PLANT BREEDING NEWS
An Electronic Newsletter of Applied Plant Breeding
EDITION 234
30 April 2012
Clair H. Hershey, Editor
Sponsored by GIPB, FAO/AGP and Cornell University’s Department of
Plant Breeding and Genetics
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see instructions here
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available at: FAO Plant Breeding Newsletter
SPECIAL SECTION:
A TRIBUTE TO INFLUENTIAL PLANT
BREEDERS
In this April edition tributes to:
Peter R.
Jennings
Stanley J. Peloquin
Heiko K. Parzies
Hartwig H. Geiger
CIMMYT’s Plant Breeders
1. NEWS, ANNOUNCEMENTS
1.01 Plant breeding promotes harmony between agriculture and the
environment
1.02 Climate change helps then quickly stunts plant growth,
decade-long study shows
1.03 World's first genetically modified crop that has been deliberately
engineered to emit a repellent-smelling substance against insect pests
1.04 Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics and CSIRO
join forces with Vilmorin & Cie to commercialize Nitrogen Use Efficiency
(NUE) wheat in Australia
1.05 IRRI using
biotech for developing rice varieties
1.06 Embrapa apresenta novo pasto de Brachiaria humidicola
1.07 Institute for agricultural
research Samaru and partners win West Africa Sub-regional award in maize
breeding
1.08 Intellectual Property Strategy: A wise man’s guide
1.09 US Supreme Court
GM crop patent case
1.10 Lords of the harvest: third-party signaling and regulatory
approval of genetically modified
organisms
1.11 Biotech and Organic Farming: Coexisting Peacefully
1.12 Science Magazine study on pesticides and pollinator colony health
1.13 Insecticidal seed treatments can harm honey bees
1.14 Ancient Egyptian cotton unveils secrets of domesticated crop
evolution
1.15 Members appointed to USDA National Genetic Resources Advisory
Council
1.16 National seed bank to be set up in western Victoria
1.17 USA - More funding necessary for Germplasm Enhancement of
Maize program
1.18 Plants and animals under greater threat due to climate change
- Species can lose their ability to adapt
1.19 Ancient genes and modern science
deliver salt-tolerant wheat
1.20 Max Planck Institute POD corn is not a maize ancestor
1.21 Superstars of botany: Rare specimens
1.22 Environmental and conservation seed workshop to be held
during annual convention of the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA)
1.23 Success of ISF World Seed Congress 2011 enables £50,000
donation from the British Society of Plant Breeders to support seed improvement
project in Kenya
1.24 The electronic nose knows when your cantaloupe is ripe
1.25 X-ray technology harnessed to grow more nutritious crops
1.26 EU-funded project to speed up the development of drought and
disease resistant crops
1.27 New forage plant prepares farmers for climate changes
1.28 Hunt on for rice
to resist salt, flooding
1.29 Creating the perfect tomato
1.30 Tomatoes: GM, Aroma and Tradition
1.31 New Downy mildew resistant cucumber
1.32 Realizing the potential of Africa’s vegetative crops requires
new tools for rapid multiplication of healthy and improved planting material
1.33 Molecular hybridization applications for virus resistance
screening and large scale detection in solanaceae and cucurbits
1.34 Better cotton?
It’s all in the genes, says Israeli geneticist
1.35 Seed size is controlled by maternally produced small RNAs,
scientists find
1.36 A new approach to molecular plant breeding
1.37 DNA recombination for targeted plant breeding
1.38 New lab speeds plant breeding efforts
1.39 Discovery of a nitrogen
"satiety" gene in plants
1.40 ICRISAT and BGI seals research partnership on modern
sequencing technologies for molecular crop breeding
1.41 Fine
mapping wheat genes
1.42 MSU Researchers find out how plants decide to go into defense
mode
1.43 New sequencing techniques for fine mapping wheat genes
1.44 Metabolic characteristics in ruminants of proteins in hull
less barley varieties
2.01 New Book Release: Plant Breeding for Biotic Stresses
3.
3.01 New Learning Modules for Plant Breeding Now Available
4.01 National Rice Month Scholarships; $8,500 in awards available
4.02 Donald Danforth Plant Science Center’s Summer Internship
program gets boost from two national foundations
4.03 TWAS Fellowships:
2012 Call for Applications
5.01 Postdoctoral Research Fellow – Dept of Plant Sciences, NDSU
5.02 Monsanto plant breeding positions
6. MEETINGS, COURSES
7. EDITOR
Special Section: A tribute to influential Plant Breeders
Peter
R. Jennings, a renowned rice breeder for his contribution to the
green revolution in rice, is celebrated not only for his scientific
achievements but also for inspiring a generation of younger scientists who went
on to become distinguished in their own fields. At his 80th
birthday, Peter still maintains his sharp and extraordinary ability to dissect
and find solutions to complex problems.
Several options and routes are presented to us in our life
that can lead us to unexpected journeys. One never knows where one of them
would take us nor if our dreams and expectations would come through. If we find
someone at the crossroads to guide us, then the journey is much easier. I had
the privilege of running into Peter who guided my first steps into rice
breeding and offered me his helpful hand in difficult moments. I was not the only one who benefitted from
Peter’s guidance and benevolence.
Peter mentored young researchers from National Rice
programs in Latin America before becoming a promoter of FLAR (Latin America
Fund for Irrigated Rice), where he spent several years as consultant and mentor
of young students eager to learn from his passion about rice, a saga that he
started during his first appointment as rice breeder at the IRRI, The
Philippines, and kept alive during his career.
He used to call them “my tigers” with pride and love.
(Contributed anonymously)
++++++++++
Stanley J. Peloquin, Emeritus Campbell-Bascom Professor (1921-2008) was
an internationally renowned plant geneticist and breeder who made exceptional
contributions to the quantity, quality, and sustainable supply of food for the
world from his innovative and extensive scientific contributions with direct
applicability in crop improvement.
For five decades, Professor
Peloquin merged basic research in plant reproduction, cytology, cytogenetics,
genetics, potato breeding, and education at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison. His germplasm enhancement philosophy of "putting genes
into a usable form" is a prime example of farsightedness in science.
A huge part of Professor Peloquin’s
lifetime impact was his classroom teaching and mentoring of undergraduate and
graduate students. Cognizant that scientific vocabulary, once established,
exhibits considerable inertia, he understood that adoption by the broader
scientific community of more accurate and specialized terms would occur only
with increased comprehension and common usage. Prof. Peloquin endeavored to
provide both, and vociferously encouraged others to do likewise. He regularly
used enhanced terminology in daily communications with students, research
assistants, and peers, as well as in the laboratory’s presentations and
publications. Moreover, he was quick to challenge inappropriate usage of the
older terms.
His contagious enthusiasm and wide
range of scientific knowledge and interests inspired his undergraduate workers,
graduate students, colleagues and peers at all levels. He instilled the thrill
of science into numerous undergraduate and graduate students who subsequently
traveled around the world to pursue careers as researchers, teachers, and
administrators.
Many feel that much of their
success was related not only to what they learned from him about science but
also about life. We all learned one principle: “hard work always pays off.”
Prof. Peloquin will remain a source of inspiration to all researchers and
practitioners or plant breeding.
Above text from:
Ortiz, R.,
L. Frusciante & D. Carputo. 2005.
Stanley J. Peloquin: potato geneticist and cytogeneticist. Plant Breeding
Reviews 25, 1-19 http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/39/04716669/0471666939.pdf
Ortiz, R., P. Simon, S. Jansky
& D. Stelly. 2009. Ploidy manipulation of the gametophyte, endosperm, and
sporophyte in nature and for crop improvement – A tribute to Prof. Stanley J.
Peloquin (1921-2008). Annals of Botany 104, 795-807 http://aob.oxfordjournals.org/content/104/5/795.full
Contributed by Rodomiro Ortiz
Professor, Genetics and Plant
Breeding
Dept. Plant Breeding and
Biotechnology
Swedish University of Agricultural
Sciences
SE 23053, Alnarp,Sweden
+++++++++++++
Heiko K. Parzies
(1959-2011) was a private lecturer holding the venia legendi in plant breeding at University of Hohenheim,
Stuttgart, Germany. There, he led an independent working group on crop
improvement research in the Tropics and Subtropics, with focus on barley,
sorghum, pearl millet and minor millets.
He tremendously contributed to
training of many students and colleagues from Sub-Saharan Africa, India, Middle
East, and Germany. He was an excellent research partner to a number of
agricultural research institutions working on dryland cereals, including the ICRISAT pearl millet and sorghum breeding
programs in West Africa, ICARDA, and the National research institutes in
Burkina Faso, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda,
Jordan and others. Heiko very unexpectedly died in August 2011. His open,
friendly, positive, humorous and competent character will always remain an
example to us. (Contributed by Bettina Haussmann and Willmar Leiser).
Hartwig H. Geiger, Professor emeritus of Population Genetics at University of
Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany has influenced my work through his unique
lectures in population - and quantitative genetics which is the basis for
strategic and informed crop improvement research.
His continued support and guidance
throughout my career from Diploma thesis up to the Habilitation (venia legendi) in plant breeding, and especially his support
to my research on genetic improvement of tropical cereals tremendously contributed to where and what I
am today .
Contributed by Bettina Haussmann).
PD Dr. Bettina Haussmann
University of Hohenheim
Institute of Plant Breeding, Seed
Sciences and Population Genetics
70593 Stuttgart, Germany
Bettina.haussmann@uni-hohenheim.de
and
Willmar Leiser
University of Hohenheim
Institute of Plant Breeding, Seed
Sciences and Population Genetics
70593 Stuttgart, Germany
willmar_leiser@uni-hohenheim.de
+++++++++++
CIMMYT´s breeders (Borlaug,
Rajaram, Braun, Brajcich, Pfeiffer, Singh, Ammar, etc.) are for me the best
example of what Plant Breeders must do integrating "Field" and
"Science" at the service of farmers. If Plant Breeding were a Religion
they would be the High Priests.
Ignacio Solis
Director Tecnico de Agrovegetal
S.A.
++++++++++++
1 NEWS, ANNOUNCEMENTS
1.01 Plant breeding promotes harmony
between agriculture and the environment
April 2, 2012
Urbana, Illinois, USA
Can we feed and clothe the growing world population while
simultaneously preserving or improving ecosystem services and the natural
environment? A recent study found that with the right partnerships, plant
breeding will be essential for addressing challenges in agriculture.
Wes Barber, a University of Illinois plant breeding graduate
student, said the study aimed to highlight the advances and possibilities in
various aspects of plant breeding. He said by developing crop varieties that
not only meet end-use targets but that also use resources more efficiently,
plant breeders can continue to improve the sustainability of agriculture as
well as urban and forest ecosystems.
Varieties that require application of fewer off-farm inputs
decrease the cost of production, lower fossil fuel energy use, and reduce
contamination of water systems, which help to improve public health and
stabilize rural economies.
"Plant breeders objectives aren't just focused on
yield," Barber said. "Through this study we hope to show groups not
traditionally associated with plant breeding, or even agriculture, that they
have much to gain by interacting with and supporting plant breeding. It's a
powerful tool for meeting today's environmental challenges because it can
develop plants that simultaneously improve food production and the natural
environment."
This study "Plant breeding for harmony between
agriculture and the environment" was published in Frontiers in
Ecology and the Environment.
Researchers included E. Charles Brummer, Wesley Barber, Sarah
Collier, Thomas Cox, Randy Johnson, Seth Murray, Richard Olsen, Richard Pratt
and Ann Marie Thro.
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=25786&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: SeedQuest.com
++++++++++++++++++++++
1.02 Climate change helps then quickly
stunts plant growth, decade-long study shows
April 9, 2012
Arizona, USA
Global warming may initially make the grass greener, but not
for long, according to new research conducted at Northern Arizona University.
The study, published this week in Nature Climate Change,
shows that plants may thrive in the early stages of a warming environment but
begin to deteriorate quickly. “We were really surprised by the pattern, where
the initial boost in growth just went away,” said Zhuoting Wu, NAU doctoral
graduate in biology. “As the ecosystems adjust, the responses changed.”
Researchers subjected four grassland ecosystems to simulated
climate change during the decade-long study. Plants grew more the first year in
the global warming treatment, but this effect progressively diminished over the
next nine years, and finally disappeared.
The research reports the long-term effects of global warming
on plant growth, the plant species that make up the community, and the changes
in how plants use or retain essential resources like nitrogen. The team
transplanted four grassland ecosystems from higher to lower elevation to
simulate a future warmer environment, and coupled the warming with the range of
predicted changes in precipitation—more, the same, or less. The grasslands
studied were typical of those found in northern Arizona along elevation
gradients from the San Francisco Peaks down to the Great Basin Desert.
The researchers found that long-term warming resulted in loss
of native species and encroachment of species typical of warmer environments,
pushing the plant community toward less productive species. The warmed
grasslands also cycled nitrogen more rapidly, an effect that should make more
nitrogen available to plants, helping them grow more. But instead much of the
nitrogen was converted to nitrogen gases lost to the atmosphere or leached out
with rainfall washing through the soil.
Bruce Hungate, senior author of the study and NAU biological
sciences professor, said the research findings challenge the expectation that
warming will increase nitrogen availability and cause a sustained increase in
plant productivity.
“Faster nitrogen turnover stimulated nitrogen losses, likely
reducing the effect of warming on plant growth,” Hungate said. “More generally,
changes in species, changes in element cycles—these really make a difference.
It’s classic systems ecology: the initial responses elicit knock-on effects
which here came back to bite the plants. These ecosystem feedbacks are
critical. You just can’t figure this out with plants grown in a greenhouse. ”
The findings caution against extrapolating from short-term
experiments, or experiments in a greenhouse, where experimenters cannot measure
the feedbacks from changes in the plant community and from nutrient cycles. The
research will continue at least five more years with current funding from the
National Science Foundation and, Hungate said, hopefully for another five years
after that. “The long-term perspective is key. We were surprised, and I’m
guessing there are more surprises in store.”
Additional coauthors include George Koch, NAU professor of
biological sciences, and Paul Dijkstra, assistant research professor of
biological sciences. Wu completed the study as part of her doctoral thesis in
biology and earned her degree in 2011.
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=25981&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.03 World's first
genetically modified crop that has been deliberately engineered to emit a
repellent-smelling substance against insect pests
Now
growing in a small patch of land in the Hertfordshire countryside.
Scientists have created the
"whiffy" wheat in an effort to combat aphid attacks that can cause
upwards of £120m of damage each year to the UK's most important cereal crop,
which has an annual value of £1.2bn – and rising.
The field trial, however, is also
one of several "second generation" GM crops that scientists hope will
be more acceptable to the British public who resoundingly rejected the first
generation of commercial GM crops – such as herbicide-tolerant cereals – which
are nevertheless grown extensively outside Europe.
The first commercial GM crop was
developed in the early 1990s. It was a tomato that would remain fresh after
picking and although consumed in the United States, it was never sold in the
UK.
Monsanto, the multinational
agrochemicals company based in St Louis, Missouri, then came up with a
herbicide-tolerant soybean plant. The crop could grow even if sprayed by a
weedkiller, which was conveniently made by the same company.
For many people, GM technology was
not seen as a socially useful scientific development but a means for companies
to increase their market share and profits. The death knell for GM in Britain
probably came at the end of the 1990s when a scientist working at a UK research
institute claimed to have shown that GM potatoes were poisonous to laboratory
rats – even though the research methodology was widely condemned as flawed.
The green movement jumped on GM as
anti-environment, while anti-capitalists claimed it was designed to maximise
profits at the expense of the people. Meanwhile the Daily Mail came out against
"Frankenfood" as unwarranted meddling with the food chain.
But now scientists believe the time
has come to fight back. They believe that time is running out for new ways to
feed a growing human population, exacerbated by the growing number of wealthy
people of the developing world who want to eat to a protein-rich, meat-based
diet.
Scientists view GM technology as a
way of extending the successful "green revolution" of the late 20th
Century into the 21st Century. This is the background to the GM wheat trial in
Hertfordshire.
The GM wheat contains an added,
synthetic gene that causes the plant to exude an insect pheromone on its leaves
which is naturally produced by "frightened" aphids as a warning
signal to other aphids. Although the pheromone released by the GM wheat plants
will be undetectable to the human nose, the scientists hope that it will deter
species of cereal aphids which spread harmful plant viruses as well as sucking
energy from the crop.
However, the aphid's
"fear" pheromone – known as farnesene – has the opposite effect on
beneficial insects, such as ladybirds and parasitic wasps that feed on aphids,
because they are attracted to the smell. The scientists hope these predators will
visit the GM crop early enough in the growing season to prevent aphid
infestations.
The small-scale field trial, at the
government-funded Rothamsted Research station near Harpenden, is designed to
test whether the GM wheat variety is able to repel significant numbers of
aphids as well as attract the beneficial insects that feed on them, said
Rothamsted's director, Professor Maurice Moloney.
"GM has traditionally been
associated with killing something. Either killing the weeds or killing the
insects. In this case what we are doing is putting a 'no parking' sign on every
leaf of the plant.
"It's a very different
strategy from what's been done so far and I think it will open up many avenues
that will allow us to use natural mechanisms and allow to respond to concerns
from the public about the amount of pesticides that are used."
The field trial has been approved
by the Government's Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment, which
has to oversee all outdoor GM experiments and field trials. Among the many
preconditions was the stipulation that the GM wheat would not be eaten by
humans or animals at the end of the experiment.
The committee also stipulated that
the movement of pollen and seeds from the crop should be controlled with
biological barriers and weed killer. A tall metal fence will protect the site
from unauthorised people as well as birds, hedgehogs, rabbits and other large
animals. Professor John Pickett, the scientist in charge of the experiment,
said that there is still likely to be some opposition to the trial, even though
it has been discussed in detail with people and organisations opposed to GM
crops.
"We've had meetings with the
public and anti-GM lobby groups, and we've found there is common ground because
I think there is a lot of common interest in improving the sustainability of
agriculture and in using natural processes," Professor Pickett said.
"We do feel there is a better view of GM technology from the public at
large but we recognise there are some individuals who are strongly against this
kind of thing and they may seek to disrupt it by direct action," he said.
The idea behind the experiment
dates back to the mid-1980s but it was only in 2006 that Rothamsted scientists
demonstrated that it was possible to isolate the gene for the farnesene
pheromone and insert into an experimental plant. "We've done a lot of work
in the lab and it works really well. It repels the aphids and attracts in the
parasitic wasps brilliantly – better than our wildest dreams," Professor
Pickett said.
Many wild flowers have evolved the
same pheromone gene as a natural defence against aphids, so the scientists went
to the peppermint plant as the source of the gene that they engineered and
inserted into the wheat plant. Professor Moloney said that the study of
"chemical ecology" is about understanding the substances that are
continually being passed between organisms and using them in a way that can
control pests in a more natural way that is less harmful to the environment
than some pesticides.
"When we breed for plants, we
breed for things like yield and disease resistance – and sometimes what's lost
in the process is some ancient natural mechanisms the plant uses to protect
itself," Professor Moloney said.
"Quite often we find it's the
weeds out there that are protected against aphid attack, as opposed to crop
plants. So what we've done is go back to these wild plants to see if we can
reconstruct mechanisms that they probably would have had earlier in their
evolution."
However, many wild plants produce a
mixture of volatile substances that allow aphids to distinguish the
plant-produced substance from the genuine insect fear pheromone. The difficult
trick was to create a GM wheat plant that produces copious quantities of pure
pheromone, said Professor John Napier, who led genetics team behind the work.
The idea eventually would be to
produce GM wheat varieties that do not need to be sprayed with harmful
pesticides. The scientists believe that preventing aphid infestations would
benefit the wider environment, including the songbirds that feed on aphids.
The new GM:
Latest crop of ideas
Cereals with a
"zinc sink"
Scientists hope to produce
genetically modified grains such as cereals and rice with higher levels of
zinc, which is essential for many vital enzymes. A third of the world's
population is estimated to have a zinc-deficient diet.
Fish oil in
plants
The genes for long-chain omega 3,
an ingredient of fish oil with proven benefits for human health, are being
inserted into plants in the hope of producing GM oilseed rape with medicinal
properties.
Purple tomatoes
Genetically modified tomatoes have
already been created with extra genes for boosting the red pigments found in
snapdragon plants. These antioxidants, which are also found in blueberries and
blackberries, could help to prevent cancer.
Steve Connor
Contributed by Rodomiro Ortiz
Source: SeedQuest.com
++++++++++++++++++++++
1.04 Australian Centre for Plant
Functional Genomics and CSIRO join forces with Vilmorin & Cie to
commercialize Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) wheat in Australia
April 6, 2012
Paris, France and Sydney, Australia
The Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics (ACPFG)
and CSIRO announced today that the world’s fourth largest seed company,
Vilmorin & Cie (Vilmorin), has taken a license to access technology that
aims to reduce the amount of Nitrogen fertilizer used by Australian growers for
their wheat crops. This technology was sourced by ACPFG and CSIRO’s Food
Futures Flagship (working though CSIRO Plant Industry) in 2007 from Arcadia Biosciences
Inc (Davis, California) for the Australian market.s
Nitrogen fertilizer production uses large amounts of energy
and excessive use of nitrogen has sometimes led to environmental problems in
many regions. It is currently the largest single cost for cereal growers. This
license brings together leading Australian wheat research groups with the
largest European wheat seed company.
“This is an exciting development and represents an important
milestone for ACPFG.” said Michael Gilbert, ACPFG’s General Manager. “ACPFG was
established to develop and deliver new technologies for the benefit of
Australian farmers and improvements in nitrogen use efficiency has been a major
target. CSIRO has been a valuable partner and now we have a respected European
company to help us further develop and deliver the technology”.
“Wheat has recently attracted strong international interest
as an important staple crop and Vilmorin has had a long standing commitment to
wheat seed research and development”, said Dr Bruce Lee, Director of the
CSIRO’s Food Futures Flagship. “CSIRO has always had a long-standing commitment
to wheat so this is an excellent partnership and we are looking forward to
exploring the applicability of this technology to wheat”.
Emmanuel Rougier, CEO of Vilmorin, said “In 2008, we made a
strategic investment in Australian Grain Technologies, the largest wheat
breeding company in the country. This licensed technology will complement that
investment, and we aim to make GMO wheat integrating the NUE technology
available to every Australian grower that wants it. Globally, we invest over
15% of our revenue in research and are strongly committed to the international
development of innovative new varieties of wheat”.
Wheat is the largest acreage crop in the world. It is the
staple food for 35 percent of the world’s population and represents 20 percent
of the total protein intake. Increasing global food production is needed as the
population approaches 9 billion by 2050.
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=25945&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: SeedQuest.com
+++++++++++++++++++++++
1.05 IRRI using biotech for developing
rice varieties
April 07, 2012
By Munawar Hasan
LAHORE International Rice Research
Institute (IRRI-Philippines) is making headways in effective use of
biotechnology for developing rice varieties that are nutrient-rich, resistant
to drought, salt, flood and diseases.
This was highlighted during various meetings and
presentations made by the scientists as part of the ‘6th Pan-Asia Farmers
Exchange Programme’, arranged by CropLife Asia and Biotech Coalition of the
Philippines during the last week of March.
Objective of this annual programme, being held for the last
six years, is to create awareness amongst the farmers and other stakeholders
about benefits of genetically modified (GM) crops for humanity and the work
being done by the IRRI.
Genetic modification was a valuable research tool for
scientists that helps understand gene function and its distinct scope, said
Parminder Virk, senior plant breeder at IRRI while giving presentation to
participants.
IRRI was developing varieties that would help the rice
farmers of the world to increase the yields. One of such variety was the Golden
Rice, a new type of rice that contains beta-carotene, a source of Vitamin-A.
World needs an extra 1.5 percent rice per year to meet the
growing population’s needs at an affordable price and research of the IRRI in
this regard poised to benefit rice consumers and farmers worldwide,
particularly those in Asia, where 90 per cent of rice is produced and consumed,
he observed.
Speaking at the seminar, Dr. Parminder Virk, Ms. Bita
Avendano, Ms. Cornita Guerta shared IRRI’s research and development activities
in length.
The world needs varieties that can be sown in adverse
climatic conditions. IRRI has already released a rice variety tolerant to
submergence in India and Philippines and will be releasing the same in Nepal
soon, the scientists said.
The participants also visited two BT cornfields being
supported by two different companies dealing in GM crops to witness the
benefits of this corn crop. They were informed that GM corn is also known as
‘vaccinated corn’ in the Philippines because it offers resistance to various
insect pests besides having other qualities
http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=101563&Cat=3&dt=4/7/2012
Source: SeedQuest.com
++++++++++++++++++++++++
1.06 Embrapa
apresenta novo pasto de Brachiaria humidicola
April 26, 2012
Brazil
A cultivar de Brachiaria
humidicola, BRS Tupi, chega em uma boa hora já que há no mercado
poucos materiais disponíveis para solos rasos e com problemas de drenagem. A
Tupi é uma alternativa de uso para áreas úmidas sujeitas a alagamentos
temporários, uma opção na diversificação de pastagens, diminuindo o risco
eventual a pragas e doenças.
A BRS Tupi é resultado de uma
seleção massal em populações derivadas de plantas coletadas em Burundi, no
leste da África. A coleta foi realizada pelo Centro Internacional de
Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), com sede na Colômbia, em viagens entre 1984 e 1985
pelo continente africano. Os trabalhos de seleção duraram 18 anos e foram
coordenados pela Embrapa Gado de Corte em parceria com outros centros de
pesquisa.
A cultivar foi selecionada com base
na produtividade, vigor, produção de sementes, resistência por tolerância a
cigarrinhas-das-pastagens. Em avaliações agronômicas regionais e sob pastejo,
mostrou capacidade de suporte e desempenho animal superior em comparação à
Brachiaria humidicola comum em Campo Grande, no Acre e no sul da Bahia.
Registrada junto ao Ministério da Agricultura em maio de 2004, em julho de
2009, recebeu o certificado de cultivar protegida.
De florescimento mais precoce
(primavera/verão), mas de produtividade de sementes semelhante a comum, a Tupi,
em comparação a comum, apresentou desempenho superior, sobretudo na seca,
quando sustentou lotação mais alta e garantiu uma produção de 53 kg de peso
vivo/ha, comparada a 20 kg da outra. A nova cultivar também possibilitou maior
ganho de peso individual na estiagem em decorrência de sua melhor relação
folha/caule e boa digestibilidade. Os resultados, contudo, variam de acordo com
a região do país, relatam os pesquisadores responsáveis pelos estudos.
“A Tupi cresce e floresce rápido e
tende a acamar demais, com isso o manejo deve ser cuidadoso, com ajustes da
carga animal o que vai depender do tipo de solo onde foi plantado. Em solos
mais férteis pode-se colocar uma carga animal mais alta e em solos menos
férteis uma carga menor, em torno de 1 UA (unidade animal = 450 quilos de peso
vivo)”, indica Rodrigo Amorim, um dos pesquisadores envolvidos.
Características - A BRS Tupi é uma
planta estolonífera e desenvolve-se formando touceiras (crescimento
cespitoso-estolonífero). Tem porte mediano e atinge uma altura vegetativa de 50
a 75 cm. Apresenta perfilhamento mais intenso e denso do que a comum. Seus
rizomas (caules subterrâneos) são curtos e a bainha das folhas é estriada, com
pilosidades claras chamadas de tricomas. Isso a diferencia da humidicola comum,
que não apresenta pelos.
Outras características das flores
que distinguem essa cultivar são: anteras amarelas (extremidade onde se
concentra o pólen), diferente das roxas presentes na cultivar comum; e estigma
(órgão que recebe o pólen) vermelho-escuro – na Llanero é branco com pontas
roxas e na humidicola comum varia entre roxo e preto. A visível pilosidade das
espiguetas da cv. BRS Tupi a diferencia das duas cultivares.
A BRS Tupi mostrou-se resistente às
cigarrinhas, por tolerância, revelando-se melhor planta hospedeira que a
humidicola comum. No entanto, comparando-as quanto ao nível de resistência por
tolerância, a Tupi mostrou-se mais resistente.
Informações sobre a comercialização
de sementes são obtidas na Associação para o Fomento à Pesquisa de Melhoramento
de Forrageiras – (Unipasto) através do http://www.unipasto.com.br e na Embrapa
Produtos e Mercado (www.snt.embrapa.br), Unidade da Embrapa que elaborou os
contratos de licenciamento da cultivar para que ela seja inserida no mercado e
responsável pela produção de sementes básicas.
Unipasto, Rua das Paineiras, Lote
06, Torre B, sala 706,71.918-000 - ÁguasClaras - Brasília/DF. Fone: (61)
3274-0784
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=26458&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: SeedQuest.com
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1.07 Institute for agricultural research Samaru and partners
win West Africa Sub-regional award in maize breeding
The
Nigerian team of maize breeders was declared winner for the 2011 best breeders
for drought tolerant maize for Africa (DTMA) Project.
This is
the second time the Nigerian breeders had won the award since inception of the
DTMA project in 2007. The first time was in 2007.
The DTMA
Project team in Nigeria comprises the Institute for Agricultural Research of
Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, the University of Ilorin, the Obafemi Awolowo
University, the University of Maiduguri, seed companies and the National
Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services of the Ahmadu Bello
University.
The
Nigerian team was adjudged the best by a panel of judges who evaluated the
contribution of the breeder’s teams of the DTMA projects participating
countries. The participating countries which attended the annual meeting held
at Noda Hotel in Kumasi Ghana were Benin Republic, Ghana, Mali and Nigeria.
The
meeting was held on April 16-20, 2012. The Nigerian maize research team in
collaboration with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture succeeded
in registration and release of a total of 17
DT varieties and hybrids in 2009 and 2011.
The DT
maize varieties released in 2009 comprised six hybrids and seven open pollinated varieties while in
2011 four open pollinated varieties with value added traits were released. The
new DTMA maize varieties include extra-early, early, intermediate and late
maturity groups for the various maize ecologies of Nigeria and other West
African countries.
Receiving
the award on behalf of the Nigerian team, the National Coordinator for Maize
Research, Prof. Shehu G. Ado expressed that his team would continue to improve
maize varieties to withstand the vagaries of weather in the changing climate to
make sub-Saharan Africa self-sufficient in food with increased income to maize
farmers. In his speech the Director, Crops Research Institute Kumasi, Ghana,
Dr. Hans Adu-Dapaah who presented the
award urged all the breeders to continue with the laudable work of improving
maize to withstand drought and other stresses militating against profitable
production.
Members
of the Nigerian team present at the Annual Planning Meeting include Prof. S.G.
Ado, Prof. M.A.B. Fakorede, Prof. G. Olaoye, Prof. J. E. Onyibe, Dr. I.S.
Usman, Dr . I.Y. Dugje and Mr. I. Abdullahi, the Managing Director of Maslaha
Seeds Ltd.
The DTMA
project goal is to develop superior maize germplasm with 1t/ha yields increase
over existing varieties and reach 30-40 million farmers in sub-Saharan Africa
by 2015.
Contributed byShehu G. Ado
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.08 Intellectual
Property Strategy: A wise man’s guide
April 5, 2012
Geneva, Switzerland
A
recently published book by Harvard Law School Professor John Palfrey offers a
thoughtful and useful handbook for executives or just about anyone else to
better understand and use intellectual property, in ways that encourage sharing
and openness.
In “Intellectual
Property Strategy”, published by MIT Press, Palfrey uses a patient educator’s
tone in walking the reader through the steps to assessing IP and making it work
in often surprising ways.
With plenty of clear, real-life examples making points along
the way, Palfrey opens up new thinking on topics such as treating IP as a core
asset class; benefiting from the IP of others – legally; creating freedom of
action through IP; and establishing a flexible IP strategy.
An example of the common sense style is the message that,
“Sharing can be good for a brand. It is also good to be known as a fair player
in the marketplace – honestly licensing to and from others for the benefit not
just of the organizations involved but your customers too.”
Another example: “The idea behind open innovation is simple:
the creators of new ideas don’t have to be within your organization in order to
be helpful.”
The book is not only published in print, but also in an
experimental format with a series of companion case studies and related
material, to be read in a purely digital format. This allows a “deeper dive” in
at points throughout the book online.
More about the book is here.
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=25898&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: SeedQuest.com
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1.09 US Supreme Court GM crop patent
case
Can a farmer commit patent infringement just by planting
soybeans he bought on the open market? This week, the Supreme Court asked the
Obama administration to weigh in on the question. The Court is pondering an
appeals court decision saying that such planting can, in fact, infringe
patents.
In 1994, the agricultural giant Monsanto obtained a patent
covering a line of “Roundup Ready” crops that had been genetically modified to
resist Monsanto’s Roundup pesticides. This genetic modification is hereditary,
so future generations of seeds are also “Roundup Ready.” Farmers had only to
save a portion of their crop for re-planting the next season, and they wouldn’t
need to purchase new seed from Monsanto every year. The company didn’t want to
be in the business of making a one-time sale, so when Monsanto sold “Roundup
Ready” soybeans to farmers, it required them to sign a licensing agreement
promising not to re-plant future generations of seeds.
However, farmers remain free to sell the soybeans they grow
in the commodity market, where most are used to feed people or livestock.
Roundup Ready soybeans have become extremely popular; they now account for 94
percent of all acres planted in Indiana, for instance. Vernon Bowman, an
Indiana farmer, was a customer of Monsanto who realized that Roundup Ready
soybeans had become so common in his area that if he simply purchased commodity
soybeans from a local grain elevator, the overwhelming majority of those
soybeans would be Roundup Ready. Commodity soybeans are significantly cheaper
than Monsanto’s soybeans, and they came without the contractual restriction on
re-planting.
So Bowman planted (and re-planted) commodity soybeans instead
of using Monsanto’s seeds. When Monsanto discovered what Bowman was doing, it
sued him for patent infringement.
Patent
protection or freedom to farm?
Bowman argued his use of the seeds is covered by patent law’s
“exhaustion doctrine.” This doctrine, like copyright law’s first sale doctrine,
holds that a patent holder’s rights in a particular product are “exhausted”
when the product is sold to an end user. The Supreme Court beefed up the
exhaustion doctrine in 2008 when it held that LG could not “double dip” on
patent licensing fees — charging both chipmaker Intel and OEM Quanta royalties
for the same chip.
Bowman argued that when Monsanto sold seed to a farmer, it
exhausted its rights not only to that specific seed but to all of the seed’s
descendants. Since Bowman wasn’t required to sign a licensing agreement before
buying commodity seeds, he argued that he was free to plant the seeds and even
to save and re-plant each season’s crop for future seasons.
But Monsanto countered that each new generation of seeds is a
separate product and thus requires a separate patent license. In effect,
Monsanto contends that Bowman is illegally “manufacturing” infringing soybeans.
Monsanto has a point. Taking Bowman’s argument to its logical
conclusion would imply that anyone could buy a single batch of commodity (but
still Roundup Ready) soybeans and use it to sell an unlimited number of copies.
This would effectively eviscerate Monsanto’s patent protection.
Yet Monsanto’s position — that planting Monsanto-derived
soybeans always requires Monsanto’s permission — could also have troubling
consequences. In a world where 94 percent of soybeans in circulation are
descended from Monsanto’s genetically engineered seeds, it might be hard for
farmers who didn’t want Monsanto’s seeds even to buy seeds that were not
patent encumbered. Monsanto’s position would effectively place the burden on
farmers to test seeds they hope to plant in order to ensure they are not
covered by any patents.
Last year, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal
Circuit ruled, as it had on several previous occasions, that patent exhaustion
did not cover second-generation seeds. The Supreme Court has now asked the
Solicitor General, the official in charge of representing the Obama
administration before the Court, to weigh in on the case.
The Patently-O blog reports that a request
for the Obama administration’s views typically requires four justices,
suggesting significant interest in the case. However, the Obama administration
may agree with the Federal Circuit and recommend against the Court taking the
case. And the Court may opt not to hear the case even if the Obama
administration recommends taking it. Should that happen, Monsanto’s appellate
court win would stand.
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/04/arstechnica-agriculture-patents/
Source: Ars Technica via SeedQuest.com
1.10 Lords of the
harvest: third-party signaling and regulatory approval of genetically modified
organisms
April 10, 2012
Executive
Summary
How do regulatory agencies make decisions? This paper
suggests that regulatory agencies are influenced by the firms they regulate,
but not exclusively via the direct influence of lobbying, sponsorship of
scientific research, and advocacy. Instead, Hiatt and Park find that agency
decision making is affected by the social influence of agency stakeholders and
peer agencies. The research looks specifically at the approval by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture between 1992 and 2007 of genetically modified organisms,
or plants whose genetic material has been altered using genetic-engineering
techniques to enhance such desired traits as herbicide resistance, pesticide
properties, and nutritional content. The authors found that signals from
salient stakeholders and a peer agency positively influenced GMO product
approvals by reducing uncertainty surrounding the agency's pursuit of
legitimacy. It is the presence of uncertainty, in conjunction with anxiety
about legitimacy, that motivates regulatory agencies to look to third-party
actors for additional information.
Key concepts include:
- Regulatory
agencies are not merely discrete economic entities. They are also social
actors striving to maintain legitimacy and maximize autonomy.
- Regulatory
agencies rely on signals from stakeholders and peer agencies to reduce
particular kinds of uncertainty.
- Regulatory
agencies' preoccupation with legitimacy creates conditions in which firms
can influence regulatory decision making by capturing third-party
actors-in this case, salient stakeholders and peer agencies.
- Government
is relevant to virtually every business sector, but regulated industries
like biotechnology, telecommunications, electricity, and pharmaceuticals
are particularly subject to state intervention.
About faculty in this article
Shon R. Hiatt is assistant professor of business
administration in the Organizational Behavior unit at Harvard Business School.
Author abstract
Little is known about the factors that influence regulatory
agencies' decision making. We posit that regulatory agencies are influenced by
the firms they regulate but not exclusively via political influence, as is
argued in the traditional regulatory-capture literatures. Instead, regulatory
decisions are indirectly shaped via third-party actors whose signals reduce
uncertainty in the agency's pursuit of legitimacy. Focusing empirically on the
U.S. Department of Agriculture's approval of genetically modified organisms
(GMOs), we find that signals from salient stakeholders and peer agencies have a
positive influence on product approval and that their effects vary under
different dimensions of uncertainty. We also discuss the implications of these
findings for business-government relations and for nonmarket strategy.
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/6846.html
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.11 Biotech and
Organic Farming: Coexisting Peacefully
July 01, 2011
Washington
By Kathryn McConnell
Staff Writer
Agricultural biotechnology and
organic farming can coexist — even thrive in the same food-supply chain —
despite the fact that some proponents of organic farming have been at odds with
the scientists who genetically engineer seeds.
So say Pamela Ronald and Raoul
Adamchak, co-authors of Tomorrow’s Table: Organic Farming, Genetics and the
Future of Food, a new book that argues that organic farming and
agricultural biotechnology combined can meet the world’s future food needs.
Ronald, a plant pathologist at the University of California–Davis, and
Adamchak, an organic farmer for 30 years, should know something about good
combinations — they have been married for 15 years.
“We want readers to distinguish
between fact and fiction,” Ronald said June 21 in Washington at the American
Association for the Advancement of Science. “Polarizing debates on seed
technologies versus farming practices” distract from the challenge of creating
“a healthy and productive agricultural system.”
With the world’s population
expected to increase to 9.2 billion people by 2050, farmers must “double or
triple food production to meet demand,” Ronald said. “Agriculture needs our
collective help and all appropriate tools if we are to feed the growing
population in an ecological manner.”
The Challenge
Ronald described some of the
challenges of feeding a growing population. The amount of arable land is
limited, she said, and is being lost to urbanization and erosion. “As a result
of erosion over the past 40 years, 30 percent of the world’s arable land has
become unproductive,” she said. Making the problem worse, most eroded soil
carries pesticides and fertilizers and ends up polluting lakes and rivers. The
polluted waters kill fish.
Freshwater systems also are
strained, according to Ronald. Many rivers have become nearly dry. About half
of the world’s wetlands have disappeared. Major groundwater aquifers are being
mined for urban and industrial use. That means more food must be produced on
the amount of land now available using less water.
Another part of the challenge stems
from climate change. As glaciers melt, low-lying croplands will see more
flooding that will cost the people living in those areas nutrition and
livelihoods. Climate change can also cause increased temperatures and severe
droughts in other areas, according to Ronald. In recent years, for instance,
Australia has had two record-breaking droughts that crippled wheat production.
Russia stopped wheat exports for nearly a year because of its drought in 2010.
Genetic engineering, also known as
genetic modification, can work well along with organic farming, Ronald said, to
meet the challenges of urbanization, erosion and climate change.
Plant pathologist Pamela Ronald
spends much of her lab time looking for ways to genetically improve rice.
The genetically
engineered way
Genetically engineered seeds carry
traits that make plants tolerate climate and soil stress, resist disease and
pests, and provide essential micronutrients. In 2010, more than 15 million
farmers in 29 countries grew biotech crops, reports the International Service
for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications, an international research
group. Those countries represent more than half of the world’s population.
Experts from the Indian, Chinese, Mexican,
Brazilian, French, British and U.S. science academies have concluded that the
genetically altered crops now on the market are safe to eat, Ronald said.
The organic way
Organic farming is good for the
environment because it uses crop rotation to reduce the buildup of pests that
attack a single crop. Organic farmers use leguminous cover crops, such as
lentils and alfalfa, to increase soil fertility and organic matter to
fertilize. However, for some staple crops, like rice, yields are often lower on
organic farms. In addition, the higher prices of organic produce make it
unaffordable to some consumers.
Desired result
In the book, the authors write that
either organic farming or genetic engineering should be used if the desired
result is abundant, safe, nutritious and more-affordable food. Using both
methods brings a desirable reduction of harmful inputs, like synthetic
fertilizers and pesticides.
Ronald and Adamchak want farming
practices to be safe for farm workers and want healthy rural economies. They
want practices that keep soils fertile, enhance crop genetic diversity and
protect native species. To do all that, “we need everyone at the table,” Ronald
said.
Read more:
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.12 Science Magazine study on pesticides and
pollinator colony health
Canada
March 30, 2012
Pollinators, such as honey bees, are crucial to agriculture
and food production. Bayer CropScience is committed to bee health and has been
actively involved in finding solutions to improve honey bee health for more
than 25 years.
Bayer has reviewed a paper published today in Science
Magazine regarding the potential interaction of imidacloprid insecticide and
bees.
All new research involving bee health is to be welcomed, but
care must be taken in drawing conclusions based on relatively artificially
generated results, particularly when compared to the weight of evidence from
previous studies. In this study bees were unrealistically exposed to
imidacloprid and then allowed to continue to develop in semi-field conditions.
The study involving bumblebee colonies in the UK, provides
useful information as part of the growing body of research regarding this
important pollinator. Although the doses are higher than what would typically
be found in the environment, the authors noted a decrease in queen production
when compared to the untreated colonies. These results are not consistent with
previous studies, which showed no adverse effects on bees at field-relevant
concentrations.
Insights into
recent research studies
Recently, several studies – from Purdue University and Jeff
Pettis, et al. – have underscored the complex interactions between crop
protection products and honey bee health. The level of exposure to these
products is critically important in determining the impact on foraging honey
bees. Modern seed treatment applications of these products minimize the
potential for accidental exposure, to ensure the impact on bees is minimal.
Bayer’s
commitment to research
Imidacloprid is one of the most heavily researched
insecticides in the world in terms of bee safety assessment. Bayer CropScience
and independent researchers have conducted dozens of intensive laboratory and
field trials on imidacloprid over the past 10 years and have confirmed that it
may be used without impacting honey bee populations. These studies have
investigated the effects on bee mortality, weight gain, worker longevity, brood
development, honey yield and overwintering survival.
Bayer’s
commitment to Bee Health
Bayer is committed to bee health and has been actively involved
in finding solutions to improve honey bee health for more than 25 years. As a
company dedicated to crop protection, Bayer is committed to environmental
stewardship and sustainable agricultural practices, including the protection of
beneficial insects such as honey bees.
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=25729&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.13 Insecticidal
seed treatments can harm honey bees
April 8, 2012
Ames, Iowa, USA
By Erin Hodgson, Department of
Entomology (ISU) and Christian Krupke, Department of Entomology (Purdue)
Neonicotinoids are a relatively new class of chemistry to
control insects. They are now widely adopted because they are persistent and
systemic in plant tissues. Most field crops in Iowa have a neonicotinoid seed
treatment. Common examples of neonicotinoids include: clothianidin (Poncho ®),
thiamethoxam (Cruiser ®), and imidacloprid (Gaucho ®). Active ingredient rates
range from 0.25-1.25 milligrams per kernel (sold as 250-1,250 rates).
Neonicotinoids are extremely toxic to bees. Lethal LD50 rates
(the rate at which half of the exposed population dies) for clothianidin are
22-44 nanograms per bee for direct contact and 2.8-3.7 nanograms per bee for
oral ingestion. In other words, a single corn kernel with a 1,250 rate of
neonicotinoid seed treatment contains enough active ingredients to kill over
80,000 honey bees.
There has been an increased public awareness of pollinator
health and the decline of bees in North America. Researchers have identified
multiple contributing factors for honey bee decline, including: Varroa mites,
disease-causing pathogens, habitat loss, malnutrition, the intensity of
migratory pollination services and pesticides.
Bees are susceptible to many broad spectrum insecticides, but
how are they getting exposed to a chemistry largely used for seed treatments?
Christian Krupke, a field crops entomologist at Purdue University, and several
others took a closer look at how honey bees might be interacting with
neonicotinoids. They published a recent article reporting several potential
exposure routes. Here is a summary of their findings:
- Bees,
pollen and nectar were collected from an apiary during the corn planting
season in Indiana. All dead and dying bees had traces of clothiandin, and
stored pollen had high neonicotinoid levels.
- Soil samples
collected from fields not planted with a seed treatment for two years
still contained detectable levels of clothiandin.
- Dandelions
collected from around field edges before planting had detectable levels of
neonicotinoids.
- Talc used
as an additive for planting treated seed had extremely high levels of
neonicotinoids. Planter exhaust expelling tainted talc could be coming in
contact with bees or plants they forage.
- Corn pollen
collected by honey bees later in the season was screened; half of the corn
pollen samples analyzed had neonicotinoids.
Their paper makes the following summary: neonicotinoid
exposure is likely a combination of direct contact; indirect contact with dosed
weeds/crops, talc or soil; and through ingestion from pollen in dosed plants.
This year, approximately 200 million acres of crop land will be planted with
crops that are treated with neonicotinoids, 94 million with corn alone. This
means that some exposure is inevitable, but the following recommendations may
help minimize the danger to honey bees during the planting season:
- Farmers
should communicate with nearby beekeepers or apiaries about your
intentions to plant. Visit the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land
Stewardship Sensitive Crops website for more information.
- Beekeepers
should move hives away from production fields during the planting period
if possible.
- Always use
the recommended amount of talc to allow proper planting, removing this
lubricant is not recommended.
- Do not
clean planter equipment/hoppers near fields, especially around flowering
plants.
Because of the importance of pollinators and the prevalence
of these insecticides in our cropping systems, there is a great deal of
research on this topic in independent labs all over the world. We will likely
see more studies that explore the linkage between pollinator decline and
pesticides in the near future, so stay tuned. For now, the best thing to do is
minimize the high level exposures during planting as much as possible using the
steps outlined above.
Erin Hodgson is an assistant professor of entomology with
extension and research responsibilities; contact at ewh@iastate.edu or phone
515-294-2847. Christian Krupke is an associate professor of entomology at
Purdue University with extension research responsibilities.
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=25965&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: Integrated Crop
Management NEWS via SeedQuest.com
1.14 Ancient Egyptian cotton unveils
secrets of domesticated crop evolution
April 2, 2012
Warwick, United Kingdom
Scientists studying 1,600-year-old cotton from the banks of
the Nile have found what they believe is the first evidence that punctuated
evolution has occurred in a major crop group within the relatively short
history of plant domestication.
The findings offer an insight into the dynamics of
agriculture in the ancient world and could also help today’s domestic crops
face challenges such as climate change and water scarcity.
The researchers, led by Dr Robin Allaby from the School of
Life Sciences at the University of Warwick, examined the remains of ancient
cotton at Qasr Ibrim in Egypt’s Upper Nile using high throughput sequencing
technologies.
This is the first time such technology has been used on
ancient plants and also the first time the technique has been applied to
archaeological samples in such hot countries.
The site is located about 40 km from Abu Simbel and 70 km
from the modern Sudanese border on the east bank of what is now Lake Nasser.
They also studied South American samples from sites in Peru
and Brazil aged between 800 and nearly 4,000 years old. The results showed that
even over the relatively short timescale of a millennia and a half, the
Egyptian cotton, identified as G. herbaceum, showed evidence of significant
genomic reorganisation when the ancient and the modern variety were compared.
However closely-related G.Barbadense from the sites in South
America showed genomic stability between the two samples, even though these
were separated by more than 2,000 miles in distance and 3,000 years in time.
This divergent picture points towards punctuated evolution - long periods of
evolutionary stability interspersed by bursts of rapid change – having occurred
in the cotton family.
Dr Allaby said: “We think of evolution as a very slow
process, but as we analyse more genome information we can see that there’s been
a huge amount of large-scale proactive change during recent history. “Our
results for the cotton from Egypt indicate that there has been the potential
for more adaptive evolution going on in domesticated plant species than was
appreciated up until now.
“Plants that are local to their particular area will develop
genes which allow them to better tolerate the stresses they find in the
environment around them.
“It’s possible that cotton at the Qasr Ibrim site has adapted
in response to extreme environmental stress, such as not enough water.
“This insight into how domesticated crops evolved when faced
with environmental stress is of value for modern agriculture in the face of
current challenges like climate change and water scarcity.”
For archaeologists, the results also shed light on
agricultural development in the ancient world.
There has long been uncertainty as to whether ancient
Egyptians had imported domesticated cotton from the Indian subcontinent, as had
happened with other crops, or whether they were growing a native African
variety which had been domesticated locally.
The study’s findings that the Qasr Ibrim seeds were of the G.
herbaceum variety, native to Africa, rather than G.arboreum, which is native to
the Indian subcontinent, represents the first molecular-based identification of
archaeobotanical cotton to a species level.
Dr Allaby said the findings confirm there was an indigenous
domestication of cotton in Africa which was separate from the domestication of
cotton in India.
“The presence of cotton textiles on Egyptian and Nubian sites
has been well documented but there has always been uncertainty among
archaeologists as to the origin of these.
“It’s not possible to identify some cotton varieties just by
looking at them, so we were asked to delve into the DNA.
“We identified the African variety – G. herbaceum, which
suggest that domesticated cotton was not a cultural import – it was a
technology that had grown up independently.”
The study Archaeogenomic evidence of punctuated genome
evolution in Gossypium, which was funded by NERC, is published in the journal
Molecular Biology and Evolution.
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=25794&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.15 Members appointed to USDA National
Genetic Resources Advisory Council
April 6, 2012
Washington, DC, USA
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today the
appointment of nine members to the National Genetic Resources Advisory Council
(NGRAC), a council originally established statutorily by the Food, Agriculture,
Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C.A. 5843).
The NGRAC has been re-established to formulate
recommendations on actions and policies for the collection, maintenance, and
utilization of genetic resources; to make recommendations for coordination of
genetic resources plans of several domestic and international organizations;
and to advise the Secretary of Agriculture and the National Genetic Resources
Program (NGRP) Director of new and innovative approaches to genetic resources
conservation.
The NGRAC will advise on ways to ensure that the NGRP serves
the needs of all farmers for high-quality and diverse seed (both genetically
engineered and non-genetically engineered) for their particular farming
operations. The NGRAC will also advise on how the department can develop a
broad strategy for maintaining plant biodiversity available to agriculture, and
strengthening public sector plant breeding capacities.
The following members were appointed for either a 2-, or
4-year term effective October 1, 2011:
Scientific Members
- Dr. Manjit
Misra (NGRAC Chair), Professor/Director of the Seed Science Center
Institute for Food Safety and Security as well as the Director of the
Biosafety Institute for Genetically Modified Agricultural Products
(BIGMAP) at Iowa State University.
- Dr. Jane
Dever, Associate Professor of Plant Breeding at Texas AgriLife Research
with Texas A&M University.
- Dr. Karen
Moldenhauer, Professor & Rice Industry Chair for Variety Development,
University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture.
- Dr. Stephen
Smith, Fellow of Pioneer Hi-Bred International (a DuPont business).
- Dr. Allison
Snow, Professor of the Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal
Biology at The Ohio State University.
- Dr.
Mulumebet Worku, Animal Scientist/Professor/Biotechnologist with North Carolina
Agricultural and Technical State University.
General Public Members
- Matthew
Dillon, Director of Seed Matters, Clif Bar Family Foundation.
- Dr. Herman
Warren, President of Warren and Associates Seeds.
- Terry
Williams, Fisheries and Natural Resources Commissioner for the Tulalip
Tribes.
In addition to the appointed members, 8 ex-officio members
have been invited to participate as members, or to nominate alternates to serve
in their place, of the NGRAC including:
- Dr. Peter
Bretting, National Program Leader, Office of National Programs, USDA –
Agricultural Research Service (ARS).
- Dr.
Sharlene C. Weatherwax, Associate Director of Science for Biological and
Environmental Research, Office of Science, US Department of Energy
representing the Secretary of Energy.
- Dr. Francis
Collins, Director of the National Institutes of Health.
- Dr. John
Holdren, Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
- Dr. Simon
Liu, Director of the National Agricultural Library.
- Dr. Gary
Pederson, Supervisory Geneticist for the USDA-ARS.
- Dr. Subra
Suresh, Director of the National Science Foundation.
- Dr.
Catherine Woteki, Under Secretary for the USDA Research, Education, and
Economics Mission Area and the USDA Chief Scientist.
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=25931&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.16 National seed
bank to be set up in western Victoria
April 12, 2012
By Lucy Barbour
The Victorian Government will spend $3 million on a national
seed bank in Horsham in the state's west. The national genebank will hold more
than 180,000 seed samples from Australia and around the world and is expected
to be up and running by the middle of 2014.
Victorian Agriculture Minister Peter Walsh says it's a step
towards feeding a growing world population. "So for growers it means that
we have a world class facility here to store genetic material and to be
involved in plant breeding and it gives our farmers world class opportunities
for new varieties."
http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201204/s3475745.htm
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.17 USA - More funding necessary for
Germplasm Enhancement of Maize program
April 12, 2012
Alexandria, Virginia, USA
Three key seed industry representatives met with
Congressional delegates March 27-28 in Washington, D.C., to discuss the
importance of the Germplasm Enhancement of Maize (GEM) program and demonstrate
that more funds are needed to meet increasing demands.
GEM is designed to widen the germplasm base of commercial
hybrid corn in the United States through the introduction and incorporation of
novel and useful germplasm gathered from around the globe. It is a cooperative
effort of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service,
land-grant universities, private industry, and international and
non-governmental organizations.
Tom Hoegmeyer of Hoegmeyer Hybrids, Major Goodman of North
Carolina State University and Terry Molnar of Pioneer Hi-Bred, a DuPont
Company, spent two days meeting with members of the Subcommittee on
Agricultural Appropriations, U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate.
Together, they stressed that current funding levels for the GEM program are
inadequate to provide needed capacity for the regeneration, maintenance and
distribution of the corn genetic resources.
In the U.S. alone, more than 92 million acres of corn were
planted in 2011 with a raw material value of about $76 billion per year. These
corn acres are primarily based on two genetic races of maize; there are more
than 250 races identified globally. "The lack of diversity within our corn
production acreage makes U.S. farmers and the surrounding agricultural
community vulnerable to changing environmental pressures and market
needs," said Goodman who manages the North Carolina State University Corn
Breeding and Genetics Lab. "A narrow genetic base is associated with
higher risk, increasing the potential for new diseases or insect species to
become widespread in corn growing areas.
"There's also risk associated with abiotic stresses such
as drought, flooding, heat or soil salinity extremes."He said resistance
to these risks can be found in genetically diverse exotic germplasm sources.
"These exotic sources would not only help protect crops and farmers
pocketbooks, but reduce the need for pesticide use associated with combatting
insect, disease and weed pressures," Goodman said.
Breeders need access to sources of diverse germplasm to ensure
the continued success of U.S. corn farmers and their ability to adapt to a
variety of pressures. The GEM program provides this access and maintains the
germplasm.
The additional funding requested of the 112th Congress of the
United States would support research project needs and better support genomic
exploration of allelic diversity and adaptation at the Raleigh, NC, and Ames,
Iowa, facilities.
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=26065&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: American Seed Trade Association newsletter via
SeedQuest.com
1.18 Plants and animals
under greater threat due to climate change - Species can lose their ability to
adapt
April 16, 2012
Wageningen, The Netherlands
Plant and animal species can lose their ability to adapt as a
result of climate change. This is shown by research performed by Marleen Cobben
with which she hopes to obtain her doctorate at Wageningen University (part of
Wageningen UR) on 17 April 2012.
Cobben used computer calculations to illustrate how the
genetic base of plants and animals is seriously deteriorating due to climate
change. The smaller genetic base makes species more vulnerable to problems such
as diseases. Moreover, the fragmentation of landscapes and the loss of wildlife
areas is accelerating this decline.
Cobben has demonstrated that climate change is causing the
populations on the northern side of the species’ living area to migrate further
north. However, these populations have less genetic variation than the
populations that live in the centre of the species’ range. As a result the
populations that establish further north are genetically poor.
The populations in the centre of the living area have more
genetic variation. Cobben’s research shows that the large genetic variation in
these populations cannot migrate north quickly enough when temperatures rise.
If these populations become extinct, this genetic variation is therefore lost.
And this loss is definite: Gene varieties will disappear permanently from the
species, causing an overall genetic impoverishment.
A reduced genetic base makes plant and animal species more
vulnerable to threats such as diseases: when fewer gene varieties exist there
is a smaller chance that a gene variety is present when a plant or animal
population is threatened by a disease. The species therefore loses part of its ability
to adapt.
Cobben’s computer calculations shed a new light on the
effects of climate change on plants and animals. People often think that
species with slow shifting ranges will manage by adapting to the new climate
conditions: adaptation as an alternative survival strategy. However, if the
right gene varieties cannot migrate to the right place fast enough, plants and
animals will be less ‘climate-proof’ than expected.
Cobben believes that her findings underline the importance of
preserving or creating large wildlife areas and connections between these
areas. “This gives us more time,” she says. “Preserving genetic diversity for a
species is linked to the survival of populations in the centre of the species’
range. The longer these survive, the larger the chance that those gene
varieties can migrate north. If this migration is blocked by barriers in the
landscape, the genetic variation will decline more quickly, making the species
even more vulnerable to new threats such as diseases.”
Cobben’s research was carried out on the middle spotted
woodpecker, a species which has increased in numbers in the Netherlands over
recent years. The woodpecker is a so-called ‘model species’, meaning that it is
very suitable for this type of ecological research.
Woodpeckers are most easily found at this time of year, in
early spring. They are very active, and pecking. Since the trees have yet to
develop full foliage, they are relatively easy to spot.
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=26131&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.19 Ancient genes and modern science deliver
salt-tolerant wheat
April 18, 2012
By Heather Bray and Matthew Gilliham
Ten thousand years ago, somewhere in the ‘fertile crescent’
near modern day Turkey, several small but amazing events kick-started the
spread of farming, the birth of civilisation and ultimately changed the world.
Although we are still learning about the precise nature of
these events, we know that at this time people began to collect seeds from
local wild grasses to grow them for food, selecting the best seeds to grow in
subsequent seasons. During this process of selection and cultivation the wild
grasses cross-bred, or hybridised, leading to domesticated forms of ancient
wheat such as einkorn and emmer. Selection and cultivation continued, giving
rise to both modern bread wheat and durum wheat, used for making pasta and
couscous.
Wheat is now the most cultivated crop in the world and forms
the staple food for 35% of the world’s population. However, thousands of years
of repeated selection and crossing to obtain the best yields and quality has
significantly narrowed wheat’s gene pool.
For a team of Australian researchers looking at the problem
of salinity tolerance in durum wheat, the solution was clear: look at the
ancestors and wild relatives of modern wheats for tolerance to salt and
re-introduce these genes into modern wheat lines.
“It was some pretty big thinking about 15 years ago by our
collaborators at CSIRO that started this work,” says Dr Matthew
Gilliham of the University of Adelaide and the ARC Centre for
Plant Energy Biology. Matthew is senior author on a paper recently published in Nature Biotechnology announcing the
development of a line of durum wheat which is salt tolerant under commercial
farming conditions.
Salinity affects over 20% of the world’s agricultural land
and is a major issue in Australia’s prime wheat-growing areas, with nearly 70%
of this land susceptible to salinity. “Through the years, wheat has lost
genetic diversity for things such as tolerance to harsh environmental
conditions. That’s why we need to go back in time, get some genes from wild
relatives and ancestors that grow in these harsh conditions and cross them back
in.”
To find genes for salt tolerance, researchers from Australia’s
CSIRO looked at Triticum
monococcum, also known as einkorn. It is not a direct ancestor of bread
wheat or durum, but it is closely related to the grasses that were, and it
still grows in some parts of the world today. It can also grow in salty soil.
When the initial crosses between durum and the T.
monococcum were made using traditional plant breeding methods, whole pieces
of chromosomes containing thousands of genes were introduced. More years of
crossing and selection were needed to reduce the number of genes from the T.
monococcum in the durum lines and by 2009, researchers were trialling durum
wheat lines with increased tolerance to salinity. But what where the genes and
how did they work?
In salty soils, sodium ions from salt enter wheat plants via
the roots. From there they enter the plant’s water-transport system from where
they can be taken to the leaves. “The hypothesis we were working on is that
salinity tolerance in cereal crops, especially wheat, is related to the ability
to exclude sodium ions from the leaves. If you build up sodium levels in leaf cells
you start to inhibit essential life processes like photosynthesis, so wheats
that exclude salt from their leaves grow better in salty soils” explained
Matthew.
“Our group, including researchers from the Australian Centre for Plant
Functional Genomics, used a range of molecular and physiological tests to work
out that the important gene in this story was the sodium transporter gene
TmHKT1;5-A. We worked out where the gene was turned on, and what it did. This
gene makes a protein that acts as a sodium selective transporter, which
prevents the sodium from entering the shoots by filtering it out at the root
level, it essentially turns the roots into a sodium selective sponge. Compared
to the shoots, the build up of sodium in root cells does not inhibit cellular
metabolism very much at all.”
Although the understanding of the function of the sodium
transporter involved transgenic (genetic modification) techniques, the
introduction of the genes into the durum lines did not, meaning that the lines
of wheat could be tested under commercial conditions without going through
Australia’s strict regulatory framework for genetically modified organisms.
The durum line was trialled on a variety of field sites
across Southern Australia including a commercial farm near Moree in northern
New South Wales, These trials were led by CSIRO researchers Richard James and Rana Munns. Farmers in this area usually
harvest about 2.5 tonnes per hectare, a typical and profitable yield for
broad-acre, rain-fed (non-irrigated) cropping in semi-arid areas.
However, like many farms in the grain producing areas of
Australia, salinity is beginning to affect yields. On this farm, a commercial
durum variety and the line with the introduced sodium transporter genes had the
same performance on normal soil. But at the highest salinity level, the new
line outperformed the commercial variety by approximately 25%. This means
farmers can use varieties developed from the improved line across their farms,
even in paddocks only partly affected by salinity with a significant yield
advantage over the current varieties.
“Our research is the first to show that sodium exclusion
genes increase grain yield in the field” said Matthew, which is why the group’s
work is attracting a lot of attention, including publication in the prestigious
Nature Biotechnology. But the team’s work is not over yet. They have
already identified other genes from ancient relatives that may be useful in
improving salinity tolerance further, highlighting the huge potential for
improving modern wheat using the diversity already present in nature. “There
are other aspects to the salt- tolerance story and more genes to identify and
characterise” adds Matthew. “We haven’t solved the problem, we have just put
one piece back in the puzzle.”
About the Authors
Dr Heather Bray is a science communicator with
the Waite Research
Institute and a research fellow in the School of History and Politics
at the University of Adelaide. She is fascinated by both the science in
agriculture and the social aspects of food production in contemporary
Australia. Twitter handle: @heatherbray6
Dr Matthew Gilliham is a senior research fellow in
the School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, supported by the ARC Centre for Plant
Energy Biology. His research focuses on how plants use, transport and exclude
nutrient elements and aims to develop more nutritious and productive plants
tolerant to abiotic stresses. Twitter handle: @ionplants
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.20 Max Planck
Institute POD corn is not a maize ancestor
Pod corn, a crop that is said to be
maize's wild ancestor, is proved to be a product of mutation that results to
development of leaves in the wrong places. Max Planck Institute for Plant
Breeding Research and Friedrich Schriller University said that the cause of
leaf generation in the cob area is a leaf gene that is usually not active
there. This type of maize has bewildered scientists for years with its covered
kernels. These "covers" are long membranous husks which are known as
glumes. In contrary to those who believe that this is an old relative of our
normal maize today, pod corn is said to be just a mutant corn.
Findings of Heinz Saedler, Günter
Theißen and their team have discovered how the mysterious look of the pod corn
arises and the results show that it has nothing to do with the domestication of
the maize as it is today. Saedler said that from the old crossing experiments
the mutation must consist of at least two genetic components that can be
inherited separately.
When one component is inherited,
the glumes that surround the kernels in this mutant are significantly smaller
and less noticeable than that of the samples with both genetic components.
Thus, these results show that the two components involved are copies of the
same gene which are usually together and located in chromosome four (4). The
region that controls the transcription of the gene is said to be damaged
according to researchers and as a result, glumes develop a leaf-like pattern
and mature until the kernels are completely wrapped.
The mutated gene is proved to
belong to an entire family of development control genes known as the MADS-box
gene family and other representatives of this family control other
developmental processes in the plant.
Read more at http://www.mpg.de/5755791/pod_corn_leaves_inflorescences
Source:
Crop Biotech Update 27 April 2012
Contributed
by Margaret Smith
Department
of Plant Breeding & Genetics, Cornell University
1.21 Superstars of
botany: Rare specimens
A
handful of plant collectors has shaped the field of botany. Now they are
disappearing, and there are no clear successors.
25 April 2012
http://www.nature.com/news/superstars-of-botany-rare-specimens-1.10498
Plant collectors are also facing a
growing number of bureaucratic hurdles. Tropical countries, seeking to protect
potentially lucrative sources of drugs and crops, have tightened their
regulation of plant collecting. India is among those that ban the export of
plant specimens altogether; other countries demand that botanists specify what
groups they will collect, hindering broad floristic work.
“Each time I go back to Bolivia
there's more paperwork and more restrictions,” says Wood. That makes it harder
for botanists to gain international experience, he says. “There's a
disincentive to start in another country, because it means starting your
permits and contacts from scratch.” The top collectors of the future are likely
to be born in, or migrate to, tropical countries, he says.
This shift is already happening,
with local collectors and herbaria compensating for the decline of the
big-hitting Westerner, says Gerrit Davidse, of the Missouri Botanical Garden, a
co-author of the collector analysis. “In the past, you could mostly ignore
local collections in places such as Mexico and Brazil,” he says. “Now you
ignore them at your peril.”
The tight regulations do not spare
native collectors. “We have many problems applying for permits,” says Alfredo
Fuentes, a botanist at the National Herbarium of Bolivia in La Paz. “It is very
difficult to explain why we collect, and that the collections are not for
commercial purposes. We spend a lot of time on this.” In Kenya, says Luke, it
is “a huge song and dance” for local botanists to send specimens abroad to be
identified, which is usually necessary for the most interesting finds.
The bottleneck means that star
collectors of the past remain a force in present-day botany. Today's
researchers spend their days with plants collected by botanists going back to
the eighteenth-century days of Joseph Banks, and speak of their forebears with
the same familiarity as they do of their contemporaries. As Wood puts it:
“Collectors have a sense of their place in history.”
Contributed by Rodomiro Ortiz
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.22 Environmental
and conservation seed workshop to be held during annual convention of the
American Seed Trade Association (ASTA)
March 30, 2012
Alexandria, Virginia, USA
Different from years past, the 10th
Annual Environmental and Conservation Seed Workshop will be held June 19 as
part of the American Seed Trade Association's Annual Convention.
"Normally the workshop is held in April and we spend a
day at USDA meeting with and hearing from the different agencies and bureaus
that deal with seed, and the following day we go on the Hill as part of the fly
in," said Leslie Cahill, ASTA vice president of government affairs and
staff liaison to the Environmental and Conservation Seed Committee. "With
this year's Annual Convention being held in the D.C. area, it only makes sense
to combine everything and make better use of our resources and members'
time."
Individuals with an interest in environmental and
conservation seed should mark their calendars for Tuesday, June 19, from 9 a.m.
to 4 p.m. As usual, the workshop will be held at USDA headquarters.
ASTA's Annual Convention will be held June 20-23 at the
Gaylord National in National Harbor, Md. A block of rooms has been reserved at
the rate of $199 per night. For reservations, call 301-965-4000 or visit www.gaylordnational.com and mention
"ASTA."
A printable registration form for the Annual Convention is
available at http://www.amseed.org/pdfs/AC12-RegistrationBrochure.pdf and online
registration will open soon.
For questions and additional information about the workshop,
contact Cahill at 703-837-8140 or lcahill@amseed.org.
For questions and information about the Annual Convention,
contact Jennifer Crouse, ASTA director of meetings and services, at
703-837-8140 or jcrouse@amseed.org.
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=25740&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: Newsletter of the American Seed Trade Association
(ASTA) via SeedQuest.com
1.23 Success of ISF World Seed Congress
2011 enables £50,000 donation from the British Society of Plant Breeders to
support seed improvement project in Kenya
April 2012
United Kingdom
The British Society of Plant Breeders (BSPB) is donating
£50,000 to FARM-Africa to support a two-year seed improvement project in Kenya.
The project will work with 1500 local farmers in Eastern
Kenya to improve the quality and supply of drought tolerant seeds. This in turn
will boost local food security and the incomes for farmers’ families,
benefitting 9000 people.
The decision to support the project was made possible by the
success of last year’s International Seed Federation (ISF) World Seed Congress,
which was hosted by BSPB in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
The ISF World Seed Congress 2011 offered a unique opportunity
for BSPB to welcome the world’s seed industry to the UK, and the record
attendance in Belfast reflects a growing recognition that innovation in the
plant breeding and seeds sector will be a key factor in addressing the global
challenges of food security and climate change.
An added bonus is that surplus revenue from the Congress has
enabled BSPB to support the vital work of FARM-Africa in helping smallholder
farmers to access the benefits of improved varieties and better quality seeds.
According to FARM-Africa, the donation from BSPB will help to
transform the lives of farmers struggling to grow food for their families on
tiny plots in unimaginably harsh conditions. The project will provide these
farmers with the seeds they desperately need to feed communities in this highly
vulnerable region and, as food production grows, farmers will also be able to
produce surpluses which can be sold to pay for essential household and medical
expenses as well as schooling for children.
About the
project
The availability and affordability of quality drought
tolerant seeds is a major constraint to local farmers in Kenya, who often plant
crops which are not suited to the region’s drought-like conditions.
The BSPB-funded project seeks to break this cycle of crop
failure and create food security in Kenya by giving farmers access to drought
tolerant crop varieties.
Based in Kitui County, Eastern Kenya, the BSPB-funded project
will test an approach for disseminatig drought tolerant seeds of approved
varieties provided by the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI).
Over 80% of Kenya’s land is classified as either arid or
semi-arid. The results of the project are therefore highly important as
successes will be shared and implemented across other regions and districts.
A recent FARM-Africa project in the same area doubled yields
for smallholder farmers by using drought tolerant crops and improved soil and
water conservation techniques. Working with three crops - sorghum, green grams
and pigeon peas – and across four cropping seasons, FARM-Africa believes the
long-term sustainability of the project will hinge on three key factors:
linking seed producers to local seed and input dealers; improving farmers’
awareness of the benefits of improved varieties; and linking seed producers to
KARI for the supply of quality foundation seed and technical advice.
FARM-Africa is a different kind of charity working to end
hunger and bring prosperity to rural Africa. For too long, Africa has struggled
with the problems of hunger and poverty. Again and again, images of famine have
challenged the world to end this human tragedy – but still it happens. Today,
with climate change to deal with too, the need is more urgent than ever.
FARM-Africa is helping Africa’s farmers to end this cycle of
despair and take charge of their future.We’re doers, bringing the technology
and know-how to Africa farmers to help them manage their resources for the
long-term.We’re there, on the ground, shoulder to shoulder with farmers to
ensure the best farming techniques take root and spread so there’s food not
just this harvest, but every harvest.We bridge rural communities, governments
and businesses so that farmers can grow food AND sell it too, ensuring that
Africa’s farmers build better lives.
You can learn more here: http://www.farmafrica.org.uk/
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=25774&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.24 The electronic
nose knows when your cantaloupe is ripe
March 30, 2012
Have you
ever been disappointed by a cantaloupe from the grocery store? Too ripe? Not
ripe enough? Luckily for you, researchers from the University of California,
Davis might have found a way to make imperfectly ripe fruit a thing of the
past. The method will be published on March 30 in the Journal of Visualized
Experiments (JoVE).
"We are involved in a project geared towards developing
rapid methods to evaluate ripeness and flavour of fruits," said
paper-author Dr. Florence Negre-Zkharov. "We evaluated an electronic nose
to see if it can differentiate maturity of fruit, specifically melons. The goal
is to develop a tool that can be used post-harvest to better evaluate produce,
and develop better breeds."
When fruit ripens, it develops a characteristic volatile
blend, indicating its maturity. Traditionally, the gold-standard of evaluating
these volatiles has been gas chromatography, but it takes up to an hour to
analyze a single sample, which makes it impractical to use outside the lab.
Dr. Negre-Zakharov and her team wanted to determine if the
much cruder— but much faster— electronic nose was able to determine if the
melon they used in the experiment were ripe. It was. "It’s quite
encouraging technology for the purposes of determining maturity," she
said.
The project is part of the Specialty Crops Research
Initiative, funded by the United States Department of Agriculture, which was
"established to solve critical industry issues through research and extension
activities." Dr. Negre-Zkharov and her team are working on quantitative
methods of evaluating fruit-ripeness in the hopes that it will help the
industry produce better quality produce.
"It's very impressive that the electronic nose system
can do a type of gas chromatography in about a minute. Ultra-fast, indeed.
Also, the sample preparation is as easy as making a smoothie at home. Such a
user-friendly system could greatly help analysis efficiency in this
field," said JoVE Science Editor, Dr. Zhao Chen. "Given the
popularity of JoVE video-articles, I expect many researchers will know and
adopt this method in their own research."
Since the very nature of the project is to give people useful
tools, the researchers decided to publish in JoVE, the only peer reviewed,
PubMed-indexed science journal to publish all of its content in both text and
video format. "We thought that the best way to get people to adopt the
method was showing a video, instead of publishing a text," said Dr.
Negre-Zkharov.
The next step is to take the electronic nose out into the
field to determine if it can still determine fruit maturity with all of the
background smells interfering— like soil and air-quality. Though the team has
already tested the device in the field, they have not yet analyzed their
results.
Presentation by Dr. Florence Negre-Zakharov
Investigating fruit volatile
metabolism: toward improving crop flavor quality
Seed Central, December 2011
To watch the full video article, please click here:
http://www.jove.com/video/3821/fruit-volatile-analysis-using-an-electronic-nose
The Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE) is the first and
only Pubmed and Medline indexed academic journal devoted to publishing research
in the biological sciences in video format. Using an international network of
videographers, JoVE films and edits videos of researchers performing new
experimental techniques at top universities, allowing students and scientists
to learn them much more quickly. As of January 2012 JoVE has released 59
monthly issues including over 1500 video-protocols on experimental approaches
in developmental biology, neuroscience, microbiology and other fields.
Fruit Volatile Analysis Using an
Electronic Nose Simona Vallone1, Nathan W. Lloyd2, Susan E. Ebeler3,
Florence Zakharov11Department of Plant Sciences, University of California,
Davis 2Department of Chemical Engineering and Material Science, University of
California, Davis 3Department of Viticulture and Enology, University of
California, Davis A rapid method for volatile compound analysis in fruit is
described. The volatile compounds present in the headspace of a homogenate of
the sample are rapidly separated and detected with ultra-fast gas chromatography
(GC) coupled with a surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensor. A procedure for data
handling and analysis is also discussed.
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=25732&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: The Journal of
Visualized Experiments via SeedQuest.com
1.25 X-ray technology
harnessed to grow more nutritious crops
April 5, 2012
Kigali, Rwanda
Agricultural researchers in Rwanda have adapted a technology
widely used in the mining sector to analyse the mineral content of food crops
such as beans and maize, with a view to developing more nutritious crops.
The team, from the Rwandan Agricultural Board (RAB), say the
idea was inspired by a study published in the journal Plant and Soil earlier
this year (21 January), which noted the use of X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis
to determine the mineral content of soil samples.
XRF analysis generates X-rays of different colours to
indicate the presence, and concentration, of elements such as iron and zinc. It
is quick to display results, and each sample costs just 15 US cents to analyse
– compared to US$20 for other chemical analysis technologies.
In Rwanda, beans are regarded as a near-perfect food as they
contain many important nutrients, and between 22 to 30 per cent of arable land
across the country is currently used to grow them, according to the RAB.
The Rwandan team used XRF to analyse three varieties of
bio-fortified beans – climbing, bush and snap beans. They analysed 15 samples
in total, and found four were particularly rich in mineral nutrients such as
iron and zinc, according to Augustine Musoni, a senior researcher at the RAB.
"This is a step forward in [reducing] malnutrition while improving the
lives of smallholder farmers," Musoni told SciDev.Net. Iron deficiency in
food crops can inhibit physical and mental development in children, and
increase the risk of women dying in childbirth, Musoni added.
The Plant and Soil study was funded by HarvestPlus, which is
part of the Agriculture for Improved Nutrition and Health programme of the
Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).
HarvestPlus has formed partnerships with research institutes
in Bangladesh, Mexico and India to make further use of the technology in crops
like rice and pearl millet. It has set up XRF facilities in these institutes
and trained local scientists to use them.
The main purpose of the new technology according to Tiwirai
Lister Katsvairo, the Rwanda country representative for HarvestPlus, is to
deliver nutritious staple food crops to reduce "hidden hunger" — the
lack of dietary vitamins and minerals, adding that more than half of Rwanda's
children under five, and a third of the female population, are anaemic.
Daphrose Gahakwa, deputy director-general of the RAB said
that XRF technology would be a beneficial method of testing mineral content in
seeds. The challenge in delivering this innovation, she said, was how to
deliver those benefits to remote areas of the country.
Link to abstract
in Plant and Soil
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=25950&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.26 EU-funded project to speed up the
development of drought and disease resistant crops
April 2, 2012
United Kingdom
As parts of the UK have been officially declared to be in a
state of drought, the announcement of a new EU-funded project which aims to
speed up the development of drought and disease resistant crops is timely.
The five-year, three-million Euro project is set to
revolutionize the way in which new plant varieties are produced. Molecular and
computational techniques will be used to identify processes associated with the
way drought and disease combine to make matters much worse than either alone.
The project will also identify novel genes and biochemical pathways that
improve plant resistance to these stresses.
The approach will be developed using a clover-like plant as a
model. Under laboratory conditions, hundreds of these plants will be subjected
to drought and/or infection with a type of soil fungus called Fusarium. The
latest high throughput imaging technology will be used to monitor the
performance of the plants without disturbing them. The information obtained
from studying the model plant will then be applied to breeding new pea
varieties. These new varieties will be compared with existing commercial crops,
identifying those which perform better when challenged with a combination of
Fusarium and drought. The best of the plants will undergo field trials at
different sites across Europe.
The project is being led by The Food and Environment Research
Agency (Fera) and involves 12 national and international partners. Dr Adrian
Charlton, Project Leader and Head of Chemical & Biochemical profiling at
Fera said “This project brings together the very best expertise in plant-based
molecular biology and biochemistry in Europe and should lead to groundbreaking
improvements in the techniques used for crop breeding. Fera scientists will be
studying the biochemical profiles from the best performing plants and linking
these back to the genes responsible using advanced computational techniques.”
Researchers aim to develop principles and techniques that can
be rolled out for crop breeding generally. Small to medium sized businesses
should be able to use these to develop business opportunities. This should
significantly reduce the time taken to breed new crop varieties that are more
able to withstand the challenges commonly associated with climate change, such
as extreme weather and changing incidence of pests and diseases.
Peas are being studied initially as they are well
characterised genetically. Peas, like other legumes, have a key role as a
sustainable source of protein in both human and animal diets. Importantly, peas
can replace imported soybeans, which currently represent over 75% of feedstock
protein in the EU. Farming of legumes has a low carbon footprint compared with
other crop types and they also replenish nitrogen in the soil for the following
crop. Legumes don’t require, and reduce the need in other crops for, nitrogen
fertilisers which are a major source of greenhouse gases and farm energy
consumption. Increased cultivation of drought and disease resistant legumes
developed as a result of this project will be important in ensuring future food
security, whilst mitigating the effects of climate change.
The soil fungus Fusarium is being used as an example of
disease stress because this type of infection affects the way in which plants
can mobilise water and so the damage it causes is compounded during drought
conditions. The prevalence of this economically devastating fungal disease is
predicted to increase due to climate change.
Background
Legumes
are notable for their ability to
fix atmospheric nitrogen. This is due to a symbiotic relationship with bacteria
which are found in the root nodules of these plants. As a result legumes do not
require nitrogen fertiliser, which reduces fertiliser costs for farmers and
gardeners who grow legumes, and allows legumes to be used in crop rotation to
replenish soil that has been depleted of nitrogen.
The production of nitrogen-based
fertilisers uses about 1% of the world’s energy. The use and production of
nitrogen fertilisers can lead to the production of nitrous oxide
(N<sub>2</sub>O), a greenhouse gas with about 300x the potency of
CO<sub>2</sub>. Increased planting of legumes can therefore help to
combat climate change.
This new
project is titled ABSTRESS.
The partners are:
- The Food and Environment Research Agency, York, UK
(lead).
- University of Essex, Colchester, UK.
- University of Aberystwyth, Aberystwyth, UK.
- Centre National de la
Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), ISV, Gif sur Yvette, France.
- Institut National de la
Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Dijon, France.
- Agricultural Biotechnology Centre, Gödöll?, Hungary.
- Consejo Superior de
Investigaciones Científicas, Cordoba, Spain.
- GenXPro GmbH, Frankfurt, Germany.
- Arterra Bioscience, Naples, Italy.
- Processors and Growers Research Organisation,
Peterborough, UK.
- Agrovegetal S.A., Savilla.
Spain.
- Agritec Ltd., Šumperk, Czech Republic.
- Biotecgen Srl., Lecce, Italy.
As the project progresses more
information will be posted on the website - www.abstress.eu.
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=25816&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.27 New forage plant
prepares farmers for climate changes
April 4, 2012
Copenhagen, Denmark
Researchers, including plant researchers from the University
of Copenhagen, have developed a new type of the corn-like crop sorghum, which
may become very significant for food supplies in drought-prone areas. Unlike
the conventional drought-resistant sorghum plant, which is an important crop in
e.g. Africa, China and the USA, this new type does not form toxic cyanide when
exposed to long-term drought. Consequently, farmers in drought areas will no
longer need to discard their sorghum crops in future.
Sorghum, or durra, is an important forage crop in many
countries, for example the USA, Africa, China and Australia. The plant is grown
instead of corn because it produces more biomass and better withstands long
periods of drought. However, when exposed to drought, the sorghum plant
produces large amounts of dhurrin, which forms toxic cyanide, i.e. Prussic
acid.
Forced to
discard crops
Farmers thus face a big dilemma. During a period of drought
when they most need food for their animals, they are often forced to discard
their sorghum because they do not know how poisonous it is and how much the
animals can eat without suffering from cyanide poisoning.
In Australia alone, farmers lose hundreds of millions of
dollars each year as a result: "The fact that the sorghum plant produces
large amounts of the natural cyanogenic glycoside dhurrin when exposed to
drought is a serious problem for farmers in many parts of the world. Dhurrin
breaks down to form toxic cyanide or Prussic acid when an animal eats the
plant. So when there is a drought and most need for forage, the farmer can no
longer use the crop and it goes to waste," says Professor of Plant
Biochemistry at the University of Copenhagen, Birger Lindberg Møller .
New, toxic-free
sorghum strain is a breakthrough
Recently, Birger Lindberg Møller and his research group have,
in collaboration with, for example, Monash University in Australia, developed a
sorghum plant which is unable to produce Prussic acid.
Instead of using genetic engineering, the researchers used
plant breeding and advanced biochemical and molecular biological screening
methods:"This is a breakthrough which, globally, can be very important for
agriculture, especially in warmer climes where climate change is expected to
cause longer and more frequent periods of drought in future. Especially in
Africa, where farmers cannot afford to buy new forage in periods of drought, it
is a huge step forwards that they will now be able to feed their animals with
sorghum they can grow themselves," says Birger Lindberg Møller.
The University of Copenhagen and Monash University have
submitted a patent application.
Copenhagen Plant Science Center
gathers plant research. Professor Birger
Lindberg Møller is an internationally leading researcher in explaining the way
in which plants produce bioactive natural substances. This research area will
be a key part of the research profile for the future Copenhagen Plant Science Center .
The centre will bring together the University of Copenhagen’s
research and education within plants and plant-based foods and provide even
better possibilities for working with the business sector.
On Wednesday 28 March, Maive Rute, Director for Food,
Agriculture and Biotechnology in the EU Commission, visited some of the
research environments which in future will make up the Copenhagen Plant Science
Center. The purpose of the visit was to examine the possibilities for major new
EU initiatives and investments in the plant and energy area: "The visit is
important because in future it will increasingly enable Danish research results
to be translated in collaboration with both small and larger businesses into specific
products and developing strategies which can counter some of the challenges
posed by climate change in terms of reduced yields and the spread of new plant
diseases.
There is a serious need for knowledge-based solutions within
bioenergy, foods, medicine and other bio-based raw materials which can benefit
research and business," says Professor Poul Erik Jensen , who, with
Professor Birger Lindberg Møller, is an acting head of the centre.
Read more at the Copenhagen Plant
Science Center website.
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=25875&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.28 Hunt on for rice to resist salt,
flooding
April 17, 2012
Bangkok
With rice production in Vietnam's fertile Mekong delta
threatened by salt water from rising sea levels, researchers say they're
turning to genetics for help. Scientists at the International Rice Research
Institute are working with Vietnamese counterparts in experiments in the
Philippines to develop a variety of rice that can withstand submergence for
over two weeks and also resist increased salinity.
An existing flood-tolerant variety, dubbed "scuba
rice," already offers half the solution, researchers said. "IRRI is
experimenting to find a rice variety to deal with both problems," Bjorn
Ole Sander, a scientist at the world's leading non-governmental research center
on rice, told Inter Press Service. "Even if we have rice crops that are
tolerant to floods they can die because of salinity."
The search for a salinity-tolerant variety that could be
cross-bred with scuba rice is daunting, he said. "It will take at least
four years to find a rice variety that will be tolerant to both salinity and
flooding," he said.
With climate change and global warming the search for a
solution is vital, he said, noting that salt water from the South China Sea now
spreads 25 miles into the Mekong delta, unlike the 6 miles inland the sea tides
reached 30 years ago. "That would be the answer to the problems faced in
the Mekong Delta from flooding and salinity from the rising sea tides."
Researchers in Britain and Japan also are working on
developing saline-resistant rice.
Read more:
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.29 Creating the
perfect tomato
April 18, 2012
By John Buchanan Central Florida's Agri-Leader
A tomato is no longer just a tomato. And as consumer
knowledge and tastes become ever more sophisticated, a good tomato is no longer
necessarily good enough.
That's the underlying business philosophy that has driven
Immokalee-based, super-grower Lipman — the largest field grower of tomatoes in
North America — to work to develop proprietary varieties that incorporate
abundant flavor, nutritional value, color, shape and shelf life.
In the past, tomatoes were selected as inbred, or
self-pollinated, varieties. Growers would simply choose a plant that did better
than the rest, then replant its seeds. Today, however, there is much more science
behind the process.
"Parents," or tomatoes chosen for their superior
genes when it comes to taste, size, color and resistance to disease, are inbred
until the lines are stable — usually for six or seven generations. Then,
"Tomato A," bred for a trait such as ideal taste, is intercrossed
with "Tomato B," bred for ideal size and shape, to create a new
hybrid that can be brought to market with much fanfare.
During the first three years of the process, Lipman develops
a "library" of parents, explained Mark Barineau, the company's
director of breeding. "Then we pull those off the shelf and intercross
them to make our new hybrid materials." After that, it typically takes
another two to three years to actually bring the new hybrid to market. And that
includes field experimentation in actual growing.
Lipman's ability to develop new varieties has resulted from
key advances in technology, including analytical capabilities at the DNA level.
"We've also come a very long way," Barineau said, "in terms of
the ability to challenge our varieties with different pathogens effectively so
that we know that the disease resistances we're working on really are
there."
Another important advance has been at the farming level.
"That means the tools that allow us to grow and monitor our crops more
effectively," Barineau said. "For example, the genetic markers that
are available now for looking at varieties at a DNA level. We can look right
down to the base pairs of DNA. We can look at changes in base pairs. And that
allows us to very powerfully evaluate our material."
At the same time, he said, challenges
have increased, too. "The number of pests and pathogens we have to deal
with from a farming standpoint has increased," he said. "There are
new races of bacteria, new races of blight. There are a range of things that
didn't attack plants when I first got into the business 20 years ago. So we've
had to change our varieties to give us more flexibility in the growing aspects.
"From a farming standpoint, we've also had to be much more sensitive to
the range of pesticides that can be applied, although we try to minimize the
number of those applications and also try to minimize the number of materials
that we use to make them more 'green' or 'friendly.'"
If smaller or less tech-savvy growers want to learn more
about how Lipman does what it does, the best way is via an extension office of
the University of Florida. "The UF
people are up on the latest practices and they're in a position to deal with
individual growers," Barineau said.
Lipman's innovation also matters to its retail customers and
ultimately to consumers. "Consumers today are a lot more
knowledgeable," said Tim Wynn, the third-generation proprietor of
74-year-old, high-end grocer Wynn's Market in Naples. "And a lot of them
are looking for the kind of flavor we all used to get from good old-fashioned,
vine-ripe tomatoes. And they're also looking for tomatoes that are
beautiful."
Because he competes with Whole Foods and Fresh Market, Wynn
said he is constantly on the lookout for the best tomatoes he can find. He has
had great success with Lipman's vintage ripes. "I just want to make my
customers happy," Wynn said. "And that's what helps us about all the
work Lipman is doing. Their vintage ripes are a step above your everyday tomato
and they sell very well for us."
Wynn said he is further encouraged that
Lipman recently announced a consumer-branding campaign that will commence later
this month with aggressive advertising and promotion.
"The more knowledge the customer has, the easier that
makes my job," Wynn said. "So I think it's great they're doing that.
"The more knowledge the customer has, the more they're going to come in
demanding those particular products. And I get to sell more, so everybody
wins."
For more information, go online to www.lipmanproduce.com.
http://www2.tbo.com/business/2012/apr/18/creating-the-perfect-tomato-ar-393376/
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.30 Tomatoes: GM,
Aroma and Tradition
April 25, 2012
By Enrico Uva
For our frugal parents in the late
1960's, pressure cookers and mason jars were not an option. In fact, since our
tomato-dominated gardens couldn't provide the needed volume, our extended
family drove to farms to pick more tomatoes, often overfilling allotted
baskets. Then back home, not for ecological reasons but strictly to lower
costs, any glass container in sight was recycled, filled with crushed tomatoes
and topped with a basil leaf. Jars and bottles were placed in big oil drums,
and fires were lit in the fields behind our suburban homes so we could preserve
sauce for the long, upcoming winter.
When we carry out traditions, we
are under the illusion that we are repeating acts dating back to the dawn of
our culture. But a few years later, as an adolescent, a plaque at Montreal's
Botanical Gardens made me aware that tomatoes are not indigenous to the Old
World, let alone Italy. Pasta can be traced to the Roman Empire, but it was
eaten without tomato sauce.
Even after tomatoes were brought in
from South America or Mexico (there are two competing hypotheses with not
enough evidence to declare a winner) they were assumed to be poisonous because
of their similarities to mandrake and belladonna. Finally, at some point
between the 1600's and 1700's, tomatoes were used for culinary purposes in southern
Europe, but the custom did not become widespread until the 1860's when they
were first mass-produced.
When it comes to classifying the
tomato, many have experienced confusion, regardless of their knowledge of
botany. Aside from the Nix versus Hedden issue, people forget or ignore that
the seeded berry grows from a flower; they persist in calling it a vegetable
because it is not as sweet as a pear or a cantaloupe, and it's not tossed into
a fruit salad. The same applies to other fruits such as peppers, cucumbers and
squash. But for a long time, botanists incorrectly classified the domestic
tomato as Lycopersicon esculentum, even though Linnaeus in 1753 along
with prior taxonomists realized merely from morphological features that it
belonged to the same genus as that of wild tomatoes and potatoes. The current
classification of Solanum lycoserpicum is based on comparative
chloroplast DNA analyses and other molecular studies.
Constant artificial selection, the
first form of genetic modification of tomatoes, probably took place in Mexico
and Western South America, where the tomato was first domesticated, and it
continued later and more intensely in Europe. One of the many resulting changes
involved flower structure. The female part, the stigma, has become less
protruding and, in the case of commercial varieties, completely surrounded by
the fused anthers. This has increased fruit yield, but by preventing
cross-pollination, it has reduced genetic variation. For a while, only the odd
spontaneous mutation would cause change.
Then in the 1990's transgenic
tomatoes appeared and some failed even before the irrational EU ban of GM foods
came into effect. The single-gene approach had been oversimplistic. The Flavr
Savr tomato was given a gene that interfered with the production of an enzyme
that would normally soften the fruit. The shelf life was indeed extended, but
the firmness was not really improved, and the GM fruit could not be harvested
when ripe.
Tomato researchers realized that
the genetics of a quantitative trait is hard to investigate. The effect of one
gene is small and often influenced by environment or by the interaction with
other genes. Many tomato traits are genetically controlled by a combined action
of quantitative trait loci(QTLs) with favorable allelic genes found in wild
species grown in Ecuador, Peru, Chile and even in the Galapagos.
Having spent many hours of my youth
picking tomatoes, I've always been fascinated by the aroma of tomatoes and by
the smell exuded by stems alone. Here are some examples of volatiles found in
fresh tomatoes, which some have been investigating not for my nostalgic reasons
but with the hope of accentuating aroma through genetic modification.
Annually 100 million metric tons of
tomatoes are produced worldwide. The leading consumers are Mediterranean
countries with 60-100 kg eaten per capita per year. The combination of poverty
and lower popularity of the tomato elsewhere in the world creates an overall
global annual consumption of only 14 kg/cap/y. The leading producers are China,
US, India, Turkey, Egypt, Italy and Spain. Ironically, Italy has become China's
largest customer for the type of tomato used to make tomato paste.
Paste, which has a lower water
content than fresh tomatoes, is understandably more concentrated in vitamins A,
C and the reddish compound lycopene. In test tube studies, lycopene is the best
antioxidant among carotenoids. But the same was said of anthocyanins, and then
evidence for the in vivo effect turned out to be scant. With lycopene,
however, some supportive epidemiological studies have also been done. While the
Mayo Clinic maintains that the cancer-preventive action of lycopene is still
controversial, many researchers nevertheless believe that increasing the
content of lycopenes and other phytochemicals is a worthwhile pursuit, but that
it won't be successful without an interdisciplinary approach.
Sources
Genetic Improvement of Solanaceous
Crops
Autar K. Mattoo. Maharaj K. Razdan,
First Fruit: The Creation of the Flavr Savr Tomato and the Birth of Biotech
Foods
Belinda Martineau, The Chemistry
of Fresh Tomato Flavor, Emin YILMAZ, TURKEY Turk J Agric For25 (2001)
149-155
http://www.science20.com/chemical_education/tomatoes_gm_aroma_and_tradition-89237
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.31 New Downy mildew
resistant cucumber
Two downy mildew resistant cucumber
varieties will be available to farmers in the United States and Canada this
spring. Monsanto's Seminis brand will offer the new slicer cucumber varieties
exclusively with FarMore® and F1400 Cucumber Technology from Syngenta Seed
Care. This seed protection system provides fungal disease and insect control to
enhance cucumber performance and quality.
Downy mildew is a disease affecting
the quality and yield of many crops, including cucumbers. Ronnie Blackley,
Monsanto's Cucurbit Technology Development Lead said that the new varieties
offer cucumber growers a new defense against downy mildew, which was previously
limited to fungicides.
More information about the new
crops is available at:
http://monsanto.mediaroom.com/downy-mildew-resistant-cucumber-hybrids.
Source:
Crop Biotech Update 27 April 2012
Contributed
by Margaret Smith
Department
of Plant Breeding & Genetics, Cornell University
1.32 Realizing the potential of
Africa’s vegetative crops requires new tools for rapid multiplication of
healthy and improved planting material
Bananas, plantains, cassava, potato
and sweet-potato, as well as other indigenous African root vegetables are key
in solving Africa’s food and income security challenges. The total production of these crops almost
doubles that of maize, rice and wheat in Africa.
These vegetatively
propagated crops are an excellent source of cheap
energy and are a key staple foods in Sub-Saharan
Africa. The importance of these crops is
well known for example East African Highland bananas in the African
Great Lakes region, and cassava and plantains in West Africa.
Some cultivars are very nutritious
because they are rich in vitamins or essential minerals. Research shows that a
family of five could meet their annual vitamin A requirements from only a small
10 x 50 meter plot of recently developed orange flesh sweet-potato, even at low
yield levels of around 5 tons per hectare.
Root and vegetative crops such as
these are mostly produced, processed, and traded in farm households or locally,
making them less vulnerable than grain to abrupt price changes in international
markets. Cassava and sweet potato can be grown in marginal conditions and
nontraditional areas, and can be produced with relatively few inputs because of
their ability to tolerate many abiotic stresses such as drought or heat or poor
soils.
In some agro-ecosystems, they often
complement cereals to cut risk and make more efficient use of resources by
providing food earlier in the farming calendar or by be planted in otherwise
fallow periods between grain crops. They are also known as “famine crops”
because of their particular role during the “lean or hunger season” when their
tuberous roots can be harvested as needed to meet shortfalls in grain and other
vegetative crops. A uniquely African Green Revolution requires urgent
improvements in the supply of new and improved cultivars of these vegetative
crops.
Multiplication and dissemination of
new cultivars requires new innovation in greenhouse, tissue-culture,
micro-propagation and decentralized field multiplications of healthy planting
materials. In Africa today, farmer or commercial multiplication of these crops
is very low compared with multiplication of cereal and pulse seed.
Most planting materials used by
farmers are often of poor quality because they are infected with pests and
diseases, which perpetuate (and exacerbate) pest losses through successive
growth cycles. Newly developed higher yielding, or disease and pest tolerant
cultivars, have not been made available in sufficient and reliable quantities
to satisfy the demands of African growers.
The best strategy to deliver
healthy planting materials for vegetatively propagated crops includes
micro-propagation of healthy propagules of selected germplasm along with
multiplication in greenhouses, shade-houses and field plots.
Micro-propagation is the process of
growing tissue culture for plant shoot-tips in a laboratory until they are
ready for transplant into the field. This propagation system significantly
reduces pathogen incidence and may dramatically improve yield when coupled with
good agronomic practices. Micro-propagation systems can easily include quality
control to ensure certification and delivery of “clean” propagules. Tissue
culture-derived materials can rapidly grow, helping the introduction of newly
bred germplasm at reasonable cost and speed.
They are also amenable to
biological enhancement (e.g. with endophytes that extend the benefits of
“clean” planting material) before delivery to farmers. Macro-propagation will
be further use to multiply additional clean planting material locally and at a
lower cost. However, when re‐infection rates are high, a continual supply
of new planting material will be a must for annual or biennial replanting or
these vegetatively propagated crops.
Phytosanitary testing to support
schemes for certifying the quality of such materials throughout the production
chain will be also a key element for this rapid multiplication system. The
production, conditioning, and marketing of certified planting materials will be
the responsibility of the public or private grower but the certifying agency
must verify that they follow the approved regulations outlined by the national
authority to meet the required standards for certification.
Contribution by Rodomiro Ortiz, PhD
Genetics and Plant
Breeding Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU)
Alnarp, Sweden
1.33 Molecular hybridization
applications for virus resistance screening and large scale detection in
solanaceae and cucurbits
April 4, 2012
Roquetas de Mar, Spain
Since the appearance of Molecular Hybridization probes for
Potato spindle tuber viroid detection in the early 1980s, their use has
increased and expanded to cover a wide variety of economically important
vegetable and fruit crops, including Solanaceae and Cucurbits. Their
specificity to concrete viruses strains (ie. TYCLV-IL, TYLCSV, PepMV-EU,
PepMV-CH2), coupled with the robustness of semiquantitative results and in
addition to their suitability for large scales assays has made them a preferred
tool in plant breeding programs.
Hybridization
Process
Unlike probes of the past, today's probes are non-radioactive
and contain labelled digoxigenin which attaches to viral RNA or DNA strands
from hybridized samples. The preparation of samples can be in form of RNA and
DNA extraction dot blots, Crude leaf extract dot blots or tissue prints applied
to a nylon membrane. The absence or presence of a virus, as well as the
intensity of a samples' viral load can be observed through chemiluminescence
shown from an autoradiography films taken of the hybridized nylon membrane.
Advantages Over
Other Methods
In addition to high specificity and robust results, Molecular
Hybridization is perfectly suited for diagnosing high numbers of samples
(hundreds) at one time. This large scale capacity makes it a preferred
alternative to other methods in terms of labor as in the case of ELISA, and
costs with regards to PCR / RT-PCR. Aside from being a research tool, this
method is ideal for early diagnosis in the field to detect viral infections
when plants are still asymptomatic.
Pathogens of
Economic Interest
The experts at Savia Biotech along with researchers from
public laboratories in Spain have developed a list of over twenty Molecular
Hybridization probes to detect the most common viruses that affect Solanaceae
and Cucurbits. Savia Biotech offers Molecular Hybridization to the public in
form of Probe kits for in-house diagnosis, Membrane kits that include
processing services, and training seminars on how to use probes.
For more information on Molecular Hybridization please visit www.saviabiotech.es or contact info@saviabiotech.es
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=25851&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.34 Better cotton?
It’s all in the genes, says Israeli geneticist
April 9, 2012
By David
Shamah
Rosetta Green has signed a deal with Bayer CropScience AG to
produce hardier seeds that will grow high-quality cotton in challenging
environmental conditions
Israel’s Rosetta Green, which produces
special genes that are developed and modified to improve crop production, has
signed a deal with international seed manufacturer Bayer CropScience AG to
produce seeds to improve cotton yields for farmers.
Rosetta Green’s technology is based on the development of
microRNA genes, which play important roles regulating key traits in plants.
As the world population has grown, now topping seven billion
people, the “green revolution” of the past 50 years is beginning to show its
age. Pesticides are not as effective as they used to be as insects become more
resistant, and water for irrigation is becoming an ever more expensive — and
more rare — commodity, as food production ramps up to meet demand.
Of even greater concern to scientists are the increasingly
Westernized lifestyles in the Far East, as billions of people begin demanding
better quality food, and especially meat; it takes far more water to produce a
pound of meat than a pound of wheat. There’s only so much pesticide farmers can
apply to crops, and there’s only so much water available. Rosetta Green has
been developing microRNA (miRNA) genes to alleviate both these problems.
In the 1990s, researchers discovered that miRNA acts as a
“master genome regulator” in plants and mammals. By manipulating miRNA, Rosetta
Green scientists have been able to develop more resistant strains of cotton,
corn, soybeans, and other crops.
The problems in food crop production are exacerbated in
cotton production. Because cotton is not considered a food, stronger pesticides
can be used to treat them. However, those pesticides eventually find their way
into the surrounding environment, contaminating water and land. In addition, irrigation practices in many
countries that are dependent on cotton for exports, like Egypt and Pakistan,
have placed a major strain on water resources. Even in countries where water
use is more efficient, like in Australia, recent droughts have challenged
cotton farmers and raised the cost of production significantly.
It’s in response to these problems, the company said, that
Rosetta Green will work with Bayer in an attempt to develop new cotton
varieties that could produce better yields under difficult environmental
conditions, using less or poorer quality water. Bayer, the company said, has
committed to pay Rosetta Green if certain milestones are achieved in the
development and commercialization of the products, plus royalties on future
revenues from sales. Those royalties could amount to tens of millions of
dollars, the company added.
Amir Avniel, Rosetta Green’s CEO was optimistic that the
company’s researchers could come up with new and improved cotton strains. “We
believe that microRNA genes have great potential in the agriculture industry
and in crop improvement, and are hopeful that the new technology that Bayer and
Rosetta Green will develop will succeed in significantly increasing cotton
yields, especially in periods of drought and water shortage and in countries that
suffer from chronic scarcity in potable water. Such developments could
significantly increase the areas where crops can be grown and gradually grow
more and more crops in arid areas with limited water availability or access to
brackish water only,” Avniel added.
Rosetta Green was established in 2007 as a subsidiary of
Rosetta Genonics, and is now a public company traded on the Tel Aviv Stock
Exchange. Among the other projects the company is working on is one to develop
strains of crops that utilize fertilizer more effectively. Scientists estimate
that plants only utilize about 30-70% of the fertilizer that is applied to them
during their life cycle, and the wasted fertilizer often runs off into water
supplies, contaminating them. Rosetta Green has identified microRNAs that
correlate with improved fertilizer use efficiency in corn and soybean, and is
working on developing them commercially.
“We are one of the only companies in the world working with
miRNA,” Avniel said. “Our tests show that increasing the miRNA in specific
crops yields significant improvements in plant traits, and we continue to
develop technology to improve key traits in wheat, potato, castor bean, algae,
tomato, trees and more.”
http://www.timesofisrael.com/its-all-in-the-genes-says-israeli-mirna-pioneer/
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.35 Seed size is
controlled by maternally produced small RNAs, scientists find
April 11, 2012
Austin, Texas, USA
Seed size is controlled by small RNA molecules inherited from
a plant’s mother, a discovery from scientists at The University of Texas at
Austin that has implications for agriculture and understanding plant evolution.
“Crop seeds provide nearly 70 to 80 percent of calories and
60 to 70 percent of all proteins consumed by the human population,” said Z.
Jeff Chen, the D.J. Sibley Centennial Professor in Plant Molecular Genetics at
The University of Texas at Austin. “Seed production is obviously very important
for agriculture and plant evolution.”
Small RNAs
affect development of seeds. Arabidopsis seeds 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 days after
pollination (left to right).
First row: diploid seeds.
Second row: seeds from a cross between a diploid mother and
tetraploid father.
Third row: seeds from a cross between a tetraploid mother and
diploid father.
Fourth row: tetraploid seeds.
Note that seeds in the third row (5 to 6 days after
pollination) are much smaller than those in the second row as a result of
increased maternally inherited small RNAs.
Chen and his colleagues, including David Baulcombe at the
University of Cambridge, provide the first genetic evidence that seed
development is controlled by maternally inherited “small interfering RNAs,” or
siRNAs. They published their research April 3 in the journal PNAS.
SiRNAs are known to control a number of aspects of growth and
development in plants and animals. The researchers used Arabidopsis, a rapidly
growing flowering plant in the mustard family, for the study.
In this case, the researchers found that the siRNAs influence
the development of a seed’s endosperm, which is the part of the seed that
provides nutrients to the developing plant embryo, much like the placenta in
mammals. The endosperm is also the source for most of the nutritional content
of the seed for humans and animals. Despite the importance of the endosperm,
little has been known about the molecular mechanisms that govern its growth.
In flowering plant seeds, the embryo is formed by fusion of
one paternal and one maternal genome, while the endosperm combines one paternal
and two maternal genomes. This process of embryo and endosperm formation is
known as “double fertilization.”
The scientists found that when a female plant with a
duplicate genome (known as a tetraploid) is crossed with a male plant with a
normal genome (called a diploid), not only is there an increase in the maternal
genome in their offspring’s seed endosperm, but there is also an associated
increase in maternal siRNAs.
Those maternal siRNAs decrease the expression of genes that
lead to larger endosperm growth, meaning that the siRNAs create smaller seeds.
“Now we understand that siRNAs play a large role in sensing maternal and
paternal genome imbalance and controlling seed development, and that maternal
control is important,” said Chen.
The researchers are working to find out how exactly siRNAs
regulate gene expression in the endosperm and embryo and how they control seed
size. These new findings will enable scientists to develop biotechnological
tools for improving seed production and crop yield. But Chen cautioned that
“bigger isn’t always better.” In fact, in his experiments, seeds lacking the
control of the maternally inherited siRNAs grew so large that they collapsed.
Chen’s research is funded by the National Science Foundation
Genetic Mechanisms program. It was also the result of a Fulbright Award he
received to do research with Baulcombe, a Royal Society research professor, at
Cambridge. Baulcombe is widely recognized for his pioneering and seminal
research discovering the role of siRNAs in gene silencing in plants.
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=26033&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.36 A new approach
to molecular plant breeding
April 16, 2012
Beltville, Maryland
A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientist has shown
researchers and plant breeders a better way to handle the massive amounts of
data being generated by plant molecular studies, using an approach that should
help speed up development of improved crop varieties.
Jean-Luc Jannink, who is with the Agricultural Research
Service (ARS) Plant, Soil and Nutrition Research Unit at the agency's Robert W.
Holley Center for Agriculture and Health, in Ithaca, N.Y., has demonstrated
that by using a statistical approach known as Genomic Selection (GS),
scientists can capture and exploit more of the data produced by the growing
number of studies focused on DNA sequences found in plant genomes. GS is
currently used in cattle breeding.
ARS is the principal intramural scientific research agency in
USDA. This research supports the USDA priorities of improving agricultural
sustainability and promoting international food security.
Scientists and plant breeders increasingly use molecular
tools to develop improved crop varieties. By identifying genes associated with
desirable traits, they don't have to wait to observe crops grown from seeds.
But molecular tools require analyzing massive amounts of
data, and important traits like drought tolerance and yield are the result of
the combined actions of multiple genes, each with a small effect. These genes
are called quantitative trait loci (QTLs), and the conventional Marker-Assisted
Selection (MAS) approach to handling molecular data has limited power to detect
small-effect QTLs and estimate their effects.
Jannink's recommended GS approach exploits more data by
including all of the small-effect QTLs and estimating the effects of all of the
known genetic markers in a plant population.
Jannink and his colleagues recently constructed statistical
models, using both GS and MAS approaches, and compared how well they could
predict values associated with 13 agronomic traits in crosses made from a
"training population" assembled for the study. They gauged the
model's accuracy by comparing their predictions with field observations of 374
lines of wheat.
The results showed the GS approach was more accurate at
predicting trait values. Jannink had similar success in a study using oats.
Both studies were published in The Plant Genome. The work is
expected to speed up molecular breeding efforts and should prove extremely
useful, given the pace of advances in DNA technology.
Read more about
this research in the April 2012 issue of Agricultural Research magazine.
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=26126&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=