In addition, the research found that by the third generation, the shape
and structure of the cultivated GM hybrid crop and the wild crop were indistinguishable.
They both had a vine-like quality with long spaces between the leaves that
would allow them to grow well in the wild. This supports the proposal that
the wild-GM hybrid would thrive in the wild.
It is significant that the non-GM hybrid showed some subtle signs of disease
resistance. While it did not display fitness as dramatically as the GM hybrid,
the study points out that the basic mechanisms for transferring traits to
weeds are fundamentally the same for conventional crops as for GM crops. It
is therefore possible that a crop conventionally bred for strong virus resistance
could pose similar risks to those posed by GM crops. This is an area which
deserves further attention.
However, the authors suggest that, to predict more accurately the effect
of virus resistance on wild squash populations, data are needed on the long-term
patterns of virus incidence and their role in regulating wild plants. The
authors also caution that this study only investigates the relationship between
one specific plant and one specific virus. Risk assessment must be undertaken
on a case-by-case basis; it cannot be assumed that other diseases or crops
will behave in the same way.
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=10316&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: European
Commission, Environment DG via SeedQuest.com
1.20 A drought-screening facility
for transgenic plants promises further gains as drought-tolerant rice varieties
begin to emerge
Since the dawn of agriculture, drought has been the bane of farmers, especially
those who grow rice, a crop with special water requirements. Most rainfed
areas receive a reasonable amount of rain during the growing season, but its
erratic distribution and deficits at such critical stages as flowering and
grain-filling can seriously curtail productivity. In
Most farmers in drought-prone rainfed areas grow varieties bred for irrigated
conditions. As irrigated varieties are highly susceptible to drought, farmers
are lucky to harvest even half a ton per hectare when droughts occur.
To help farmers cope with water scarcity, the International Rice Research
Institute (IRRI) has developed several new breeding lines that yield as well
as other varieties under normal conditions and have a yield advantage of up
to 1 ton per hectare under drought. Two of these drought-tolerant lines have
been recommended for official release, one in
“IRRI has intensified efforts to develop drought-tolerant and aerobic cultivars
to cope with the looming water shortage,” says
During the dry season of 2007, the first drought-screening experiment using
the facility was carried out to test the effects of a gene for drought tolerance
provided by the
“The facility allows us to assess a large population of plants to take
into account possible variation in the effects of a transgene on plant growth
and yield performance,” explains crop physiologist Rachid Serraj. “IRRI is
able to generate large numbers of transgenic lines, so it is more efficient
to select and discard plants early on, keeping only those that show promise.
“We assess the impact of water deficit on plant growth and use non-destructive
measurements to analyze crop performance,” Serraj continues, adding that plants’
flowering, tillering, grain formation, transpiration, canopy temperature,
photosynthesis, leaf rolling, tillering ability, root biomass, and spikelet
fertility are other parameters that are measured.
Sometimes a transgenic plant performs better than others under drought
but yields less under normal conditions. IRRI looks for candidate genes that
are activated by drought to avoid any yield penalty under normal conditions.
“The drought-screening facility has greatly helped in our transgenic research,
so we plan to establish a similar and bigger facility in the future,” states
Serraj. “This will allow us to test more candidate genes.”
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=10557&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source:
CGIAR News September 2009 via
SeedQuest.com
1.21
The Global Crop Diversity Trust was
invited to this year’s TED Global - ‘where the world
The Trust’s Director,
The varieties of wheat, corn and rice we grow
today may not thrive in a future threatened by climate change.
Why you should listen to him: Tucked away under
the snows of the
For
"For individual crop varieties, doomsday does come every day. We want
to put an end to that."
More news from:
Global
Crop Diversity Trust
Source:
SeedQuest.com
1.22 Food treasures of the wild in
peril
With food, poorer is often richer. Onion soup wasn
But now comes the news that remote tribes in dense tropical forests or
frozen polar wastes are keepers of a vast treasurehouse of healthful, nutritious
foods — many with extraordinary properties — that more affluent societies
can only envy.
This is among the main findings of a recent book, Indigenous People
Receding habitats
The bad news is that as wild habitats recede under economic pressures and
globalization increasingly standardizes lifestyles, these native foodstuffs
are vanishing fast — together with the diets that once kept tribespeople healthy
and trim.
Nonetheless, in the Karen community of Sanephong, close to the
Nature has clearly been generous to the Karens, who enjoy 208 species of
vegetables and 62 different kinds of fruit. But even in an arid, drought-prone
zone such as the territory inhabited by
Four crops
By comparison, diets in industrialized western countries are far more restricted,
depending heavily on just four commercial crops — wheat, rice, corn, and soy
— often consumed as processed foods or, via animal feed, as meat. Even more
alarming are FAO estimates that about three-quarters of the genetic diversity
once found in agricultural crops has been lost over the last century.
Traditional foods not only generally taste good but also frequently contain
very high levels of micronutrients. In Mand, a hamlet on the Micronesian
Of the 12 indigenous groups studied in the book, the percentage of adult
dietary energy obtained from traditional food varied between 93 percent for
the Awajun of Peru, among whom obesity is almost non-existent, and 27 percent
for Mand
Diet disorders
Says
It is therefore important to preserve such resources, not only for the
indigenous groups concerned, but also as an important store of biodiversity
for all nations. A first step, says
But some of this could already be happening. Among the Inuit, who have
developed an appetite for frozen pizza, spaghetti and carbonated soft drinks,
31 percent of total energy came from traditional food sources a decade ago,
whereas in 2006 the figure had risen to 41 percent. This indicates a return
to tradition.
And it could be that in the not too distant future the choice for dining
out will no longer be between national cuisine and ethnic but feature a new
entry: "How about indigenous tonight".
Indigenous Peoples
More news from:
FAO
(Food and Agriculture Organization)
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=10189&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source:
SeedQuest.com
1.23 Secrets in a seed: clues into
the evolution of the first flowers
Researchers
work on part of
Approximately 120-130 million years ago, one of the most significant events
in the history of the Earth occurred: the first flowering plants, or angiosperms,
arose. In the late 1800s,
Studies of key features of angiosperm evolution, such as the evolution
of the flower and development of the endosperm, have contributed to our current
understanding of relationships among the early families of flowering plants.
Examining the development of seeds and embryos among early angiosperms may
help to improve our understanding of how flowering plants evolved from the
nonflowering gymnosperms.
A recent study by Dr. Paula Rudall and colleagues published in the September
issue of the AJB (www.amjbot.org/cgi/content/full/96/9/1581) explores a piece
of this mystery: the microscopic anatomy of seed development in Trithuria,
a genus in the plant family Hydatellaceae, thought to be one of the earliest
families of angiosperms—the so-called "basal angiosperms."
Rudall and colleagues
In Trithuria, the cells of the micropylar region divide many times to form
the multi-celled endosperm. However, the chalazal region forms a single-celled
haustorium, a structure that absorbs nutrients and ultimately degenerates
to form an empty space in the seed. This situation is broadly similar to that
of some waterlilies and some monocots but differs from that of many other
early-diverging angiosperms such as Amborella, in which the endosperm is formed
from the chalazal region.
One of the current hypotheses is that the endosperm originated as a monstrous
proembryo that fails to develop into a plant. Rudall and colleagues
"Comparative studies of early endosperm development in extant
Rudall and colleagues
The full article is available for no charge for 30 days following the date
of this summary at www.amjbot.org/cgi/content/full/96/9/1581.
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=10346&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: The Botanical Society of America
via SeedQuest.com
1.24 Study
Confirms Classic Theory on the Origins of Biodiversity
A
team of researchers at
The
report said that, "As milkweeds developed prickly, hairy leaves, highly
toxic chemicals (cardenolides) and gooey white latex that gums up a predator
With
this discovery the team is aiming for more studies on plant/ insect interaction.
"It
See
the report at http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Sept09/AgrawalMilkweed.html
Contributed
by Margaret E. Smith
Dept.
of Plant Breeding &
1.25 Novel breeding strategy for
plant resistance
Wageningen, The
Disabling certain plant genes instead of adding resistance genes is a promising
strategy for giving crops long-term resistance to diseases. Researcher Yuling
Bai and professors Evert Jacobsen and Richard Visser from Wageningen UR explain
the new breeding strategy in the last issue of Molecular Breeding.
Switching off genes, better known as gene silencing, has been used for
many years to improve crop quality, but has not been used to increase resistance
of crops to pathogens in order to mimic recessive mutations. The dominant
strategy in resistance breeding is to add dominant resistance genes (R genes)
into a crop.
Over the past few years, scientists have obtained a better understanding
of how pathogens cause diseases in plants. Pathogens exploit effector molecules
to interfere with specific genes in the plants. Some of these plant genes
play a negative role in plant defense and these genes are so called susceptibility
genes or S genes.
The first example of this was found in barley. Researchers found a susceptibility
gene (the Mlo gene) for powdery mildew disease. They discovered that this
S gene is not functional in barley varieties resistant to powdery mildew.
A remarkable aspect was that these varieties had been resistant to powdery
mildew for more than thirty years.
When scientists switched this Mlo S gene off in Arabidopsis, the plant
model for genetic research, this plant also became resistant to powdery mildew.
Subsequently, Bai found in 2007 that tomato plants become resistant to powdery
mildew too, if you silence this susceptibility gene. She expects that this
method can be used for many other crops to achieve this type of resistance
to powdery mildews.
So far, only four S gene families have been used for many years in resistance
breeding. One other example is an S gene found in several crops which helps
the spreading of viruses in plants. When this S gene is switched off, the
virus cannot spread in the plant anymore. As a result, plants are resistant
to the virus. Bai has a fast growing list of potential S genes for different
diseases, mainly found in Arabidopsis.
Because the S genes have a function in plant growth or reproduction, silencing
or mutation of the genes may have side effects on the plants performance.
R genes and S genes are the two sides of the same coin of plant disease
resistance. R genes combat pathogens by playing positive roles in plant defense
mechanisms. In such a battle, R genes often loose their resistance within
five years of introduction because of mutations in the pathogen. S genes play
a negative role in plant defense. Examples have shown that loss of functions
in such S genes caused sustainable resistance to the pathogen, Bai explains.
Jacobsen now wants to investigate whether potatoes have S genes which are
involved in the susceptibility to late blight. He hopes to find a combination
of S and stacked R genes to develop a more lasting resistance to this tough
disease.
The new breeding strategy is still controversial among plant scientists
and breeders.
Albert Sikkema
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=10421&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.26
Top wheat experts call for scaling up efforts to combat
Ug99 and other wheat rusts
Scientists in
Wheat experts from 26 countries warn that rapidly-moving, wind-borne transboundary
wheat diseases continue to threaten food security and wheat genetic diversity
worldwide — particularly in the ancient breadbasket stretching from the
Of particular concern is the emergence in
The proposed global rust reference laboratory, which was embraced in Aleppo
at the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative (BGRI) Coordination Conference, will
house a unique collection of all the world
Dr. Mahmoud Solh, Director General of the International
Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), a BGRI partner
and conference host, said such a global reference laboratory will be used
as a repository for new virulent races of the rust pathogen, facilitating
the identification of new sources of resistance in wheat, as a site for race
identification and analysis, and as an important location for training scientists
from national programs.
Dr Solh said these highly mobile, wind-borne, transboundary wheat diseases
have the potential to endanger global production of a crop that feeds 2 billion
people.
"For example, the black stem rust Ug99 is alarming because 80 percent
of the world
The Declaration issued at the end of the
"The
The Declaration also cites the need to "develop early warning, seed
production and delivery systems, and collaboration to allow us to anticipate
wheat rust threats in the future as well as manage existing threats such as
Ug99." Discussions at the conference identified key gaps in the current
knowledge of rust diseases, and opportunities to use biotechnology and modern
communications capabilities to track and combat rust diseases faster and more
efficiently.
Dr Ronnie Coffman, vice-Chair of the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative (BGRI),
said the conference is part of a series of coordinated actions focused on
transboundary wheat rust diseases that have flowed from the BGRI, whose permanent
members include ICARDA, CIMMYT (two of the CGIAR centers), FAO, the Indian
Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR), and
"The BGRI is named after Nobel Prize Laureate Norman Borlaug, whose
work (decades ago) in combating an earlier stem rust invasion is credited
with helping launch the Green Revolution. It is Borlaug
BGRI activities are funded by an array of donors including USAID, USDA,
CIDA-Canada, AFESD-Arab Fund, IFAD, the Indian Council for Agricultural Research
(ICAR), FAO, ACIAR-Australia, PIEAES and Government of Sonora, Mexico, Syngenta
Foundation, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (supporting the largest
project on Durable Rust Resistance in Wheat) and other donors. In addition,
national programs have been investing significantly through in-kind contributions
to combat wheat rusts.
The BGRI, coordinated by
Dr. Coffman said that efforts in BGRI started in 2005 and already resistant
material has been identified through the BGRI partnership, and resistant varieties
have been released in
However, he warned: "We are running against time to ensure development of durable resistant varieties and to fast-track seed production and delivery system