PLANT BREEDING NEWS
EDITION 237
July 2012
An Electronic Newsletter of Applied Plant Breeding
Clair H. Hershey, Editor
Sponsored by GIPB, FAO/AGP and Cornell University’s Department of
Plant Breeding and Genetics
-To subscribe,
see instructions here
-Archived issues
available at: FAO Plant Breeding Newsletter
1. NEWS, ANNOUNCEMENTS
Reviews of broad issues in research and development
1.01 Re-orienting crop
improvement in the 21st century
1.02 Global Food Security Index
1.03 Agricultural Adaptation to a Changing
Climate
Reviews
of breeding programs
1.04 Pioneer
Indonesia unveils new hybrid corn
1.05 Bangladesh
to benefit from wheat variety tolerant to UG99
1.06 Clemson
University develops new oat variety
1.07 Winter wheat variety to PNW growers
1.08 High
yielding cowpea seeds boost production in Mali
1.09 Rust
resistant wheat well received in Nepal
1.10 First
marker assisted bred sorghum varieties released to farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
1.11 British
research leads to UK wide launch of beneforte broccoli
1.12 Africa: Experts Meet Over Seed Varieties
1.13 Yields
improve during five decades of wheat breeding
1.14 Nigeria
releases vitamin A maize to improve nutrition
1.15 Danforth
Plant Science Center awarded $12 million to study drought as part of the effort to develop next generation bioenergy grasses
1.16 Reportan
mejoramiento genético de variedades de semillas de arroz
1.17 Kazakhstan: Plant breeders
present new tomato variety
1.18 IITA
offers improved cassava, cowpea and maize seeds to Jigawa state
1.19 ICRISAT-HOPE
sharply increases sorghum yields in Maharashtra, India
Genetic resources
1.20 Seeds
of 1,100 Tibetan plant species preserved in a national germplasm bank
Trait selection and
applied breeding
1.21 Bright
possibility for flood tolerant soybeans
1.22 Molecular
markers for nematode resistance breeding
1.23 Scientists
discover how nematodes attack plants
1.24 Breeding
Stevia for high leaf yield and high rebaudioside A content
1.25 Hydropriming
method: To improve germination percentage and uniform
seedlings establishment in diploid, triploid and tetraploid watermelon
1.26 Newly
found genes may lead to nematode-resistant upland cotton
1.27 Tannins
in sorghum are focus of study by Kansas State University and USDA researchers
1.28 En
busca de genes de Lotus que toleren la salinidad
1.29 Study
reveals good news about the glycemic index of rice
1.30 Salt-tolerant
chickpea project to boost crop production
1.31 Purdue
University scientists working to make drought-resistant crops
1.32 Focusing
on flood-tolerant soybeans
1.33 Link
discovered between tomato ripening color and taste
1.34 Improving
blast resistance of rice thru market assisted gene pyramiding
Molecular and basic genetics research
1.35 Scientists
find key gene for Glycemic Index of rice
1.36 Scientists
find way to develop tomato varieties with taste of heirloom counterparts
1.37 Scientists
discover new source of maize hybrid vigor
1.38 Rice
gene identified to enhance quality productivity
1.39
Iron biofortification and homeostasis in transgenic
cassava roots expressing an algal
iron assimilatory protein, FEA1
1.40 The
banana (Musa acuminata) genome and the evolution of monocotyledonous plants
1.41 First
plant genomics yield technology progresses
1.42 Glyphosate-resistant
'superweeds' may be less susceptible to diseases
1.43 Application
of next-generation sequencing for rapid marker development
in molecular plant breeding
1.44 Scientists
find potential solution for inbreeding depression
1.45 How
the same plant species can programme itself to flower at different times in different climates
1.46 Major
investment to persuade bacteria to help cereals self-fertilise
1.47 Salt
cress genome yields new clues to salt tolerance
1.48 Chinese
scientists identify yield-boosting rice gene
1.49
Illumina introduces Nextera Exome and Custom Enrichment
sample preparation kits
1.50 Melon
genome sequenced
1.51 New
method for associating genetic variation with crop traits
1.52 Sequencing
technology helps reveal what plant genomes really encode.
2.01 Pré-melhoramento de plantas:
estado da arte e experiências de sucesso
2.02 Analyzing
plant biotechnology patents - 3 traits relevant to climate change
2.03 Marker-assisted
selection in crops, livestock, forestry and fish
2.04 New
method for associating genetic variation with crop traits
2.05 Plant
Evolution and the Origin of Crop Species
2.06 Breeding
Sorghum for low phosphorus soils in West Africa
2.07 Historical
genomics of North American maize
2.08 Widespread
adoption of Bt cotton and insecticide decrease promotes
biocontrol services
2.09 First
Textbook on Organic Crop Breeding Published
3.
3.01 New FAO Biotechnology
Glossary website
3.02 TGAC
launches MISO (Managing Information for Sequencing Operations), a free open source LIMS for NGS
4.01 Monsanto plant breeding and
related scientist positions:
5. MEETINGS, COURSES
6. EDITOR
1 NEWS, ANNOUNCEMENTS
1.01 Re-orienting crop
improvement in the 21st century
The scientific journal Agriculture
& Food Security has just published "Re-orienting crop improvement for
the changing climatic conditions of the 21st century" by C. Mba, E.P.
Guimarães and K. Ghosh.
The paper underscores that plant
breeding must be re-oriented in order to generate 'smart' crop varieties that
yield more with fewer inputs. It highlights some of the current plant breeding
techniques that hold great promise for crop improvement, including
marker-assisted selection, targeting induced local lesions in genomes
(TILLING), genetic modification, as well as emerging biotechnologies of
relevance to plant breeding such as zinc finger nuclease, oligonucleotide
directed mutagenesis, synthetic genomics, etc.
The paper also recommends adequate
policies to enable plant breeding, training of a new generation of plant
breeders, establishment of partnerships (including public-private sector
synergies), adoption of the continuum approach to the management of plant
genetic resources for food and agriculture as means to improved cohesion of the
components of its value chain, and strengthening the national agricultural
research and extension systems of developing countries.
See
http://www.agricultureandfoodsecurity.com/content/pdf/2048-7010-1-7.pdf (350 KB)
or contact Chikelu.Mba@fao.org for more information.
FAO Biotechnology website http://www.fao.org/biotech/en/
Source: FAO-BiotechNews
++++++++++++++++
1.02 Global Food Security Index
Indexing three core
issues in 105 countries:
Affordability
Availability
Quality and Safety
Our index measures
the risks and factors that drive food security, including:
Affordability:
Availability
Quality and
safety
See how your
country fares... or view the
overall index
http://foodsecurityindex.eiu.com/
Contributed by Rodomiro Ortiz
1.03 Agricultural
Adaptation to a Changing Climate
The ERS Research Report 136,
Agricultural Adaptation to a Changing Climate, was recently published and is
available at http://www.ers.usda.gov/media/848748/err136.pdf
Abstract
Global climate models predict
increases over time in average temperature worldwide, with significant impacts
on local patterns of temperature and precipitation. The extent to which such
changes present a risk to food supplies, farmer livelihoods, and rural
communities depends in part on the direction, magnitude, and rate of such
changes, but equally importantly on the ability of the agricultural sector to
adapt to changing patterns of yield and productivity, production cost, and
resource availability. Study fi ndings suggest that, while impacts are highly
sensitive to uncertain climate projections, farmers have considerable
flexibility to adapt to changes in local weather, resource conditions, and
price signals by adjusting crops, rotations, and production practices. Such adaptation,
using existing crop production technologies, can partially mitigate the impacts
of climate change on national agricultural markets. Adaptive redistribution of
production, however, may have signifi cant implications for both regional land
use and environmental quality.
Contributed by Robin A Davis
Senior Examiner, Plant Variety
Protection Office USDA, AMS, Science & Technology
Beltsville, MD
++++++++++++++++++++++
1.04 Pioneer Indonesia unveils new hybrid corn
A new corn hybrid was launched
by DuPont Pioneer in Indonesia. The hybrid labeled as P27 produces superior
ears with high quality grain filling and with the capability to develop strong
stalks and sturdier root systems for enhanced performance in adverse weather
conditions and low yielding environments.
Aside from the gathering of
3,000 farmers who listened to the benefits and proper agronomic techniques to
be applied in planting P27, Pioneer also unveiled a 2,400 m² elephant-shaped
crop formation (as seen from an airplane!), representing the characteristics of
the new hybrid: strong and dependable.
Read the media release at http://www.pioneer.com/home/site/about/template.CONTENT/news-media/feature-stories/guid.88B1B26D-F859-B110-0CAA-C5A83A76611D
Source: Crop Biotech Update 27
July 2012:
Contributed by Margaret Smith
Department of Plant Breeding
& Genetics, Cornell University
+++++++++++++++++++++++
1.05 Bangladesh
to benefit from wheat variety tolerant to UG99
The International Maize and
Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) has introduced a wheat variety known as
Francolin in Bangladesh which is tolerant to the Ug99 strain of stem-rust
fungus. CIMMYT was assisted by the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute
and supported in part by a United States Agency for International Development
seed-multiplication program. The new seed variety will be combined with another
seed variety called Hashi to cover around 5% of the country's total area harvested
by 2013.
The article is available at http://globalrust.org/traction/permalink/newsroom678
Source: Crop Biotech Update 27
July 2012:
Contributed by Margaret Smith
Department of Plant Breeding
& Genetics, Cornell University
++++++++++++++++++++++++
1.06 Clemson
University develops new oat variety
Plant breeders from Clemson University
announced a new high-yielding oat variety that grows to medium height,
withstands lodging, matures earlier, and produces more seeds than comparable
varieties. The new variety, named Graham, will be available in limited
quantities for growers to plant during the fall planting season, according to
Chris Ray, director of the South Carolina Crop Improvement Association.
Ray said that Graham has
"excellent yield potential and produces a 32.2-pound bushel compared to
31.9-pound bushel for Rodgers." It has produced slightly higher test
weights (pounds per bushel) and consistently 20 bushels per acre more yield
than the most commonly used oat varieties planted in the Carolinas.
Clemson University Public
Service and Agriculture oversees the S.C. Crop Improvement Association, which
runs the foundation seed program to provide growers with the highest-quality
planting stock available. The seed is produced at Clemson University Experiment
Station research centers and made available to producers and seedsmen.
The new oat variety is named
after W. Doyce Graham, the small-grains breeder at Clemson University from 1966
to 2003.
More information about the
Graham oat variety can be read at
Source: Crop Biotech Update 27
July 2012:
Contributed by Margaret Smith
Department of Plant Breeding
& Genetics, Cornell University
+++++++++++++++++++++++
1.07 Winter
wheat variety to PNW growers
SY Ovation, a new AgriPro®
brand soft white winter wheat of Syngenta, has been introduced for the coming
winter season. The wheat variety was developed through doubled haploid
technology and has proven to be a high-yielding semi-dwarf variety.
According to Ed Driskill,
cereal key account lead of Syngenta in Idaho, "This variety is
early-maturing and was also developed to endure an environment prone to intense
stripe rust pressure like we have here in the Pacific North West." The new
variety also tolerates soilborne mosaic virus and dryland footrot, and has good
tillering and excellent straw strength.
For more details, view the news
release at
http://www.syngentacropprotection.com/news_releases/news.aspx?id=167643
Source: Crop Biotech Update 13
July 2012
Contributed by Margaret Smith
Department of Plant Breeding
& Genetics, Cornell University
1.08 High
yielding cowpea seeds boost production in Mali
The West African Seed
Alliance's (WASA) seeds project in Mali, a program supported by the United
States Agency for International Development (USAID), is seen to be a successful
initiative to increase local production and access to high quality-certified
seeds of major staple crops for farmers in the country.
The project started three years
ago when WASA trained women in Mali to become seed producers to improve their
income and to help fill the yield gap on farms by buying locally-produced
seeds. The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics
(ICRISAT) and the Malian National Agricultural System gave them a high-yielding
cowpea seed variety while WASA's regional office in Mopti, Mali provided
technical support in soil, water, and pest management.
After three years, an average
seed producer who participated in the training is reported to drastically
increase yield with high quality cowpea seeds from two bags of 100 kg to eight
bags of 100 kg per harvest. The project will be reinforced in five other target
African countries, namely Burkina Faso, Ghana, Niger, Nigeria, and Senegal.
View the original article at http://library.cgiar.org/bitstream/handle/10947/2647/Mali_Sowing_the_Seeds_of_Success.%20pdf?sequence=1
Source: Crop Biotech Update 13
July 2012
Contributed by Margaret Smith
Department of Plant Breeding
& Genetics, Cornell University
+++++++++++++++++++++++
1.09 Rust
resistant wheat well received in Nepal
With active awareness among
farmers, wheat breeders, and pathologists, Nepal is fully prepared to face the
possible arrival of the stem rust race Ug99 as resistant varieties are already
in farmers' fields. This is the statement of Sarala Sharma, Senior Plant
Pathologist of Nepal Agricultural Research Council during a Village Development
Committee Centre (VDC) activity in one of the farming communities in Nepal.
Sharma also described how
successful the farmer participatory variety selection (PVS) approach is in
terms of wheat production in the country as PVS resulted in rapid increase in
adoption rates of new varieties and remarkable reduction of yellow rust in wheat.
Through PVS, farmers have widened the coverage of rust resistant varieties,
tested new options, and gradually replaced older, lower-yielding varieties,
thus increasing production and productivity.With the new varieties, the farmers
enjoy a ten percent yield increase in wheat.
For more information, visit http://blog.cimmyt.org/?p=8465
Source: Crop Biotech Update 29
June 2012
Contributed by Margaret Smith
Department of Plant Breeding
& Genetics, Cornell University
1.10 First
marker assisted bred sorghum varieties released to farmers in Sub-Saharan
Africa
Sudan's National Crop Variety
Release Committee has approved the release of four experimental
Striga-resistant sorghum varieties, namely: ASARECA.T1" (T1BC3S4),
"ASARECA.W2 Striga" W2BC3S4, "ASARECA.AG3" AG2BC3S4; and
"ASARECA.AG4" (AG6BC3S4). These are from Striga-susceptible improved
sorghum varieties "Tabat", "Wad Ahmed", and
"AG8".
This is the first time an
African national program adopted and implemented marker-assisted backcrossing,
through multi-institutional collaboration to generate improved cultivars
against Striga, a serious problem of cereal farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. The
program to develop these four varieties was initiated in 2004, under a
BMZ-supported project involving the International Crops Research Institute for
the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), the University of Hohenheim, and national
program partners in Eritrea, Kenya, Mali, and Sudan.
More details are available at http://www.icrisat.org/newsroom/latest-news/happenings/happenings1525.htm#3
Source: Crop Biotech Update 29
June 2012
Contributed by Margaret Smith
Department of Plant Breeding
& Genetics, Cornell University
1.11 British
research leads to UK wide launch of beneforte broccoli
Scientists at the Institute of
Food Research (IFR) and the John Innes Centre in UK launched the new broccoli
variety, Beneforté developed through conventional breeding. It contains two to
three times the level of glucoraphanin, a health promoting and anti-cancer
compound, compared to standard broccoli. The IFR scientists are further
investigating how the brassica phytonutrient glucoraphanin exerts its effect on
human health and the link between eating broccoli and lower rates of heart
disease and some forms of cancer. Beneforté has been tested in Marks and
Spencer in October 2011.
The study was funded by the
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Professor
Douglas Kell, BBSRC Chief Executive, said, "The roll-out of Beneforté
broccoli to supermarkets across the UK is great news for the public and UK
science alike. This development follows years of publicly funded research to
understand the fundamental bioscience of broccoli and the compounds within it.
This knowledge has now been translated into a commercial product, with
significant potential health benefits, available to all."
See the news release at http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/news/health/2012/120625-pr-uk-wide-launch-beneforte-broccoli.aspx
Source: Crop Biotech Update 29
June 2012
Contributed by Margaret Smith
Department of Plant Breeding
& Genetics, Cornell University
1.12 Africa:
Experts Meet Over Seed Varieties
25 July 2012
African crop breeding experts
have begun a week-long meeting in Nairobi to discuss ways of tackling the issue
of better and more available seed for smallholder farmers, organisers said on
Tuesday.
The meeting organised by Alliance
for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) brought together over 100 experts,
including World Food Prize laureate, Gebesa Ejeta, to seek ways of meeting
smallholder farmers' need for high performing and high impact seed varieties.
Speaking at the event, AGRA's
director of seed program Joe Devries said their programs have so far supported
the development of almost 400 new seed varieties and the commercialization of
over 200."The challenge now is how to address the gap between the released
varieties and the commercialized. If we can get this right we'll be able to
make lasting impact on the lives of millions of smallholders in Africa,"
Devries told the meeting.
AGRA president, Jane Karuku,
said farmers in Africa have largely not benefited from improved seeds due to a
lack of localized crop breeding and efficient, dependable seed delivery system.
"And so crop yields in
most of Africa have remained one-third of those produced by farmers in other
developing regions of the worlds. Good seed is not just the driving force
behind good harvests and eliminating poverty and hunger, it's the foundation
for rapid economic growth," said Karuku.
The first step towards farmers
accessing simple science is ensuring that farmers have access to improved
seeds. This has been a major challenge across Africa, with seed companies not
able to meet the demand by farmers, resulting to farmer turning to their grains
as seeds.
AGRA said its own seed program
has begun to address some of these challenges successfully with the majority of
farmers targeted accessing the new seed reporting dramatic increases in their
harvests. As a result of AGRA's support to many partners, an additional 40,000
MT per annum of hybrid seed, representing 1/3 of the commercially produced seed
in Africa, is now reaching smallholder farmers. These seeds have been produced
by 60 small, African-owned seed companies launched with capital and
strengthened by AGRA - a 100 percent increase in the number of such companies.
In terms of food production,
this means an additional 4 million MT of staple crops per annum. AGRA's experts
believe that the tipping point to food security with respect to improved seeds
is 500,000 MT per annum of high yielding, improved crop varieties.
World Food Prize laureate
Gebesa Ejeta said the global food security is the biggest challenge that the
world needs to address now and the science of plant breeding is a critical
component in that agenda. Ejeta said in a country like Ethiopia, farming
technology has hardly improved with farmers using outdated farming practices
that do not increase their yields or impact on their livelihoods significantly.
"For farmers to improve their livelihoods and increase their income we
need to see simple science available to people, like improved seeds. If we do
not get our act together the continent will be left behind," he said.
Source: Xinhua
http://allafrica.com/stories/201207260054.html
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.13 Yields
improve during five decades of wheat breeding
24 Jul, 2012
Wheat varieties are a common
topic of discussion among broad-acre farmers across Australia, and variety
presentations are always well attended at field days.
Wheat breeding has evolved
since the green revolution of the 1960s when semi-dwarf wheats replaced tall
wheats prone to lodging. But how much did wheat yield improve over all these
years? What are the physiological changes in the crop associated with breeding
for yield? Are there implications for crop management?
Working closely with industry,
SARDI crop scientists Chris Lawson and Victor Sadras set out to answer these
questions.
Field trials were established
in 2010 and 2011 across the Mid North of South Australia to compare a selection
of popular wheat varieties released between 1958 and 2007. They were Heron
(1958), Gamenya (1960), Halberd (1969), Condor (1973), Warigal (1978), Spear
(1984), Machete (1985), Janz (1989), Frame (1994), Krichauff (1997), Yitpi
(1999), Wyalkatchem (2001) and Gladius (2007).
The trials demonstrated that
yield has steadily increased over the past 50 years at a rate of 18kg per
hectare per year. This rate compares well with rates reported for other
breeding programs worldwide. It is encouraging that yield progress is not
slowing down over time.
Industry support includes
funding by GRDC’s initiative on water use efficiency (DAS00089); Peter Hooper
and colleagues at Hartfield providing agronomic insight and material support
with the trials; Roseworthy and SARDI Clare staff providing agronomic support;
and Snowtown farmer Don Whiting and plant breeders Tony Rathjen (University of
Adelaide) and Haydn Kuchel (AGT) providing expert advice and seed.
The increase in yield was
associated with an improvement in harvest index; new varieties produce more
grain per kg of biomass. Newer varieties also grow faster between stem
elongation and flowering.
This period, which in SA
generally occurs between August and October, is critical for yield. Enhanced
crop growth in this period leads to greater grain number.
This finding has implications
for management: ensuring good conditions during this period, in particular crop
protection and nitrogen supply, is critical to capture the yield benefits of
high yielding varieties.
Breeding for yield improved the
ability of wheat to uptake soil nitrogen. Newer varieties are much better at
mining the soil than older varieties.
This reinforces the need to
monitor soil nitrogen and to improve the nitrogen nutrition of crops to capture
the benefits of improved varieties, particularly in the period between stem
elongation and flowering.
The newer varieties achieve
higher yield with the same amount of water use. The agronomic implication of
this finding is that our water use efficiency benchmark needs an update.
The benchmark of 20 kg grain/ha
per mm of water use was largely developed using Halberd, a variety released in
1969. We find the benchmark for current varieties under SA conditions is close
to 24 kg grain per ha per mm.
This work shows the outstanding
success of local breeding programs in increasing yield and the practical value
of asking questions about the physiology of the crop.
This research is critical at a
number of levels, from crop breeding and management to farm profitability and
long term food security. Further improvements in wheat yield associated with
both improved varieties and better agronomy are more likely to arise from a
focus on the critical pre-flowering period.
The final report can be found
at the GRDC website.
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.14 Nigeria
releases vitamin A maize to improve nutrition
Ibadan, Nigeria
July 24, 2012
The Nigerian Government has
released two new maize hybrids that can provide more vitamin A in the diets of
millions in the country, raising optimism about stemming the menace of vitamin
A deficiency in the years ahead, especially among children, pregnant women, and
mothers. The provitamin A is converted by the body into vitamin A when the
maize is eaten.
The hybrids, which are the
first generation vitamin A-rich maize, were released on 4 July 2012 by the
National Variety Release Committee of Nigeria as Ife maizehyb 3 and Ife
maizehyb 4. They are recognized as IITA hybrids A0905-28 and A0905-32,
respectively.
“The hybrids are a product of
nearly a decade of breeding for enhanced levels of pro-vitamin A,” says Dr.
Abebe Menkir, maize breeder with the International Institute of Tropical
Agriculture (IITA), who led the development of the new maize hybrids.
The hybrids outperformed local
checks with yields ranging from 6 to 9 tons per hectare compared with 2 tons
per hectare recorded on most farmers’ fields.
The vitamin A hybrids were
developed by IITA in partnership with the Institute of Agricultural Research
& Training (IAR&T) using conventional breeding in a project funded by
the HarvestPlus—a Challenge Program of the CGIAR as part of strategies to
address the prevalence of vitamin A deficiency. Other collaborating partners
include the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), Zaria; University of
Maiduguri; International Maize and Wheat Center (CIMMYT), University of
Illinois, and University of Wisconsin.
In Nigeria, vitamin A
deficiency afflicts about 30% of children below five years of age, almost 20%
of pregnant women, and 13% of nursing mothers. Vitamin A deficiency lowers
immunity and impairs vision, which can lead to blindness and even death.
Researchers say the two hybrids
can supply enhanced levels of vitamin A in the diets. Maize is consumed by millions
of people throughout Nigeria, whether roasted and eaten off the cob or as a
dish prepared from fermented maize flour.
According to Menkir, maize is
the most frequently consumed staple in Nigeria with about 20% of households
consuming it at different times within a week.
“These hybrids will provide not
only increased amounts of provitamin A but also improve productivity in farming
communities,” he says.
Farmers who participated in the
on-farm trials indicated that they liked the varieties, so there is a high
prospect for quick adoption.
IITA and IAR& T, in
partnership with private seed companies, now plan to multiply these hybrids so
they can begin distributing them to farmers by 2014, and to continue to develop
higher levels of vitamin A in maize by conventional breeding.
“We plan to target to areas
where maize consumption is high to help address the problem of vitamin A
deficiency in Nigeria” says Dr. Samuel Olakojo, a maize breeder with IAR
&T, who worked on the varieties with Menkir.
The release of vitamin A
cassava in Nigeria last year should help pave the way for broad acceptance of
the vitamin A maize. These new maize varieties are well suited to the tropical
lowlands of many West African countries and are expected to spread beyond
Nigeria's borders.
In a parallel effort, the
International Maize and Wheat Research Center (known by their Spanish acronym
CIMMYT) – a sister CGIAR Center of IITA – has been breeding mid-altitude
vitamin A-rich varieties for Zambia in a project also funded by HarvestPlus,
with release anticipated later this year.
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=28565&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.15 Danforth
Plant Science Center awarded $12 million to study drought as part of the effort
to develop next generation bioenergy grasses
St. Louis, Missouri, USA
July 16, 2012
The U.S. Department of Energy
(DOE) awarded a five year, $12.1 million grant to researchers at the Donald
Danforth Plant Science Center and their collaborators at the Carnegie
Institution for Science, the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, the
University of Minnesota and Washington State University to develop a new model
plant system, Setaria viridis, to advance bioenergy grasses as a sustainable
source of renewable fuels.
Setaria viridis, model genetic
systems
Drought is the number one
stress crops endure which limits yield and is of growing concern due to the
globe’s diminishing water supply and climate change. This year, extreme heat
and lack of rainfall combined with the mild winter has resulted in an all-time
low in soil moisture and is producing new challenges for our nation’s farmers.
Reduced yields will likely spark a rebound in global food prices. Drought
conditions also have a major impact on crops that serve as sources of
bioenergy.
Bioenergy grasses hold promise
to provide a sustainable source of renewable fuels for the U.S. economy and
reduce our dependence on foreign petroleum. These dedicated second generation
bioenergy crops can be grown on marginal lands and with fewer inputs than
traditional row crops such as corn, which requires energy intensive annual
planting and the addition of chemical fertilizers. Bioenergy grasses require
water just like all other crops and the next generation of bioenergy crops will
need to be bred for important characteristics including drought resistance and
other properties that will make them more productive.
To engineer bioenergy grasses
with the desirable traits needed for large scale production, it is necessary to
develop model plant systems that are closely related to bioenergy feedstocks,
but which are more amenable to genetic analysis. One of the most promising
model species is the grass Setaria viridis.
“What we learn in improving bioenergy
grasses in many cases can also be applied to cereal crops to improve their
productivity. Setaria viridis, the model species that will be used as the focus
of our research, is closely related to corn and Brachypodium, another model
grass of interest at the Danforth Center that has a genetic makeup similar to
wheat,” said Dr. Tom Brutnell, director of the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Institute
for Renewable Fuels who is serving as Principal Investigator on the grant.
Brutnell and his colleagues
will utilize genomic, computational and engineering tools to begin the genetic
dissection of drought and density response in S. viridis. The research team
will produce one of the most extensive molecular characterizations of plant
growth in the field to date, generating several million data points that will
be collected from physiological and molecular genetic studies. In doing so,
they hope to discover the mechanisms that underlie drought responses and
identify candidate genes and pathways for improving the closely related
feedstock grasses. The ability of bioenergy feedstocks to use water efficiently
and to produce abundant yields at high density will be major drivers in the
development of improved varieties that can serve as a replacement for
petroleum-based fuels.
Co-PIs/Senior Personnel,
Institutions on the grant include:
Ivan Baxter, USDA-ARS/Donald
Danforth Plant Science Center
Asaph Cousins, Washington State
University
Jose Dinneny, Carnegie
Institution for Science
Andrew D.B. Leakey, University
of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Todd Mockler, Donald Danforth
Plant Science Center
Hector Quemada, Donald Danforth
Plant Science Center
Seung (Sue) Rhee, Carnegie
Institution for Science
Daniel Voytas, University of
Minnesota
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=28423&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.16 Reportan
mejoramiento genético de variedades de semillas de arroz
14 de julio de 2012
Mexico
El Instituto Nacional de
Investigaciones Forestales, Agrícolas y Pecuarias (INIFAP) reportó avances
importantes a través del Campo Experimental de Zacatepec en el mejoramiento
genético de variedades de semillas del arroz que se cultiva en los estados
centrales del país.
En un comunicado de la Sagarpa,
el instituto informó que además promueve diferentes métodos para producir este
cereal, con un fuerte impulso al sistema de siembra directa que está siendo
adoptado por productores de las regiones altas de Morelos, a efecto de cambiar
la producción con el método tradicional de trasplante.
El sistema de siembra directa
consiste en hacerlo en seco, con una sembradora de granos pequeños a una
densidad de 100 a 120 kilogramos de semilla por hectárea, donde se deberá
aplicar un riego pesado de germinación y, posteriormente, riegos periódicos.
Resaltó que este método
favorece la maduración uniforme del grano y por lo tanto la cosecha se puede
efectuar en forma rápida y económica, al abarcar varias hectáreas en un solo
día.
La superficie sembrada en los
últimos años en esta entidad se ha mantenido al alza, con la obtención de mayores
rendimientos en los municipios de Cuautla y Emiliano Zapata.
Explicó que dentro de las
acciones del centro, destaca la adopción de técnicas innovadoras y el apoyo con
paquetes tecnológicos, así como el tratamiento que debe tener la semilla, la preparación
del terreno, la densidad y forma de sembrar, el control de las malezas, el
riego o manejo del agua y la nutrición vegetal.
La Secretaría de Agricultura,
Ganadería, Desarrollo Rural, Pesca y Alimentación (Sagarpa) informó que a nivel
nacional en 2011 se sembraron 36 mil 800 hectáreas de arroz palay, con una
producción de más de 173 mil toneladas y un valor comercial de 653 mil 400
pesos.
http://yucatan.com.mx/imagen/reportan-mejoramiento-genetico-de-variedades-de-semillas-de-arroz/
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.17 Kazakhstan:
Plant breeders present new tomato variety
09 July 2012
Scientists from the Kazakh
Research Institute of Potato and Vegetable Growing have made a special gift for
Astana’s anniversary.
They have bred and grown a new
crop variety in greenhouses. It is the result of the interaction of plant
breeders from Kazakhstan with their European counterparts. A new type of tomato
was named “Heart of Astana”. In addition, the institute is working on several
hybrid varieties of tomatoes. So scientists said that locally-grown vegetables
will soon be available for people in Kazakhstan to make salads and pickled
products. And this is just the beginning, according to plant selection
breeders.
Chairman of state crop variety
testing commission Talgat Azhagaliyev: "There will, of course, be new
technologies and new varieties ahead. They will be introduced into production.
This applies not only to vegetable crops but all agricultural crops will have
the same innovative approach and the agricultural sector of our country will be
well represented in the world market of agricultural products in the
future".
Scientists did not leave out
another popular vegetable. These plant breeding greenhouses grow cucumbers,
which cannot yet be found in vegetable patches around Kazakhstan. This is the
top-grade domestic cucumber variety for cultivation in areas under glass, that
is, in greenhouses. The seeds that are inside will soon give way to a new
variety.
Post-graduate researcher in
agriculture Aigul Nussupova: "Notice how high-yielding the new variety is.
From one node we get ripe fruit, flowers and small cucumbers. Selection
activities are quite difficult. However, scientists have made it and it turned
out great".
Scientists promised that the
new varieties will suit the taste of all people in Kazakhstan and become
popular in the country.
http://kazakh-zerno.kz/eng/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=538
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.18 IITA
offers improved cassava, cowpea and maize seeds to Jigawa state
Ibadan, Nigeria
July 17, 2012
The International Institute of
Tropical Agriculture (IITA) has offered Jigawa state improved cowpea and maize
varieties, as part of efforts to help improve the fortunes of agriculture in
that state.
The Institute also plans to
backstop the newly established state-owned cassava starch industry, linking it
to markets and also offering farmers improved cassava planting materials to
ensure a steady supply of cassava roots to the factory
“In the next two weeks, the
institute will be delivering improved cassava planting materials for
multiplication,” said the Deputy Director General, Partnerships and Capacity
Building (IITA), Dr Kenton Dashiell on Monday in Dutse, Jigawa State.
Cassava, cowpea and maize are
important crops in that Nigeria’s north western state, contributing to the food
security and wealth creation of millions of people.
The donation of the improved
planting materials comes after the governor of the north western state, Dr Sule
Lamido, gave an open invitation to the foremost agricultural research institute
in Africa, IITA, to help his government turn-around agriculture at the
Institute’s 45th anniversary held on 6 July in Ibadan, Oyo state.
Dr Dashiell said “the institute
is glad to help Jigawa state to tackle the challenge of food insecurity, create
wealth and improve livelihoods.”
The about 1000kg of improved
seeds comprising 500kg of cowpea and 500kg of maize will be planted across the
27 local governments of the state on demonstration plots with the support of
farmers and the Jigawa State Agricultural Development Program. Seeds harvested
from the demonstrations will be given to farmers ahead of next planting season
in 2013, amplifying the benefits of improved technologies to farmers in the
state.
The Institute will also assist
the government by linking buyers to the Jigawa State cassava starch factory.
With an installed processing
capacity of 4 tons of cassava roots per hour, the factory aims to add value to
cassava, thereby creating wealth for cassava farmers.
Plans are also on the table to
begin the production of gari, and high quality cassava flour that can be used
by bakers and in the confectionary industry.
The introduction of improved
cassava varieties will offer the state the opportunity to tap the power of the
root crop for its rapid agricultural development.
Jigawa State Governor, Dr Sule
Lamido thanked IITA for offering to support the state in its agricultural
transformation agenda.
“We need to develop a strong
partnership to impact positively on the lives of our people,” Lamido said.
He pledged to give the
Institute the necessary support to improve the livelihoods of the people of the
state.
Dr Dashiell was accompanied to
Jigawa state by Dr Robert Asiedu, IITA Director (West Africa); Dr Gbassey
Tarawali, IITA Scientist on Value Chains; and Godwin Atser, Communication
Officer, (West & Central Africa).
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=28406&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.19 ICRISAT-HOPE
sharply increases sorghum yields in Maharashtra, India
Hyderabad, India
6 July 2012
HOPE has become reality for
25,000 farmers in dryland Marathwada and Western Maharashtra regions of the
state of Maharashtra, known as the ‘Sorghum Bowl of India’. Initial assessments
indicate that their grain yields rose by 40% and fodder yields by 20% on
average over the past three seasons (2010-2012) due to improved sorghum
varieties and crop management practices, along with improved market linkages.
About half of these farmers operate on a very small scale, with landholding
size of two hectares or less.Net income (the income that farmers retain after
their costs of cultivation are paid for) has increased by 50%, to an average of
US$78 per hectare of sorghum grown.
HOPE stands for ‘Harnessing
Opportunities for Productivity Enhancement of Sorghum and Millets in
sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia’, a project supported by the Bill and Melinda
Gates Foundation. HOPE is led by the International Crops Research Institute for
the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in close partnership with several state and
national institutions on sorghum in India: Marathwada State Agricultural
University, Mahatma PhuleKrishi Vidyapeeth State Agricultural University
(MPKV), and the National Directorate of Sorghum Research.
HOPE focuses its efforts in six
target areas in the Sorghum Bowl that contain especially large areas of
post-rainy-season sorghum. About one-third of the targeted area is now sown to
improved varieties, compared to just 10% before HOPE began its work. In a
recent project planning meeting, Dr TA More, Vice-Chancellor of MPKV praised
the results to date from HOPE, and stressed the need for a Green Revolution
through major improvements like these in rainfed crops.
The cropping system in the
Sorghum Bowl is unique. Instead of growing the crop in the warm summer rainy season
it is sown after the rains end in September/October, and harvested in
January/February. Farmers plant the crop on heavy clay soils that retain large
amounts of the season’s excess rainwater; the sorghum roots then extract that
water to support plant growth. The new varieties have been especially taken up
by the poorest farmers because they depend the most on rainfed cropping, being
least able to afford irrigation water.
The sorghum varieties that are
delivering these impressive gains were developed by Indian institutions by
improving the traditional ‘Maldandi’ type of varieties cultivated in this area.
These new varieties are well adapted to the cold temperatures and short
daylength of the winter months, and are tolerant or resistant to drought and to
the pests and diseases prevalent during this season such as aphids, shoot fly
and charcoal rot.
Varieties are currently being
developed that will yield larger, brighter grains to attract higher market
prices. They derive from crosses made at ICRISAT between the Maldandi types and
‘durra’ sorghum types from East Africa. Hybrid varieties also under development
are expected to raise yield by another 20-30 percent. Dr William Dar, Director
General of ICRISAT, explained that "Our international role is to encourage
South-South sharing of promising technologies such as the durra sorghums of
Africa, and the hybrid sorghum technology of India. The benefits flow both
ways."
Farmers typically keep about
two-thirds of the sorghum crop for home use, and sell the rest. Farmers prize
both the grains and the stalks of sorghum. The grains are for human
consumption, while the stalks are fed to cattle. The two portions of the crop
are about equal in economic value. Small-scale farmers typically own two to
three cattle that they depend on to produce milk and to pull plows and
cartloads.
Sorghum stalks are fed to
livestock; when used in this way the stalks are referred to as ‘fodder’.
Growing demand for fodder to feed dairy cattle is expected for years to come,
because Indians are consuming more dairy products as their incomes rise. Demand
for fodder is especially strong in the parched northern states of Gujarat and
Rajasthan, but those areas lack sufficient rainfall to grow enough fodder.
The demand for grain will also
increase, but less rapidly. India’s National Food Security Mission recently
announced that it will buy and distribute sorghum grain to India’s poor,
expanding market opportunities for farmers. To better access grain markets,
HOPE is helping farmers improve the cleaning, grading and packing of grain, and
connecting them to sources of up-to-date information on market prices and
demand volumes.
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=28160&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.20 Seeds
of 1,100 Tibetan plant species preserved in a national germplasm bank
Beining, China
July 27, 2012
Chinese botanists have
collected the seeds of more than 1,100 plant species found in the southwestern
Tibet autonomous region and preserved them in a national germplasm bank.
The seeds were gathered over
the past five years mostly near the upper reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River
and on the Qiangtang Grassland, researchers with the Institute of Tibetan
Plateau Research under the Chinese Academy of Sciences told Xinhua Thursday.
The samples were derived from
plant species either native to Tibet or with considerable economic value, such
as varieties of grass and traditional Tibetan herbs, said the researchers.
They are being kept in China
Germplasm Bank of Wild Species, a leading bio-resource storage facility dubbed
the "Noah's Ark" of the country's plant species.
A 2011 report on Tibet's
environment says the region has one of the most diversified gene pools in the
world, with more than 9,600 wild plant species, including 855 unique to Tibet.
The seed collection is part of
a large project aimed at gathering seeds, DNA samples and voucher specimens of
15,000 wild plant varieties growing on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau by the end of
2012, said Yang Xiangyun, a researcher with the germplasm bank located in
Kunming, provincial capital of Yunnan.
The comprehensive project,
launched in 2007, was undertaken by 12 domestic institutions that have been
conducting research in Tibet as well as Qinghai, Sichuan, Yunnan and Gansu
provinces in China's west, Yang said.
The whole collection will be
preserved in the bank, and detailed information and pictures will be recorded
in an online database, Yang said.
"The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau
has many peculiar plant species, which is significant in enriching the
germplasm bank," said Yang Yongping, deputy director of the Institute of
Tibetan Plateau Research.
The project provided important
material for bio-diversity conservation and helped the breeding of economically
valuable plants on the plateau, he added.
With an investment of 148
million yuan ($23.2 million) and covering a floor area of 7,000 square meters,
the germplasm bank was established by the Kunming Institute of Botany with the
help of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and put into use in October 2008.
The bank currently keeps seeds
of 7,471 plant species growing across the country and aims to expand its
collection to 19,000 species in about a decade.
The bank comprises a seed
section, an in-vitro micro-propagation unit, a microorganism bank, an animal
germplasm bank, a DNA bank and an information center.
A 680-square-meter freezer in
the bank can prevent the seeds from being damaged by mildew and insect
infestations. Inside the bank, the seeds can maintain their hereditary features
and ability to sprout for as long as a century.
(Source: Xinhua)
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=28656&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.21 Bright
possibility for flood tolerant soybeans
Farmers in the Mississippi
Delta can lose as much as 25 percent when they plant soybean crops in rotation
with paddy rice. But scientists led by U.S. Department Agricultural Research
Service Tara Van Toai might just have the solution to this problem. They are
incorporating genes from non-native soybean varieties to supplement the narrow
genetic base of U.S. soybeans and improve their tolerance to wet soil and
associated diseases. This opens up the possibility for flood tolerant soybeans.
In screenhouses, the scientists
identified the top three flood-tolerant lines: Nam Vang, which is native to
Cambodia; VND2, native to China; and ATF15-1, which is native to Australia.
Plants grew the tallest, produced the biggest seeds and highest yields. When
planted in flooded experimental fields, they obtained similar results.
Check out the ARS News Service
report at http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2012/120723.htm
Source: Crop Biotech Update 27
July 2012:
Contributed by Margaret Smith
Department of Plant Breeding
& Genetics, Cornell University
1.22 Molecular
markers for nematode resistance breeding
Using molecular markers,
scientists of the U.S. Department of Agriculture would be able to expedite
development of resistance to two important pests of cotton – the root knot
nematode and the reniform nematode. These cotton pests have been wreaking havoc
for more than 100 years and breeding research has slowed down because
resistance is governed by multiple genes, as well as being costly and
time-consuming.
At the agency's Genetic and
Precision Agricultural Research Unit in Mississippi, plant geneticist Johnie
Jenkins and colleagues developed genetic markers for the genes responsible for
resistance to root-knot nematode in upland cotton. They were identified and
found to be in chromosomes 11 and 14. The researchers also found resistance to
reniform nematode in wild Gossypium barbadense that is governed by more than
one gene. The markers linked to these genes were located in chromosomes 21 and
18.
Read the original news at http://www.ars.usda.gov/News/docs.htm?docid=1261
Source: Crop Biotech Update 27
July 2012:
Contributed by Margaret Smith
Department of Plant Breeding
& Genetics, Cornell University
1.23 Scientists
discover how nematodes attack plants
Controlling cyst nematode in
soybean will save the U.S. soybean producers close to $1 billion annually. The
nematode was previously found to feed on soybean cells by penetrating the roots
and injecting cells with chemical signals that makes neighboring cells fuse to
become the feeding site called syncytium. Once settled, the nematode lays eggs
in a shell-like cyst structure.
Scientists Thomas Baum and
Tarek Hewezi of Iowa State University studied how the nematode changes soybean
gene activities to make the syncytium in the plant's root cells. They discovered
that microRNA396 plays an important role in this process. MicroRNAs are
molecules that suppress the expression of target genes such that, at high
concentration, the target genes or transcription factors are inactivated and
vice versa.
The team found that plants with
a low level of microRNA396 develop a syncyctium easily during nematode
penetration because the transcription factors that may be related to defense
are not activated. With this observation, microRNA396 can be used in developing
novel control mechanisms against cyst nematodes.
See the full article at http://www.ag.iastate.edu/news/releases/1024/
Source: Crop Biotech Update 13
July 2012
Contributed by Margaret Smith
Department of Plant Breeding
& Genetics, Cornell University
1.24 Breeding
Stevia for high leaf yield and high rebaudioside A content
Mohamad, O1., Abdullateef, R. A1., Lyena Watty Zuraine, A1., and Muhsin,
M2.1Kulliyyah of Science, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM)
25200 Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia 2UKM-MTDC Symbiosis Programme, Universiti
Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM),
43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
Email: mbopar2004@yahoo.com
Abstract
The worldwide demand for an
alternative and a high potency sweetener to the artificially produced sugar
substitutes is increasing. The alternative natural sweetener is from stevia
plant. Today, the use of stevia extract
from its leaves as a table-top sweetener is becoming increasingly well known
because its zero calorie. Although the potential for stevia to become a general
substitute for sugar is promising, its products for certain niche markets are
even more promising, e.g. diabetic patients are likely to benefit from stevia
products. Stevia, also known as sweet leaf or sugar leaf, belongs to genus
Stevia comprising species of herbs and shrubs, and a member of the family
Compositae. It originated from Paraguay. Out of over 154 species of the genus
that were reported, Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni is known to produce sweet
glycosides. The four major sweet glycosides are stevioside, rebaudioside A,
rebaudioside C and dulcoside A. The
stevioside ratio in leaves is about double that of rebaudioside A, making
stevioside more plentiful in any leaf extract.
Rebaudioside A makes up less than 3% of the glycosides within a stevia
leaf. Stevioside and rebaudioside A are
110-270 times and 150-320 times sweeter than sucrose, respectively. While
stevioside is very much associated with the problem of persistent aftertaste,
rebaudioside A is drastically less bitter.
Rebaudioside A is considered to have the most favourable sensory
attributes of the four major glycosides.
The current trend shows that increasing number of countries are
considering or giving approval to the use of rebaudioside A as a food
supplement. Stevia was first introduced into Malaysia in 1970s. China currently
produces > 80% of stevia, and 90% of it goes to Japan (for production of
natural sweeteners). It is ‘hassle-free” to grow stevia under temperate
environments like in China. Although stevia has the potential to become a
viable crop in Malaysia, it has been stressed that we still lack suitable
varieties and appropriate production technologies. Several years ago, MARDI
evaluated a fairly large number of
introduced stevia accessions but found majority of them showed
relatively poor performance and produced very low leaf yields. Thus, we will
face many challenges and problems in trying to ‘fix’ a temperate crop to
be grown under our local tropical environments. As a long-term strategy, it is
possible to develop suitable varieties that can increase overall productivity
in order to make stevia becomes a viable crop or emerges as a new industry in
this country. With increased productivity arising from the development of
suitable varieties, we can reduce the costs of production (currently estimated
at > RM7/kg of fresh leaves) vis-à-vis their returns. To this end, we
initiated stevia research at IIUM, Kuantan beginning in 2010 with the aims of
ultimately increasing leaf yields and rebaudioside A contents. Some breeding strategies, approaches and
progress from the research work will be highlighted.
Keywords: Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni,
stevia, natural sweetener, stevioside, rebaudioside A, aftertaste
Contributed by Mohamad bin
Osman
International Islamic
University Malaysia (IIUM), Kuantan
1.25 Hydropriming
method: To improve germination percentage and uniform seedlings establishment
in diploid, triploid and tetraploid watermelon
Jaejong Noh1*, Sameena Sheikh1 and Gi Tai Jeong1
1 Watermelon Experiment Station, Jeonbuk A.R.E.S., Gochang 585-863
Republic of Korea
*corresponding author:
nohjj@korea.kr
For proper seed germination,
growth and development, diploid watermelon requires warm temperature of more
than 260C (Whitaker and Davis, 1962), while triploid seeds originating from
tetraploid ovaries require 24-380C for 24-72 h. Although, triploid watermelon
shares good market potential, but main drawbacks in low production are less
seed vigour, poor germination, long hypocotyl, slow growth, non-uniformity,
small sized embryo relative to seed coat and high seed cost. Watermelon growers face various problem in
obtaining good seed germination. Hence, there is need to explore more efficient
and reliable method to enhance seed germination rate and seedling establishment
as normal germination methods are no longer have good results especially in
tetraploids and triploids.
The experiment was conducted to
test and improve the seed germination of watermelon of different ploidy level using
hydropriming method. Seed priming is a treatment to start germination process
by partially hydrating seeds but radicle emergence does not occur. Short time
hydration and hydropriming, humidification (incubation at high relative
humidity) have been widely used to increase seed vigour and longevity and had
promoted germination rate in many crops including cucurbits crops (Burgass and
Powell, 1984; Bradford et al., 1988; Demir and Vande Venter, 1999; Powell,
2000; Huang et al., 2002).
The mature “dry” (orthodox)
seed will exhibit a triphasic pattern of water uptake when given optimal supply
of water (Bewely and Black, 1978). Phase I consists of water uptake that is
largely a consequence of matric forces, while in phase II (Lag phase) water
potential of seed is in balance with the surrounding environment and major
metabolic changes prepare the embryo of the seed for subsequent emergence
through seed coat. Only germinating seeds are capable of entering phase III,
which occurs as a consequence of radicle emergence and elongation. Nonviable
seed may exhibit phase I and II but not III (Bray, 1995).
The seeds of five diploids
watermelon cultivars (WC-8C-2C, WD-2-6K, GW11, GW7), three triploids cultivars
(04WM277 , 11WM495, AWX1105) four T1 tetraploid lines (4092012-2IH,
3032012-1SA, 2052012-2IH, 1142012-1SA) were
subjected to hydropriming testing at Watermelon Experiment Station,
Daesan, Gochang , South Korea, during the year 2012. Hydroprimed seeds were
carefully placed horizontally at 1 cm depth to prevent any orientation
advantages. The boxes were covered with plastic lids to control evaporation and
placed in germination chamber at 300C. Tetraploids found to be germinated
better in both sand and CSM. Cultivars 4012012-2IH, GW7, and AVX1105 showed
more than 90% germination rate in CSM. The radicle length was observed highest
in 11WM495 (7.3 cm), 4012012-2IH (6.1 cm) and GW7 (6.7 cm) in CSM.
The findings of this experiment
revealed that seed treatment with H2O2 and hydropriming on CSM at 300C has
improved seed percentage to more than 90% in tetraploid and triploid seeds in
contrast to normal sowing methods. The industrial use of this method could be
easily followed on large scale for producing good percentage and uniform sized
tetraploids and triploids seedlings for farmer’s use.
Contributed by sameena sheikh
1.26 Newly
found genes may lead to nematode-resistant upland cotton
Washington, DC, USA
July 26, 2012
U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) researchers have made significant progress in finding genetic resistance
to two key cotton pests—the root-knot nematode and the reniform nematode.
Agricultural Research Service
(ARS) plant geneticist Johnie Jenkins and his colleagues in the agency's
Genetics and Precision Agriculture Research Unit in Mississippi State, Miss.,
developed genetic markers for the genes responsible for resistance to root-knot
nematode in upland cotton. These genes, located on chromosomes 11 and 14,
should help breeders develop new varieties of nematode-resistant cotton.
ARS is the USDA's principal
intramural scientific research agency, and this research supports the USDA
commitment to agricultural sustainability.
Jenkins and his colleagues also
found that resistance to reniform nematode in a wild Gossypium barbadense line
is governed by more than one gene, and they have identified markers linked to
these genes on chromosomes 21 and 18. Their research was published in
Theoretical and Applied Genetics. Former post-doctoral researcher Osman
Gutierrez (currently a plant geneticist at the ARS Subtropical Horticulture
Research Station in Miami, Fla.), was lead author on the paper. Co-authors
included agronomist Jack McCarty, molecular geneticist Martin Wubben, and plant
physiologist Franklin Callahan, all with ARS at Mississippi State, and retired
ARS scientist Forest Robinson at College Station, Texas.
Commercial breeders had steered
away from efforts to breed root-knot nematode resistance into upland cotton
lines over the years because the resistance was governed by more than one gene
and seemed too costly and time-consuming. But the research contributions from
Jenkins and his colleagues may change that.
The root-knot nematode has been
recognized as a cotton pest for the past 100 years, according to Jenkins. Since
the 1930s, scientists have been looking for resistance to nematodes. In the
1960s, ARS started research to find root-knot nematode resistance in cotton.
Retired ARS scientist Raymond Shepherd was instrumental in using root-knot
nematode resistance in a line of wild cotton from Mexico to develop resistant
germplasm.
Read more about this research
in the July 2012 issue of Agricultural Research magazine.
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=28631&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.27 Tannins
in sorghum are focus of study by Kansas State University and USDA researchers
Genetic research a step toward improved health, pharmaceutical, and
nutritional values of plants
Manhattan, Kansas, USA
July 11, 2012
They might be called a blessing
or a curse – tannins, which are present in certain sorghums, contain
health-promoting antioxidant properties, but also provide a bitter taste and
decreased protein digestibility. To better understand tannins, their role in
sorghum and how they can be altered to improve sorghum’s use as food and feed,
a team of scientists led by Kansas State University and U.S. Department of
Agriculture researchers, has cloned the tannin gene in sorghum.
Tannins’ high antioxidant, anti-inflammatory
and UV-protective functions promote human health, plus recent studies show they
can be a tool in fighting obesity because they reduce digestibility, said
Jianming Yu, associate professor of agronomy at K-State. Tannins in sorghum
also provide a natural chemical defense against bird predation and bacterial
and fungal attack in the field.
On the other hand, tannins
provide a bitter taste to some foods and decrease protein digestibility and
feed efficiency in humans and livestock.
The team was led by Yu, along
with Tesfaye Tesso, K-State sorghum breeder and associate professor of agronomy
and Scott Bean, scientist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural
Research Service (USDA-ARS) and adjunct faculty in K-State’s Department of Agronomy.
The researchers’ study,
“Presence of tannins in sorghum grains is conditioned by different natural
alleles of Tannin1” (http://www.pnas.org/content/109/26/10281.abstract) was
published in the June 26 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS).
Sorghum is an old-world cereal
grass that serves as a dietary staple for more than 500 million people in more
than 30 countries, Yu said. In 2011, the United States was the No. 1 exporter
of sorghum on the world market and the No. 2 producer (behind Nigeria),
according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In 2011, Kansas produced 110.0
million bushels – 51 percent of the total U.S. crop. Sorghum production in the
U.S., primarily for the feed industry, uses non-tannin sorghum hybrids.
Unlike many plants which employ
C3 photosynthesis that uses water, carbon dioxide and solar energy to
synthesize sugars, sorghum, which performs a modified form called C4
photosynthesis, has adapted to hot environments.
“One key reason to study
tannins is to untangle their relationship with cold tolerance, a key agronomic
trait to improve sorghum. The work is ongoing,” said sorghum breeder Tesso. An
earlier screening work found that a high proportion of cold tolerant sorghum
lines contain tannins.
“Several other factors make
tannins an important research subject,” said Bean, noting their antioxidant
capacity and relevant health benefits, their natural occurrence in some cereal
crops, and their role in sorghum production. “Knowledge of tannins in
biosynthesis pathways can be used to generate lines that produce high-content
tannins in sorghum and other cereals to promote health through their unique
nutritional properties.”
This study, like many studies
in recent years, benefits from work done several years ago on Arabidopsis,
which are small flowering plants related to cabbage and mustard, said Yuye Wu,
the first author and K-State research associate of agronomy. “Many genes have
been identified in Arabidopsis, through the mutational approach, but there is
still much to be learned about the genetic control of tannins in cereal crops.”
“This kind of genetic research
in crops, coupled with nutritional and medical research, could open the
possibility of producing different levels and combinations of phenolic
compounds to promote human health,” Yu said. What the researchers learn about
tannins in sorghum will be beneficial to the future study of tannins in other
plants, including some fruits, vegetables and a few other grains such as finger
millets and barley.
Other researchers involved in
the study were Mitch Tuinstra, Purdue University; Ming Li Wang, USDA-ARS,
Griffin, Georgia; and Guihua Bai, USDA-ARS and adjunct professor of agronomy at
KSU.
The project was supported by
USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Department of Energy Plant
Feedstock Genomics Program, National Science Foundation Plant Genome Research
Program, USDA Agricultural Research Service, and the National Sorghum Checkoff
program.
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=28280&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.28 En
busca de genes de Lotus que toleren la salinidad
Argentina
July 2012
Científicos argentinos
caracterizaron a escala molecular especies forrajeras con buen comportamiento
al estrés salino. Este avance permitirá elevar el potencial productivo.
CompartirCientíficos del INTA y
la Universidad Nacional del Noroeste de Buenos Aires (Unnoba) caracterizaron a
escala molecular a la especie forrajera Lotus tenuis por su buen comportamiento
al estrés salino. Este descubrimiento permitirá elevar el potencial productivo,
aumentar el rendimiento y mejorar la calidad del cultivo.
“El Lotus es importante para la
ganadería en la Pampa Húmeda. Este estudio contribuirá a seleccionar cultivares
superiores con mayor tolerancia a salinidad, con más forraje de calidad y con
un alto nivel de productividad de esos ambientes, aún en condiciones de
estrés”, destacó la investigadora principal del trabajo, Mariela Acuña, del
INTA Pergamino –Buenos Aires–.
El estudio consistió en
caracterizar, por primera vez, el conjunto de genes del Lotus tenuis –que se
destaca por su alto nivel de productividad, calidad nutritiva y persistencia– a
partir de la transferencia y la adaptación de un protocolo utilizado para
estudiar otras especies (como la L. japonicus y L. corniculatus).
El 75 por ciento del país está
formado por áreas áridas y semiáridas que suelen presentar un alto nivel de
salinidad lo que ocasiona que las plantas pierdan fertilidad, ya que no pueden
abastecerse de agua.
Lotus tenuis se destaca por su
alto nivel de productividad, calidad nutritiva y persistencia.
Por el contrario, en las
últimas décadas el alto nivel de sales en los suelos también afectó extensas
áreas agrícolas y ganaderas de la región húmeda y subhúmeda como consecuencia
de periodos de lluvias excesivas que provocaron anegamiento.
Durante la investigación se
utilizaron marcadores moleculares para estudiar la diversidad genética,
realizar selecciones eficientes de caracteres específicos y caracterizar las
poblaciones de las especies. A partir de secuencias de ADN pudieron estudiar, a
escala molecular, las diferencias entre las especies de Lotus y evaluar los
comportamientos contrastantes –en tolerancia o en susceptibilidad– frente a la
salinidad.
Por otra parte, esta
investigación fue reconocida por la Fundación Samuel Roberts Noble con una
ayuda económica que le permitió al primer autor de la
investigación asistir al
Séptimo Simposio de Mejoramiento Molecular de Forrajes y Céspedes (MBFT, por sus
siglas en inglés), realizado en la ciudad estadounidense de Salt Lake.
A su vez, Acuña destacó que
“este tipo de reconocimiento reivindica nuestro trabajo en el campo ya que allí
realizamos estudios exhaustivos de caracterización que otras organizaciones
trabajan íntegramente en un laboratorio”.
En las últimas décadas, el INTA
obtuvo más de 60 cultivares de 28 especies consideradas como las más exitosas
en el mercado nacional de semillas forrajeras dentro de las cuales se destacan
las del género de Lotus por tener mayor longevidad, incluso en áreas y suelos
desfavorables.
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=28337&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.29 Study
reveals good news about the glycemic index of rice
Australia
July 9, 2012
Research analysing 235 types of
rice from around the world has found its glycemic index (GI) varies from one
type of rice to another with most varieties scoring a low to medium GI.
This finding is good news
because it not only means rice can be part of a healthy diet for the average
consumer, it also means people with diabetes, or at risk of diabetes, can
select the right rice to help maintain a healthy, low GI diet.
The study found that the GI of
rice ranges from a low of 48 to a high of 92, with an average of 64, and that
the GI of rice depends on the type of rice consumed.
The research team from the
International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and CSIRO’s Food Futures Flagship
also identified the key gene that determines the GI of rice, an important
achievement that offers rice breeders the opportunity to develop varieties with
different GI levels to meet consumer needs. Future development of low GI rice
would also enable food manufactures to develop new, low GI food products based
on rice.
Dr Melissa Fitzgerald, who led
the IRRI team, said GI is a measure of the relative ability of carbohydrates in
foods to raise blood sugar levels after eating.
“Understanding that different
types of rice have different GI values allows rice consumers to make informed
choices about the sort of rice they want to eat,” she said.
“Rice varieties like India’s
most widely grown rice variety, Swarna, have a low GI and varieties like
Doongara and Basmati from Australia have a medium GI.”
Dr Tony Bird, CSIRO Food
Futures Flagship researcher, said that low GI diets offer a range of health
benefits.
“Low GI diets can reduce the
likelihood of developing Type 2 diabetes, and are also useful for helping
diabetics better manage their condition,” he said.
“This is good news for
diabetics and people at risk of diabetes who are trying to control their
condition through diet, as it means they can select the right rice to help
maintain a healthy, low GI diet.”
Low GI foods are those measured
55 and less, medium GI are those measured between 56 and 69, while high GI
measures 70 and above.
When food is measured to have a
’high GI‘, it means it is easily digested and absorbed by the body, which often
results in fluctuations in blood sugar levels that can increase chances of
getting diabetes, and make management of Type 2 diabetes difficult.
Conversely, foods with low GI
are those that have slow digestion and absorption rates in the body, causing a
gradual and sustained release of sugar into the blood, which has been proven
beneficial to health, including reducing the chances of developing diabetes.
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=28205&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.30 Salt-tolerant
chickpea project to boost crop production
Western Australia
July 9, 2012
Researchers at The University
of Western Australia, in collaboration with research partners overseas, have
identified which lines of chickpea grow better in moderately salty soil.
Winthrop Professor Timothy
Colmer, from UWA’s School of Plant Biology and UWA’s Institute of Agriculture,
said the project involved researchers from the University of Sussex in the
United Kingdom, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid
Tropics in India and the Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture at
UWA.
The project was funded by the
Australian Research Council through its Linkage Project scheme and the industry
partner was Council of Grain Growers Organisation.
“Soil salinity impedes crop
production in many parts of the world, including large areas of farming land in
Australia and India,” Professor Colmer said.
“Chickpea is a salt-sensitive
crop species, so improvement in its salt tolerance is a priority. The present
research has highlighted that a previously widely-grown cultivar in WA (Rupali)
is particularly salt sensitive.
“Many chickpea genotypes are
very salt-sensitive and so suffer damage even on moderately saline soils that
have little impact on bread wheat – impacting on the potential yields of
chickpea in rotation with wheat on areas with sub-soil salinity.”
Winthrop Professor Kadambot Siddique,
Director of UWA’s Institute of Agriculture and Co-Chief Investigator of the
project, said genotypes with greater salt tolerance were identified and had
been used as parents in the breeding program in WA and India.
The aim was to add this
moderate level of salt tolerance to the new Ascochyta blight-resistant lines
being developed by the breeding program.
Professor Siddique said the
project had provided greater understanding of chickpea’s salt tolerance and
advanced breeding lines would be evaluated in follow-up work. The research had
also made initial steps towards development of molecular markers to enhance
future breeding strategies to improve salt tolerance in chickpea, he said.
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=28207&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.31 Purdue
University scientists working to make drought-resistant crops
West Lafayette, Indiana, USA
July 18, 2012
Purdue University scientists
are working in several areas in the hope that future dry spells don't have the
same effects on crops as this year's drought.
Mitch Tuinstra, a professor and
Wickersham Chair in agronomy, is studying tropical varieties of corn to
understand which genes allow the plants to survive in hot, dry weather. The
objective is to find ways to integrate those genes into corn that is bred to produce
high yields in the Midwest.
"There are all these other
genes out there in these tropical gene pools. We are looking for those genes
that enhance the adaptability of temperate maize," Tuinstra said.
Mike Mickelbart, an associate
professor of horticulture, studies something similar to drought tolerance -
water-use efficiency. The goal is to get the highest yields in corn using the
least amount of water.
"Our ultimate goal would
be to provide plant breeders with genetic markers for water-use efficiency so
they can incorporate this trait into their breeding programs," Mickelbart
said.
He said there are genes in corn
that affect transpiration, a process in which pores called stomata open and
close on a leaf surface and allow water to escape, like sweat on a person. His
research is aimed at finding variations in those genes that affect the ability
of a plant to use water as efficiently as possible.
Tony Vyn, a professor of
agronomy, is evaluating drought-tolerant corn hybrids developed in the private
sector. He is comparing their performance against conventional hybrids in
different stress situations, including high plant density and situations in
which nutrients are limited.
A major part of Vyn's research
involves determining whether optimum management practices for so-called
drought-tolerant hybrids are different than for conventional hybrids currently
in fields.
"It really has to be the
integration of genetics and best management practices so that we can get the
most corn per gallon of water and per ounce of nutrient," he said.
The Purdue Center for Global
Food Security focuses on education, research and development, and advocacy
efforts to find solutions to world hunger. The center recently received a $5
million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to study ways to
control the Striga weed, which infests sorghum and other crops in Africa.
Center director Gebisa Ejeta, a
distinguished professor of agronomy and 2009 World Food Prize laureate, is
leading the research effort aimed at improving Striga-resistant sorghum that
can tolerate drought conditions, said Gary Burniske, the center's managing
director. Ejeta and others are testing plants this year in field plots.
"We're looking for an
increase in yield under droughty conditions in different types of soils with
different nutrient availabilities," Burniske said. "It also has to be
resistant to Striga, which is a terrible problem in Africa."
More information about the
drought is available at Purdue Extension's website at http://www.purdue.edu/drought
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.32 Focusing
on flood-tolerant soybeans
United States
July 23, 2012
Soybean varieties that thrive
even in soggy fields could result from studies by U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) scientists. This would help increase profits for Mississippi
Delta farmers who can see yield losses as high as 25 percent when they plant
soybean crops in rotation with paddy rice.
This work is being conducted by
former Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist Tara VanToai, who now
works as a collaborator at ARS' Soil Drainage Research Unit in Columbus, Ohio.
ARS is USDA's chief intramural scientific research agency, and this research
supports the USDA priority of ensuring international food security.
For more than two decades,
VanToai has studied flood tolerance in soybeans in a range of environments,
including greenhouses, laboratories, growth chambers, experimental fields and
farm fields. She and her colleagues are finding and incorporating genes from
non-native soybean varieties in an effort to supplement the narrow genetic base
of U.S. soybeans and improve their tolerance to wet soil and associated
diseases.
In one study, VanToai used
outdoor "screenhouses"—which are greenhouses with screens instead of
glass—to assess the flood tolerance of 21 soybean lines. This study included
soybean lines native to Vietnam and Cambodia, lines developed via selection by
farmers and gardeners, and lines from Australia, China, Japan and Taiwan that
were created with modern breeding techniques.
The plants were grown in pots.
When each plant was in full bloom, it was placed for two weeks in a bucket of
water so that the water level was two inches above the soil surface. The
screenhouse tests identified the top three flood-tolerant lines: Nam Vang,
which is native to Cambodia; VND2, native to China; and ATF15-1, which is
native to Australia. Plants from these three lines grew the tallest and
produced the biggest seeds and highest yields. When the study was replicated in
flooded experimental fields, the results were the same.
Read more about this work and
other research VanToai has conducted on soybean flood tolerance in the July
2012 issue of Agricultural Research magazine.
Tara VanToai, retired ARS plant
physiologist, and Thomas Doohan, a student at Ohio State University, collect
soybean plants and root samples to analyze them for response to flooding
stress. Photo by Peggy Greb.
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=28541&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.33 Link
discovered between tomato ripening color and taste
Researchers at Cornell
University, Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research, and the University of
California-Davis have identified a gene that controls tomato ripening. The
paper, published in the June 29 issue of Science revealed that the genetic
mutation that makes tomato ripen uniformly also controls the amount of sugar
produced and stored in the fruit.
Tomato fruit has the capacity
to photosynthesize during its development, but the uniform ripening mutation
removed this genetic capacity, thereby reducing sugar levels. Cuong Nguyen, one
of the co-authors of the paper, conducted a molecular biology procedure called
positional cloning and with a public database, determined that the uniform
ripening gene was located at chromosome 10. The team plans to decipher the gene
coding for the protein that controls photosynthesis levels in tomatoes and the
genetic lesion resulting in the mutation.
In the future, commercial
producers would have the option to produce the mutated evenly-ripened tomato or
the regular tomato (unmutated), which is better-tasting and sweet, through DNA
testing of the tomato seedlings.
For more on the news, see http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/June12/TomatoesRipen.html
Source: Crop Biotech Update 29
June 2012
Contributed by Margaret Smith
Department of Plant Breeding
& Genetics, Cornell University
1.34 Improving
blast resistance of rice thru market assisted gene pyramiding
Rice blast is one of the major diseases
that decrease rice production. In China, severe seedling and neck blast were
reported to affect approximately 20% of hybrid rice fields in 2006. Blast is
often treated using fungicides, however this practice increases the input costs
of production and may also pose a hazard to the environment and the health of
farmers. Thus, the use of resistant varieties could be a more favorable
solution to protect rice from the disease.
Yuqing He and colleagues at
Huazhong Agricultural University conducted introgressive hybridization to
transfer genes Pi1, Pi2, and D12 to Jin 23B, a highly susceptible line, and its
hybrids Jinyou 402 and Junyou 207 through marker-assisted selection. The
improved lines carrying one, two, and three resistance genes were assessed for
their resistance to rice blast using natural inoculation techniques in a
disease nursery. Results of the study showed that better rice blast resistance
was exhibited by the lines with more resistance genes.
The three genes showed strong
dosage effect on rice blast resistance in hybrid background under field
condition, thus effective for breeding blast resistant hybrids. The team also
observed the agronomic traits of the improved lines. It was found that the
improved lines were taller than or similar to controls, and no indications of
disease stress were found.
Read the abstract at http://www.springerlink.com/content/q6872j37005246m6/
Source: Crop Biotech Update 20
July 2012:
Contributed by Margaret Smith
Department of Plant Breeding
& Genetics, Cornell University
1.35 Scientists
find key gene for Glycemic Index of rice
Researchers from the
International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and Commonwealth Scientific and
Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) have identified the key gene that
determines the glycemic index (GI) of rice. This breakthrough will help
breeders develop rice varieties with different GI levels, depending on the
needs of the consumers. This would also pave the way towards the development of
low GI food products based on rice.
According to IRRI scientist Dr.
Melissa Fitzgerald, GI is the measure of the relative ability of carbohydrates
in foods to raise blood sugar levels after eating. Dr. Tony Bird of CSIRO
stressed that low GI diets can reduce the likelihood of developing Type 2
diabetes, and also help diabetics improve their condition.
Read CSIRO's media story at
http://www.csiro.au/en/Portals/Media/Study-reveals-good-news-about-the-GI-of-rice.aspx
Source: Crop Biotech Update 20
July 2012:
Contributed by Margaret Smith
Department of Plant Breeding
& Genetics, Cornell University
Mes25@cornell.edu
1.36 Scientists find way to develop tomato
varieties with taste of heirloom counterparts
A group of scientists have come
up with the findings on how to make tomatoes taste more like their heirloom
counterparts. Some traits and qualities of heirloom tomatoes are valued in the
market because of their color, flavor characteristics and nutritional content.
According to Ann Powell, a
biochemist in University of California Davis' (UC Davis) Department of Plant
Sciences and one of the lead authors of the study, the information about the
gene responsible for the trait in wild and traditional varieties provides a
strategy to recapture quality characteristics that had been unknowingly bred
out of modern cultivated tomatoes.
With the aide of the collection
of mutant and wild species of tomatoes at UC Davis which were acquired all over
the world by the university's late professor Charles Rick since the 1950s, the
researchers got interested in tomatoes they observed in the field that were
unusually dark green before they ripened.
Scientists discovered that
these dark green tomatoes naturally express GLK2, a transcription factor that
controls the development of chloroplasts. These tomatoes then produced ripe
fruit with increased levels of sugars or soluble solids, important for
processing tomatoes, as well as higher levels of the health-promoting compound
lycopene.
According to Jim Giovannoni, a
USDA plant molecular biologist with the Boyce Thompson Institute at Cornell
University, understanding the genes responsible for important characteristics
that are naturally present in the wild crops facilitates the challenging
process of breeding crops that meet the needs of all components of the
food-supply chain.
View the University of
California Davis news release at http://news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=10281
Source: Crop Biotech Update 29
June 2012
Contributed by Margaret Smith
Department of Plant Breeding
& Genetics, Cornell University
1.37 Scientists
discover new source of maize hybrid vigor
Professor Steve Moose of the
University of Illinois and his graduate student Wes Barber have discovered a
new source of hybrid vigor in maize. Moose and Barber sampled small RNAs
(sRNAs) from the seedling shoot and the developing ear of maize hybrids, the
two tissues that grow rapidly and program growth, to investigate how the sRNA
profiles of these hybrids differ from those of their parents.
They found that the differences
are due mainly to hybrids inheriting distinct small interfering RNAs (siRNAs),
a subset of sRNAs, from each parent. The siRNAs interfere with gene expression.
They also found that hybridization does not create new siRNAs, but hybrids have
a more complex siRNA population than their parents because they inherit distinct
siRNAs from both parents. The differences in parental siRNAs originated
primarily from repeats, which are the result of retrotransposon activity.
Retrotransposons are elements
that move around and amplify themselves within a genome.
Moose said that "We are
not saying that genes are not important, but probably the way corn properties
are altered in the hybrid situation is mediated by the small RNAs in addition
to the genes." Moose and Barber hope that their work will provide more
insight into deciding which inbred maize lines to cross. Moose added that
"We don't want to alter how the plant grows, but if we can tweak it to do
whatever it already does either faster or more, that could be an
advantage."
The news release can be read at
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120628164629.htm
The full paper is available at
http://www.pnas.org/content/109/26/10444.full
Source: Crop Biotech Update 29
June 2012
Contributed by Margaret Smith
Department of Plant Breeding
& Genetics, Cornell University
Mes25@cornell.edu
1.38 Rice gene identified to enhance quality
productivity
Scientists at the Chinese
Academy of Sciences led by Fun Xiangdong have identified a gene that influences
the development and productivity of good quality rice. The gene called GW8 was
isolated from the aromatic and good quality Basmati rice from Pakistan. The
gene codes for the ability of the rice grain to arrange starch, thus enhancing
its eating quality. It also governs the shape and color of the rice grain.
The study also shows that the
gene exists in various forms and a variant was identified that affects the
grain weight, thus enhancing rice productivity. The third variant of GW8 was
recently found that combines the traits of the two variants, thus influencing
both the quality and productivity at the same time.
The article said that once the
third variant of the GW8 is introduced into high yielding rice, it could
significantly enhance the quality of rice grains, while productivity remains
the same.
Details of the news can be seen
at http://english.cas.cn/Ne/CASE/201206/t20120625_87531.shtml
Source: Crop Biotech Update 29
June 2012
Contributed by Margaret Smith
Department of Plant Breeding
& Genetics, Cornell University
1.39 Iron
biofortification and homeostasis in transgenic cassava roots expressing an
algal iron assimilatory protein, FEA1
Uzoma Ihemere, Narayanan
Narayanan and Richard Sayre, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, USA
Abstract
We have engineered the starchy
root crop cassava (Manihot esculenta) to express the Chlamydomonas reinhardtii
iron assimilatory protein, FEA1, in roots to enhance its nutritional qualities.
Iron levels in mature cassava storage roots were increased from 10 to 36 ppm in
the highest iron accumulating transgenic lines. These iron levels are
sufficient to meet the minimum daily requirement for iron in a 500 gm meal.
Significantly, the expression of the FEA1 protein did not alter iron levels in
leaves. Transgenic plants also had normal levels of zinc in leaves and roots
consistent with the specific uptake of iron mediated by the FEA1 protein.
Relative to wild-type plants, FEA1 expressing plants had reduced Fe(III)
chelate reductase activity and gene expression levels consistent with the more
efficient uptake of iron in FEA1 transgenic plants. We also show that genes
involved in iron homeostasis in cassava have altered tissue-specific patterns
of expression in transgenic plants. Steady state transcript levels of the
metal-chelate transporter MeYSL1, and the iron storage proteins, MeFER2 and
MeFER6, were elevated in various tissues of FEA1 transgenic plants compared to
wild-type plants. These results suggest that these gene products play a role in
iron translocation and homeostasis in FEA1 transgenic cassava plants. These
results are discussed in terms of enhanced strategies for the iron
biofortification of plants.
Keywords: biofortification, cassava,
Chlamydomonas, FEA1, Iron
Citation: Ihemere U, Narayanan
N and Sayre R (2012). Iron biofortification and homeostasis in transgenic
cassava roots expressing an algal iron assimilatory protein, FEA1. Front. Plant
Sci. 3:171. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2012.00171
Received: 12 Sep 2011;
Accepted: 11 Jul 2012.
Edited by:
José R. Dinneny, Temasek
Lifesciences Laboratory, Singapore
Reviewed by:
Terri Long, North Carolina
State University, USA
Petra Bauer, Saarland
University, Germany
Copyright: © 2012 Ihemere,
Narayanan and Sayre. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms
of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution
and reproduction in other forums, provided the original authors and source are
credited and subject to any copyright notices concerning any third-party
graphics etc.
* Correspondence: Dr. Richard
Sayre, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, 975 N Warson Rd, St Louis, MO,
63132, USA, rsayre@newmexicoconsortium.org
http://www.frontiersin.org/Plant_Physiology/10.3389/fpls.2012.00171/abstract
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.40 The
banana (Musa acuminata) genome and the evolution of monocotyledonous plants
Bananas (Musa spp.), including
dessert and cooking types, are giant perennial monocotyledonous herbs of the
order Zingiberales, a sister group to the well-studied Poales, which include
cereals. Bananas are vital for food security in many tropical and subtropical
countries and the most popular fruit in industrialized countries.
The Musa domestication process
started some 7,000 years ago in Southeast Asia. It involved hybridizations
between diverse species and subspecies, fostered by human migrations, and
selection of diploid and triploid seedless, parthenocarpic hybrids thereafter
widely dispersed by vegetative propagation. Half of the current production
relies on somaclones derived from a single triploid genotype (Cavendish).
Pests and diseases have
gradually become adapted, representing an imminent danger for global banana
production. Here we describe the draft sequence of the 523-megabase genome of
aMusa acuminata doubled-haploid genotype, providing a crucial stepping-stone
for genetic improvement of banana. We detected three rounds of whole-genome
duplications in the Musa lineage, independently of those previously described
in the Poales lineage and the one we detected in the Arecales lineage. This
first monocotyledon high-continuity whole-genome sequence reported outside
Poales represents an essential bridge for comparative genome analysis in
plants.
As such, it clarifies
commelinidmonocotyledon phylogenetic relationships, reveals Poaceaespecific
features and has led to the discovery of conserved noncoding sequences
predating monocotyledon–eudicotyledon divergence.
Source: Nature Letters
doi:10.1038/nature11241
1.41 First
plant genomics yield technology progresses
Hayward, California, USA
July 23, 2012
Mendel announced today that its
flagship yield technology has taken another important step towards the market.
This technology will be employed by Monsanto in its new soybean yield trait.
Last week, as part of its assessment process, the USDA's Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service (APHIS) made available for public comment a petition
requesting deregulation of the high-yield soybean trait. Higher-yielding
soybeans are aimed at boosting the intrinsic yield potential of the soybean. In
addition to developing the underlying technology for the yield trait, Mendel
has done critical research to determine the molecular basis for the yield
improvement and to support the regulatory approval process. The technology is
currently in Phase 3 of Monsanto's product pipeline.
Mendel and Monsanto have worked
together on the development of biotechnology traits for more than a decade in
many crops, including corn, soy, cotton and canola. This exclusive
collaboration ended in 2011, enabling Mendel to develop and maintain ownership
of its new technologies while working with a broader array of commercial
partners from the beginning of 2012.
Mendel's work in this field has
enabled it to develop a unique understanding of plant gene regulatory networks
(PGRNs) and this is the basis for Mendel's ongoing discovery and application
work across a variety of fields. Mendel is now using its PGRN platform to crack
the code of crop performance in the field. While much private and public
investment has been made into determining the physical structure of crop
genomes, the Mendel PGRN platform instead focuses on the expression of crop
genomes, which enables Mendel to translate genomic information into crop
productivity traits.
Mendel is now investing
substantially to identify new PGRNs for improved yield and resource use
efficiency. Mendel has already identified a number of promising and novel PGRNs
based on these screens, and is developing a robust patent estate to protect
these new inventions.
This new investment has been
funded by an inside financing round completed in late 2011, with participation
from all of Mendel's later-stage investors. Key to this investment is Mendel's
shift from an exclusive partnering model to an "open architecture"
model in which Mendel will license, co-develop and commercialize products with
a broad range of customers across the agricultural industry.
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=28576&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.42 Glyphosate-resistant
'superweeds' may be less susceptible to diseases
West Lafayette, Indiana, USA
July 17, 2012
Scientists searching for clues
to understand how superweeds obtain resistance to the popular herbicide
glyphosate may have been missing a critical piece of information, a Purdue
University study shows.
Glyphosate, the active
ingredient in the weed killer sold under the name RoundUp, is the most widely
used herbicide in the United States, but some plants have grown resistant to
it. This has caused farmers to turn to additional herbicides. While the
mechanisms that have led to resistance are not fully known, Bill Johnson, a
professor of weed science; Steve Hallett, an associate professor of weed science;
and Jessica Schafer, a graduate student in botany and plant pathology, believe
that soil microbes may play a role.
Most laboratory tests done to
understand glyphosate resistance are done in sterile soil, void of those
microbes. Schafer said Purdue's findings, published online early in the journal
Weed Science, show that those microbes may play a significant role in how
glyphosate affects plants.
"The soil you're growing
the plants in is important to the results," Schafer said. "If we're
growing in a sterile media, we could get some false positive results because
the plants are more tolerant to glyphosate in those conditions."
Hallett and Schafer grew giant
ragweed, horseweed and common lambsquarter in both sterile soil and field soil
and subjected them to glyphosate. In each soil, strains of weeds both
susceptible and resistant to glyphosate were tested.
Both versions of giant ragweed
were damaged more from the glyphosate in field soil. The susceptible version of
common lambsquarter was also more heavily damaged in field soil. Horseweed
fared the same no matter which soil or strain - susceptible or resistant.
The results show that microbes
can play an important role in the activity of glyphosate, presumably by
invading the glyphosate-weakened plants. The results also suggest that
glyphosate-resistant weeds may be more resistant to disease pressure as well.
"Soil microbes can be
minor to major contributors to how glyphosate is able to affect plants,"
Hallett said. "We may be selecting not only for glyphosate resistance, but
inadvertently selecting for weeds that have disease resistance as well."
A weed's ability to withstand
glyphosate was based on dry shoot and root weight after testing. The sterile
soil used in the study came from field soil exposed to gamma radiation to kill
microbes and bacteria. The irradiated soil was tested to ensure that its
nutrients were not diminished.
Hallett, Johnson and Schafer
said further studies would look at how fungi in the soil affect root
development, both with and without glyphosate.
"Dirt is a living
organism," Johnson said. "It's important to know how all the pieces
interact."
The research was conducted with
internal funding from Purdue's Department of Botany and Plant Pathology.
Abstract
Response of Giant Ragweed (Ambrosia trifida), Horseweed (Conyza
canadensis), and Common Lambsquarter (Chenopodium album) Biotypes to Glyphosate
in the Presence and Absence of Soil Microorganisms.
Jessica R. Schafer, Steven G.
Hallett, and William G. Johnson
In previous research conducted
on non-weed species, the efficacy of glyphosate was shown to be greater in
unsterile soils compared to sterile soils, and that soil microorganisms played
an important role in glyphosate efficacy. Conducting greenhouse studies in
microbe-free soil may, therefore, produce unreliable data, leading to erroneous
conclusions. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of soil
microorganisms on the response of glyphosate-resistant and -susceptible
biotypes of three problematic weeds of the Midwestern United States: giant
ragweed, horseweed and common lambsquarters. A greenhouse dose-response study
was conducted on each of the three weed species grown in sterile and unsterile
field soil, and the dry weight response of roots and shoots was measured. The
three weed species responded differently to glyphosate when grown in the
sterile and unsterile soil, that is, in the presence and absence of soil
microbes. Soil microbes influenced the response of the susceptible and
resistant giant ragweed biotypes and the susceptible common lambsquarters, but
not on the tolerant common lambsquarters or either horseweed biotype. The
different response of the three species to glyphosate in the presence and
absence of soil microbes demonstrates that rhizosphere interactions are
fundamental to the mode of action of glyphosate. These findings suggest that
the range of tolerance to glyphosate observed in weeds and the evolution of
resistance in weed biotypes may also be influenced by rhizosphere interactions.
The soil media used in dose-response screenings to identify susceptible and
resistant weed biotypes is very important. Unsterile field soil should be
incorporated into growth media when conducting dose-response screenings to
avoid false positive results. In addition, researchers performing glyphosate
dose-response assays should be aware of these findings.
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=28411&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.43 Application
of next-generation sequencing for rapid marker development in molecular plant
breeding
A case study on anthracnose disease resistance in Lupinus angustifolius L.
In the last 30 years, a number
of DNA fingerprinting methods such as RFLP, RAPD, AFLP,SSR, DArT, have been
extensively used in marker development for molecular plant breeding.However, it
remains a daunting task to identify highly polymorphic and closely
linkedmolecular markers for a target trait for molecular marker-assisted
selection. The nextgenerationsequencing (NGS) technology is far more powerful
than any existing genericDNA fingerprinting methods in generating DNA markers.
In this study, we employed a
grainlegume crop Lupinus angustifolius (lupin) as a test case, and examined the
utility of an NGS based method of RAD (restriction-site associated DNA)
sequencing as DNA fingerprintingfor rapid, cost-effective marker development
tagging a disease resistance gene for molecularbreeding.
Results: Twenty informative
plants from a cross of RxS (disease resistant x susceptible) in lupin
weresubjected to RAD single-end sequencing by multiplex identifiers. The entire
RADsequencing products were resolved in two lanes of the 16-lanes per run
sequencing platformSolexa HiSeq2000.
A total of 185 million raw
reads, approximately 17 Gb of sequencingdata, were collected. Sequence
comparison among the 20 test plants discovered 8207 SNPmarkers.
Filtration of DNA sequencing
data with marker identification parameters resulted inthe discovery of 38
molecular markers linked to the disease resistance gene Lanr1. Fiverandomly
selected markers were converted into cost-effective, simple PCR-based markers.Linkage
analysis using marker genotyping data and disease resistance phenotyping data
on aF8 population consisting of 186 individual plants confirmed that all these
five markers werelinked to the R gene.
Two of these newly developed
sequence-specific PCR markers, AnSeq3and AnSeq4, flanked the target R gene at a
genetic distance of 0.9 centiMorgan (cM), and arenow replacing the markers
previously developed by a traditional DNA fingerprinting methodfor
marker-assisted selection in the Australian national lupin breeding program.
Conclusions
We demonstrated that more than
30 molecular markers linked to a target gene of agronomictrait of interest can
be identified from a small portion (1/8) of one sequencing run onHiSeq2000 by
applying NGS based RAD sequencing in marker development. The markersdeveloped
by the strategy described in this study are all co-dominant SNP markers,
whichcan readily be converted into high throughput multiplex format or
low-cost, simple PCRbasedmarkers desirable for large scale marker
implementation in plant breeding programs.The high density and closely linked
molecular markers associated with a target trait help toovercome a major
bottleneck for implementation of molecular markers on a wide range ofgermplasm
in breeding programs.
We conclude that application of
NGS based RADsequencing as DNA fingerprinting is a very rapid and
cost-effective strategy for markerdevelopment in molecular plant breeding. The
strategy does not require any prior genomeknowledge or molecular information for
the species under investigation, and it is applicableto other plant species.
Author: Huaan YangYe TaoZequn
ZhengChengdao LiMark SweetinghamJohn Howieson
Credits/Source: BMC
Genomics 2012, 13:318
Published on: 2012-07-17
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.44 Scientists
find potential solution for inbreeding depression
Inbreeding depression or the
negative fitness effects of inbreeding is one of the important topics in
evolutionary biology because of its effects on population dynamics and
demographics. Inbreeding depression is usually manifested in animals and
plants.
Philippine Vergeer and
colleagues at Radboud University Nijmegen in Netherlands conducted a study to
show that, in addition to genetic processes, epigenetic processes such as
drought and poor nutrition may be important in causing inbreeding effects. The
team compared epigenetic markers of outbred and inbred offspring of a perennial
plant Scabiosa columbaria). They found that inbreeding causes removal of small
chemical tags known as methyl groups that effectively turn genes on or off.
They also discovered that inbreeding depression disappears when epigenetic
variation is modified by treatment with a demethylation agent called
5-azacytidine. These findings imply that 5-azacytidine or a related compound
could be a possible treatment for the harmful effects of inbreeding.
Read the articles at http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2012/07/02/rsbl.2012.0494
and
http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2012/07/inbreedings-downside-is-not-all-.html
for more information.
Source: Crop Biotech Update 27
July 2012:
Contributed by Margaret Smith
Department of Plant Breeding
& Genetics, Cornell University
1.45 How
the same plant species can programme itself to flower at different times in
different climates
Norwich, United Kingdom
July 13, 2012
Researchers led by Professor
Caroline Dean have uncovered the genetic basis for variations in the
vernalization response shown by plants growing in very different climates,
linking epigenetic mechanisms with evolutionary change.
Vernalization is a period of
prolonged cold that some plants require before they will flower. This ensures
that they only produce flowers after the damaging cold of winter has passed.
The plant must have a way of ‘remembering’ how much cold weather it has endured
and in 2011 the researchers uncovered the mechanism plants use. When sufficient
time in the cold has passed, an epigenetic switch silences a flowering-repressor
gene called FLC. These epigenetic changes are then passed on to daughter cells
during the rest of the plants developmental cycle.
Different plants have different
vernalization requirements, as the length of winter cold they experience varies
with geography and climate. In new research published in the journal Science,
Professor Dean’s team have worked out how different plants set the level at
which this epigenetic switch is triggered. They looked at a variety of
Arabidopsis thaliana derived from North Sweden (Lov-1), and compared it to the
reference ‘Columbia’ variety. Columbia needs 4 weeks of cold to trigger the
epigenetic switch. The Lov-1 variety needs 9 weeks of cold to achieve the same,
a natural variation to cope with the longer winters at northern latitudes.
They found variation in the
genome sequence in and around the FLC gene itself. A combination of four
genetic differences (polymorphisms) between the two varieties is responsible
for the requirement for a longer period of cold. The polymorphisms affect
chemical modifications to histone proteins which DNA is wrapped around. These
modifications affect gene expression and are behind epigenetic memory. The four
polymorphisms affect these modifications across the FLC gene so this points to
how they are able to determine the switching point for the silencing of the
gene.
More research is needed to
determine exactly how these polymorphisms contribute to epigenetic memory, as
the mechanism itself is still not fully understood. This plant model system is
ideal for unpicking the intricacies of these mechanisms and how they apply
across different organisms.
This research provides an
explanation for how the level at which an epigenetic state switches itself is
determined in response to a quantitative stimulus. This may be a general
mechanism by which many other organisms adapt to changing environments.
Arabidopsis has a wide geographical distribution, and adapting its
vernalisation requirement in this way may have been key to helping it grow in
different climates. As our own climate changes, we may be able to learn from
the way Arabidopsis has adapted to help produce new crop varieties.
This research was supported by
a Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship within the 7th European Community
Framework Programme, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
(BBSRC) and a European Research Council Advanced Investigator grant
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=28379&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.46 Major
investment to persuade bacteria to help cereals self-fertilise
Norwich, United Kingdom
July 15, 2012
The John Innes Centre will lead
a $9.8m research project to investigate whether it is possible to initiate a
symbiosis between cereal crops and bacteria. The symbiosis could help cereals
access nitrogen from the air to improve yields. The five-year research project,
funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, could have most immediate
benefit for subsistence farmers.
“During the Green Revolution,
nitrogen fertilisers helped triple cereal yields in some areas,” said Professor
Giles Oldroyd from JIC. “But these chemicals are unaffordable for small-scale
farmers in the developing world.”
As a result, yields are 15 to
20 per cent of their potential. Nitrogen fertilisers also come with an
environmental cost. Making and applying them contributes half the carbon
footprint of agriculture and causes environmental pollution.
“A new method of nitrogen
fertilisation is needed for the African Green Revolution,” said Professor
Oldroyd. “Delivering new technology within the seed of crops has many benefits
for farmers as well as the environment, such as self-reliance and equity,” said
Professor Oldroyd.
The new research will
investigate the possibility of engineering cereals to associate with
nitrogen-fixing bacteria and of delivering this technology through the seed.
If it is found to work, farmers
would be able to share the technology by sharing seed. And the research opens
the door to the use of grasses as rotational crops to enhance soil nitrogen.
“We’re excited about the
long-term potential of this research to transform the lives of small farmers
who depend on agriculture for their food and livelihoods,” said Katherine Kahn,
senior program officer of Agricultural Development at the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation. “We need innovation for farmers to increase their
productivity in a sustainable way so that they can lift themselves and their
families out of poverty. Improving access to nitrogen could dramatically boost
the crop yields of farmers in Africa.”
The focus of the investigation
will be maize, the most important staple crop for small-scale farmers in
sub-Saharan Africa. Parallel studies in the wild grass Setaria viridis, which
has a smaller genome and shorter life cycle, will speed up the rate of
discovery. Discoveries will be applicable to all cereal crops including wheat,
barley and rice.
The research will start by
attempting to engineer in maize the ability to sense nitrogen-fixing soil
bacteria. This may be enough to activate a symbiosis that provides some fixed
nitrogen. Even slight increases could improve yields for farmers who do not
have access to fertilisers.
“We have developed a pretty
good understanding of how legumes such as peas and beans evolved the ability to
recruit soil bacteria to access the nitrogen they need,” said Professor
Oldroyd. ”Even the most primitive symbiotic relationship with bacteria
benefited the plant, and this is where we hope to start in cereals.”
In the most basic symbiosis,
bacteria are housed in simple swellings on the root of the plant, providing the
low oxygen environment needed. In more highly evolved legumes, the plant
produces a specialised organ, the nodule, to house bacteria.
Bacteria can infect the plant
through cracks or through more complex tunnels built by the plant called infection
threads. As the complexity of the interaction increases, so does the efficiency
with which bacteria fix nitrogen for the plant.
“In the long term, we
anticipate that the research will follow the evolutionary path, building up the
level of complexity and improving the benefits to the plant,” said Professor
Oldroyd.
The project will also help
highlight where more research is needed. It will run in parallel to ongoing
research funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council
into how nitrogen fixation works in legumes. It will also run in parallel to an
existing Gates-funded project, N2Africa, to improve nitrogen management in
African farming systems more immediately.
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=28378&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.47 Salt
cress genome yields new clues to salt tolerance
Shenzhen, China
July 13, 2012
An international team, led by
Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Science,
and BGI, the world’s largest genomics organization, has completed the genomic
sequence and analysis of salt cress (Thellungiella salsuginea), a wild
salt-tolerant plant. The salt cress genome serves as a useful tool for
exploring mechanisms of adaptive evolution and sheds new lights on
understanding the genetic characteristics underlying plant abiotic stress
tolerance. The study was published online in PNAS.
(http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2012/07/05/1209954109.abstract?sid=548ade97-58d5-4c0a-a1e4-e1a43a9c9c21)
Salt Cress is a typical
halophyte with high resistance to cold, drought, oxidative stresses and
salinity. Due to its small plant size, short life cycle, copious seed
production, small genome size, and an efficient transformation, salt cress
could serve as an important genetic model system for botanist, geneticists, and
breeders to better explore the genetic mechanisms of abiotic stress tolerance.
In the study, researchers
sequenced the genome of salt cress (Shandong ecotype) using the paired-end
Solexa sequencing technology. The genomic data yielded a draft sequence of salt
cress with about 134-fold coverage. The final length of the assembled sequences
amounted to about 233.7 Mb, covering about 90% of the estimated size (~260 Mb).
A total of 28,457 protein-coding regions were predicted in the sequenced salt
cress genome. Researchers found that the average exon length of salt cress and
A. thaliana genes was similar, whereas the average intron length of salt cress
was about 30% larger than that of A. thaliana.
The evolutionary analysis
indicated that salt cress and its close relative- Arabidopsis thaliana-
diverged from approximately 7 -12million years ago. When tracing the
differences between salt cress and A. thaliana, researchers found salt cress
was characterized by a dramatically different lifestyle, a unique gene
complement, significant differences in the expression of orthologs, and a
larger genome size. Noticeably, the salt cress genome showed a dramatically
higher content of transposable elements (TEs) than that of A. thaliana, which
may be the reason for its enlarged genome size. In common with other higher
plants, salt cress genome was consisted of abundance of long terminal repeat
(LTR) retrotransposons.
Salt can have drastic effects
on the growth and yield of agronomical crops. It is estimated that salinity
renders about one-third of the world's irrigated land unsuitable for crop
production. In this study, researchers identified many genes in salt cress that
contribute to its success in high-salt environments, such as the genes related
with cation transport, abscisic acid signaling, and wax production.
Junyi Wang, Director of Science
& Technology, Research & Cooperation Center, BGI, said, “Salt cress
provides an excellent model and opportunity for researchers to explore plant’s
mechanisms of abiotic stress tolerance. The completed genomic sequence of salt
cress will boost the advancement of stress tolerance research as well as
provide a valuable theoretic instruct and technical support for researchers worldwide
to better face the challenges of the soil salinization in irrigation area, the
development and utilization of shallow offshore waters and beaches, and food
security.”
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=28348&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.48 Chinese
scientists identify yield-boosting rice gene
Beijing, China
July 5, 2012
Researchers in China have
identified a rice gene that could improve both the quality and yield of the
staple crop. Xiangdong Fu, a geneticist at the Institute of Genetics and
Development Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, China, and
colleagues first discovered the gene — known as GW8 — while studying basmati
rice in Pakistan.
Basmati rice is well known for
its good grain quality. The researchers found that this feature is influenced
by the presence of a gene known as GW8, which can also improve the appearance
and flavour of rice.
Fu and his colleagues
hypothesised that high-quality Chinese rice varieties might also have the GW8
gene.
Following a series of field
studies in Beijing, Guangzhou and Hainan in 2009, the researchers found that a
variant of the GW8 gene does exist in certain varieties of high-yielding rice
in China.
However, the variant is
different to that which was identified in Pakistan, and is related to grain
weight and density, both of which boost crop productivity.
The scientists also found a
third variant of the gene Amol3, an Iranian rice cultivar (a plant selected for
desirable characteristics that can be maintained by propagation), that improves
grain quality and productivity.
If this new variant were
introduced into basmati rice, grain yields would increase by around 14 per
cent, the scientists have predicted. If introduced into the high-quality
Chinese varieties, their quality and yields could also be further improved. Fu
said that he hoped the new GW8 variant could eventually be introduced into
local varieties in countries across the world.
However, developing these
improved varieties would take at least three years, he said. World Food Prize
laureate Gurdev S. Khush, a former head of plant breeding, genetics and
biotechnology at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines,
said the discovery of the GW8 gene in rice was very important.
It has been very difficult to
improve the yield potential of basmati rice, Khush told SciDev.Net.
The authors' findings were
published in Nature Genetics last month (24 June).
Link to full article in Nature
Genetics
References
Control of grain size, shape
and quality by OsSPL16 in rice Shaokui Wang, Kun Wu, Qingbo Yuan, Xueying Liu,
Zhengbin Liu, Xiaoyan Lin, Ruizhen Zeng, Haitao Zhu, Guojun Dong, Qian Qian,
Guiquan Zhang & Xiangdong Fu Nature Genetics doi:10.1038/ng.2327 (2012)
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=28218&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: SciDev.Net via
SeedQuest.com
1.49 Illumina
introduces Nextera Exome and Custom Enrichment sample preparation kits
San Diego, California, USA
July 17, 2012
Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN)
today introduced Nextera Exome and Custom Enrichment kits, the Company’s latest
targeted resequencing solutions offering sample preparation and enrichment in a
single, integrated workflow. Leveraging the speed of Nextera technology and
supporting the industry’s lowest DNA sample input requirements (50 ng), the new
kits enable researchers to quickly and economically perform a wide range of
studies – from small, focused gene panels to full human exomes.
Upfront sample preparation is
an often difficult and time-consuming task for targeted resequencing studies.
Nextera Exome and Custom Enrichment kits replace the lengthy sample preparation
protocols with a single, streamlined workflow that can be performed in less
than three hours and removes the requirement for mechanical DNA fragmentation.
The kits integrate the ease of
Nextera sample preparation with the company’s established TruSeq® Exome and
Custom Enrichment solutions for a fast, scalable and highly efficient approach
to targeted resequencing. Offering excellent data quality with a low DNA sample
input requirement, the kits enable researchers to study small samples, while
retaining sufficient material for future analysis.
“Nextera Enrichment kits
deliver superior performance on all fronts with a simple, rapid workflow that
eliminates almost an entire day of preparation time,” said Christian Henry,
Senior Vice President and General Manager, Genomic Solutions. “Developed,
tested, and optimized for Illumina sequencing platforms, Nextera Enrichment
kits make targeted resequencing more broadly available to researchers who are
interested in performing studies on DNA samples that may only be available in
limited quantities.”
"The combination of
Nextera library prep and TruSeq capture produces a simple workflow and high
quality data. It will allow us to process large numbers of samples without
investing in automation systems and opens up capture-based sequencing to
samples that would not have been accessible due to DNA input constraints,” said
Dr. James Hadfield, Head of Genomics, Cancer Research, UK. “We have been able
to perform custom and exome capture as well as low coverage genome sequencing
from the same 50 ng input DNA."
Nextera Exome Enrichment kits offer:
• Comprehensive coverage of the
human exome, with greater than 62 Mb of both coding regions and untranslated
regions (UTRs).
• Excellent data quality with
high enrichment rates and premier coverage uniformity.
• The ability to fully customize
content with Illumina’s DesignStudio, a free online tool for Illumina
customers.
• Industry-best DNA input of 50
ng.
• A unique 12-plex pre-enrichment
sample pooling, reducing hands-on time and enabling the most cost-effective and
operationally efficient workflow.
Nextera Enrichment Sample
Preparation Kits are now shipping. For more information, visit www.illumina.com/NexteraEnrich.
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=28424&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.50 Melon
genome sequenced
Barcelona and Madrid, Spain
July 2, 2012
• It is formed
of 27.427 genes and 450 millions of base pairs
• The study,
that is published in PNAS, has been lead by scientists at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
and at the Institute for Research and
Technology in Food and Agriculture (IRTA)
• The Melonomics
project, launched by the Spanish Genome foundation, has been developed by 9
research centres
A consortium of nine research
centres has obtained the melon genome, a horticultural specie with high
economic value around the world. It is the first time that a Spanish initiative
that unites private and state-run centres has obtained the complete genome of a
higher organism, in this case a plant, which produces flowers and seeds. Also,
it has been done by applying massive sequencing technologies.
Besides the complete melon
genome, scientists have obtained the particular genomes of seven melon
varieties. The study is published in the magazine Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
The scientific Project has been
lead by Pere Puigdomènech, at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), and
Jordi Garcia Mas, at the Institute for Research and Technology in Food and
Agriculture (IRTA). Both scientists work at the Center for Research in
Agricultural Genomics (CRAG), in Barcelona. Also, the team lead by Roderic
Guigó, at the Genomic Regulation Center has made an important contribution to
the project.
The Melonomics project was
launched by the Spanish Genome Foundation. Nine research centres have been
involved in it, having the support of 5 companies and of five Spanish
autonomous communities.
Results have shown that the
melon genome has 450 millions of base pairs and 27.427 genes. It is much bigger
than the genome of its nearest “relative’, the cucumber that has 360 millions
base pairs. “This difference is due mainly to the amplification of transposable
elements. We didn’t find recent duplications within the genome, which are very
common in plant species”, highlights Puigdomènech.
“We have identified 411 genes
that can be related in disease resistance. They are few but, nevertheless, the
melon has a high capacity of adaptation to different environments”, explains
the CSIC scientist. During the work, when comparing this genome with others
that are near philogenetically, they have observed how changes occur to the
genome of this species, which is known for its high variability.
Another question of interest is
that related to the ripening of the fruit, a process which determines fruit
characteristics such as taste and flavour. Scientists have identified up to 89
genes related with some aspects of this process: 26 genes related to the
carotenoid accumulation -which gives the colour to the melon flesh- and 63
related to the sugar accumulation and the taste of melon. 21 genes out of the
last 63 had never been described before.
“Knowing the genome and the
genes related to the characteristics of value for agriculture will allow us to
improve this species for obtaining more disease resistant varieties and with
better organoleptic properties”, points out the IRTA scientist Jordi Garcia
Mas.
Melon,
cucumber, watermelon and squashes
Melon belongs to the family of
cucurbits, that also includes species such as cucumbers, watermelons and
squashes. Cucurbits have relatively small genomes. “These are species of high
financial interest, especially in the Mediterranian, Asian and African
countries. Diseases that affect them, such as the mosaic virus in the case of
cucumber or fungi can cause high financial losses. Therefore, we hope the
genome sequentiation will have an important impact on improving this crop”,
says Pere Puigdomènech.
According to figures of 2009
from the Food and Agriculture Organizations (FAO) of the United Nations, the
production of melon worldwide is 26 million tones every year. Spain is the
fifth biggest producer in the world. Approximately a third part of the
production is exported, which makes Spain the biggest exporter of melon.Louis
Vuitton outlet
A collaborative project of many
partner institutions
The melon genome project has
been lead by the Center for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG)*, which is
a consortium of different institutions and universities, where they have done
the sequencing and assembling of the genome. The Center of Genomic Regulation
has annotated the genome.
Also, the project has had teams
working on it at different centres and universities: the Pompeu Fabra
University (Barcelona), the Centro de Edafología y Biología Aplicada del Segura
of the CSIC (Murcia), the Centro Nacional de Análisis Genómico (Barcelona), the
Universidad Politécnica de Valencia and the University of Wisconsin(U.S.).
Furthermore, the company Roche Diagnostics has facilitated technologies in
order to help the genome assembling.
The project, with a budget over
4 millions Euros, has received the financial support of the Spanish Genome
Foundation, of five Autonomous Communities -Andalucía, Castilla La Mancha,
Catalonia, Madrid and Murcia – and the companies: Semillas Fitó, Syngenta
Seeds, Roche Diagnostics, Savia Biotech and Sistemas Genómicos.
The Center for Research in
Agricultural Genomics (CRAG) is a consortium of four different institutions:
the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), the Institute for Research and
Technology in Food and Agriculture (IRTA), the Universitat Autònoma de
Barcelona (UAB) and the Universitat de Barcelona (UB)
Jordi Garcia‐Mas, Andrej Benjak, Walter Sanseverino, Michael Bourgeois, Gisela Mira,
Víctor M. González, Elizabeth Hénaff, Francisco Câmara, Luca Cozzuto, Ernesto
Lowy, Tyler Alioto, Salvador Capella‐Gutiérrez,
Jose Blanca, Joaquín Cañizares, Pello Ziarsolo, Daniel Gonzalez‐Ibeas, Luis Rodríguez‐Moreno,
Marcus Droege, Lei Du, Miguel Alvarez‐Tejado, Belen
Lorente‐Galdos, Marta Melé, Luming Yang, Yiqun Weng, Arcadi Navarro Tomas Marques‐Bonet Miguel A. Arandaf, Fernando Nuez, Belén Picó, Toni Gabaldón,
Guglielmo Roma, Roderic Guigó, Josep M. Casacuberta, Pere Arús, and Pere
Puigdomènech. The genome of melon (Cucumis melo L.). PNAS.
DOI:10.1073/pnas.1205415109.
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=28174&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.51 New
method for associating genetic variation with crop traits
Norwich, United Kingdom
July 23, 2012
A new technique will allow
plant breeders to introduce valuable crop traits even without access to the
full genome sequence of that crop.
The technique, published in the
journal Nature Biotechnology, links important agronomic traits in crop plants
with active regions of the genome. Instead of requiring knowledge of the crop’s
complete genome, it identifies only expressed genes.
“For many crop plants, markers
are still lacking because of the complexity of some plants’ genomes and the
very high costs involved,” said Professor Ian Bancroft, who led the study at
the John Innes Centre. “We have succeeded in developing markers based on the
sequences of expressed genes, widening the possibilities for accelerated
breeding through marker assisted selection.”
Expressed genes are converted
from genomic DNA to mRNA. Working with mRNA means that there is no need to
generate a complete genome sequence from DNA, making the techniques applicable
to a wide range of crops, even those with complex genomes, such as oilseed rape
and wheat. It also enables the development of advanced marker resources for
less studied crops that are important for developing countries or have specific
medicinal or industrial properties.
The research was funded by the
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the UK
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
Peter Werner of plant breeding
company KWS UK Ltd and part of the research team said “KWS UK has been
delighted to be involved with this ground breaking developmental research. We
will be increasingly using this approach to further improve the speed and
reliability of our breeding towards the continued improvement of yield and
quality of our new varieties produced within the KWS group.”
In partnership with the
Cambridge-based bioinformatics company Eagle Genomics Ltd, the technology,
called TraitTag, is being offered as a service to plant breeders. Markers
associated with measured trait variation can be identified in essentially any
crop species, including traits controlled at the level of gene expression
variation rather than gene sequence variation, such as those with an epigenetic
basis.
In an example of such an
application, the researchers are now working with plant breeding company
Limagrain to produce reliable markers for hybrid performance in oilseed rape.
Marker-assisted breeding for this complex trait has previously been
unsuccessful due to a lack of available markers and appropriate technology.
Using bioinformatics techniques
it is possible to associate variation in both the sequences of expressed genes
and their relative abundance in the mRNA with important traits, and then
produce markers for these traits that breeders can use in their breeding
programmes. Their research was published in the journal Nature Biotechnology
and was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
(BBSRC) and the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
Reference: ‘Associative
Transcriptomics of traits in the polyploid crop species Brassica napus’ Harper
et al was published in Nature Biotechnology doi:10.1038/nbt.2302
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=28537&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: SeedQuest.com
1.52 Sequencing
technology helps reveal what plant genomes really encode
United Kingdom
July 23, 2012
Scientists from the James
Hutton Institute and the University of Dundee have teamed up with researchers
in the USA to use a new technique to sequence the genes of the plant
Arabidopsis. This approach, which allows researchers to see exactly where a
plant's genes end, could be applied to crops in the hope of boosting efforts to
breed new varieties.
The Biotechnology and
Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)-funded team are the first in the
world to try to understand how plant genes are organised by directly sequencing
a molecule called RNA rather than DNA. Their findings are published today in
the journal Nature Structural & Molecular Biology.
The research involved
collaboration between a team of biologists led by Dr Gordon Simpson of The
James Hutton Institute and Dundee University, computational scientists led by
Prof Geoff Barton at Dundee University and a technology group from Helicos
Biosciences in the USA.
Dr Simpson explains "Many
genes work by coding for proteins, but the path from DNA to protein goes via an
intermediate molecule called RNA. By sequencing the RNA you can see exactly
which bits of the genome make proteins and what genes are turned on in
different cells and at particular times.
"Until now, people have
sequenced RNA by first converting it back into DNA. They chop it up, add on
special molecules and then because there is not enough, they copy the bits
again and again, before finally sequencing. The trouble is that all these steps
introduce bias and error. What's special about what we have done is we have
avoided all these steps and sequenced the RNA directly".
This technique allows
scientists to see exactly where genes end with unprecedented certainty. This is
important for two reasons. Firstly it helps us find individual genes within
genomes and so work out what they do. Second, it tells us something about how
cells are behaving. Cells can choose where a gene should end depending on what
the gene should be doing. For example cutting off genes at different points
affects when a plant flowers. It has recently become apparent that these
choices occur widely in biology: for example, there are global changes in where
genes end in cancer tissue.
Dr Simpson continues
"Using this technique we can unequivocally score where genes end, count
how active genes are and say from which strand of the DNA double helix the RNA
is copied. Surprisingly we found that genes that overlap each other account for
a large fraction of gene activity. We also found new ends to thousands of genes
and found genes that were completely new to us".
The huge amount of data and the
novelty of the procedure required new approaches from computational scientists
in Dundee. Sasha Sherstnev, who did much of the analysis, comes from a
background in particle physics and previously worked at CERN on the search for
the Higgs Boson. He brought experience necessary to meet the demands
accompanying the rise of large data sets in biology that are being driven by
changes in sequencing technology.
As well as enabling scientists
to understand what genomes actually encode and how active genes are, direct RNA
sequencing could be especially useful for situations where only a few cells are
available, for example when working with patient samples.
The Dundee team now plan to use
their expertise to understand what other genomes encode and how that changes in
disease. In this way, they can help deliver greater accuracy in rational crop
improvement.
Professor Douglas Kell, Chief
Executive, BBSRC, said "This is a great example of how mastering new
techniques and embracing new ways of working can deliver valuable insights into
biology. It will be interesting to see where this team directs their expertise
next."
This story is based on the
paper "Direct sequencing of Arabidopsis thaliana RNA reveals patterns of
cleavage and polyadenylation" which can be found here on publication:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nsmb.2345. Subscription may be required.
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=28538&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source: SeedQuest.com
=========================
2.01 Pré-melhoramento
de plantas: estado da arte e experiências de sucesso
Publication date: 2011
ISBN: 978-85-7383-523-6
Summary:
Here to see more details: http://livraria.sct.embrapa.br/liv_resumos/pdf/00062600.pdf
O pré-melhoramento vegetal é
uma vertente da pesquisa agropecuária que tende a ganhar cada vez mais
visibilidade em função do renovado interesse em se promover a utilização dos
recursos genéticos conservados em bancos de germoplasma para resposta aos
riscos, desafios e oportunidades relacionados à produção agrícola.
O conceito clássico de
pré-melhoramento compreende a identificação de genes e/ou características de
interesse em germoplasma exótico ou em populações que não foram submetidas a
qualquer processo de melhoramento (parentes silvestres e raças locais), e sua
posterior incorporação a materiais-elite agronomicamente adaptados. Assim, o
pré-melhoramento pode ser visto como uma ponte entre as atividades de pesquisa
em recursos genéticos e os programas de melhoramento vegetal.
Esta obra descreve o estado do
conhecimento da pesquisa em pré-melhoramento vegetal e faz um apanhado
abrangente da rica experiência brasileira no estudo da variabilidade genética
contida em materiais autóctones e exóticos e sua utilização para superação de desafios
e busca de novas oportunidades para a agricultura nacional.
Ela demonstra que o
pré-melhoramento permite o desenvolvimento e a disponibilização de
variabilidade adicional aos programas de melhoramento genético, garantindo
capacidade de resposta a desafios atuais como as mudanças climáticas globais e
a intensificação de estresses, bem como alcance de novos patamares de
produtividade, qualidade e competitividade aos nossos sistemas produtivos.
Editores Técnicos: Alessandra
Pereira Fávero, Elcio Perpétuo Guimarães, Fábio Gelape Faleiro, Maria Aldete
Justiniano da Fonseca Ferreira, Maurício Antônio Lopes e Sérgio Mauro Folle.
http://vendasliv.sct.embrapa.br/liv4/consultaProduto.do?metodo=detalhar&codigoProduto=00062600
Source: SeedQues.com
2.02 Analyzing
plant biotechnology patents - 3 traits relevant to climate change
As part of its OECD
Environmental Working Paper series (nr. 40), the Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD) has published "Adaptation and
innovation: An analysis of crop biotechnology patent data" by S. Agrawala,
C. Bordier, V. Schreitter and V. Karplus.
Using the count of patent
applications as an indicator, the paper provides empirical quantification of
innovation in biotechnology to develop crops that are more resilient to three
forms of abiotic stress (drought, soil salinity and temperature extremes)
associated with climate change. See www.oecd.org/env/workingpapers (in English
and French) or contact Michael.Mullan@oecd.org for more information.
FAO Biotechnology website
http://www.fao.org/biotech/en/
Source: Update 2-2012 of FAO-BiotechNews
2.03 Marker-assisted
selection in crops, livestock, forestry and fish
The FAO Working Group on
Biotechnology has recently reprinted "Marker-assisted selection: Current
status and future perspectives in crops, livestock, forestry and fish",
originally published in 2007.
The 494-page book is edited by
E.P. Guimarães, J. Ruane, B.D. Scherf, A. Sonnino and J.D. Dargie and is
organised into six sections: an introduction to marker-assisted selection
(MAS), in chapters 1-2; case studies of MAS in crops, in chapters 3-9; case
studies of MAS in livestock, in chapters 10-13; case studies of MAS in
forestry, in chapters 14-15; case studies of MAS in fish and shellfish, in chapters
16-17; and the final section is devoted to a selection of non-technical issues
relevant to applications of MAS in developing countries, such as national
research capacities and international partnerships, economic considerations,
the impacts of intellectual property rights, and policy considerations
(chapters 18-22).
See http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/a1120e/a1120e00.htm
or contact Charlotte.Lietaer@fao.org to request a copy, providing your full postal address.
FAO Biotechnology website http://www.fao.org/biotech/en/
Source: Update 2-2012 of
FAO-BiotechNews
2.04 New
method for associating genetic variation with crop traits
A new technique will allow
plant breeders to introduce valuable crop traits even without access to the
full genome sequence of that crop.
The technique, published in the
journal Nature Biotechnology, links important agronomic traits in crop plants
with active regions of the genome.
Instead of requiring knowledge of the crop’s complete genome, it
identifies only expressed genes.
“For many crop plants, markers
are still lacking because of the complexity of some plants’ genomes and the
very high costs involved,” said Professor Ian Bancroft, who led the study at
the John Innes Centre. “We have succeeded in developing markers based on the
sequences of expressed genes, widening the possibilities for accelerated
breeding through marker assisted selection.”
Expressed genes are converted
from genomic DNA to mRNA. Working with
mRNA means that there is no need to generate a complete genome sequence from DNA,
making the techniques applicable to a wide range of crops, even those with
complex genomes, such as oilseed rape and wheat. It also enables the
development of advanced marker resources for less studied crops that are
important for developing countries or have specific medicinal or industrial
properties.
The research was funded by the
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the UK
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
Peter Werner of plant breeding
company KWS UK Ltd and part of the research team said “KWS UK has been
delighted to be involved with this ground breaking developmental research. We
will be increasingly using this approach to further improve the speed and
reliability of our breeding towards the continued improvement of yield and
quality of our new varieties produced within the KWS group.”
In partnership with the
Cambridge-based bioinformatics company Eagle Genomics Ltd, the technology,
called TraitTag, is being offered as a service to plant breeders. Markers
associated with measured trait variation can be identified in essentially any
crop species, including traits controlled at the level of gene expression
variation rather than gene sequence variation, such as those with an epigenetic
basis.
In an example of such an
application, the researchers are now working with plant breeding company
Limagrain to produce reliable markers for hybrid performance in oilseed rape.
Marker-assisted breeding for this complex trait has previously been unsuccessful
due to a lack of available markers and appropriate technology.
Using bioinformatics techniques
it is possible to associate variation in both the sequences of expressed genes
and their relative abundance in the mRNA with important traits, and then produce
markers for these traits that breeders can use in their breeding programmes.
Their research was published in the journal Nature Biotechnology and was funded
by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the
UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
Reference: ‘Associative Transcriptomics of traits in the polyploid crop species
Brassica napus’ Harper et al was published on Sunday July 22nd in Nature
Biotechnology doi:10.1038/nbt.2302
Contacts:
JIC Press Office:
Andrew Chapple,
andrew.chapple@nbi.ac.uk
Zoe Dunford, zoe.dunford@nbi.ac.uk
2.05 Plant
Evolution and the Origin of Crop Species
The following book has just
been published by CABI:
Plant
Evolution and the Origin of Crop Species, 3rd edition
J F Hancock, Michigan State
University, USA
ISBN: 9781845938017
July 2012 / 256 pages /
Hardback / 244x172 mm / 110 illustrations
Previous editions: 1st edition,
1992, Prentice-Hall, 9780136785903, 2nd edition, 2003, CABI,
9780851996851
£85/US$160/€110
The genetic variability that
developed in plants during their evolution is the basic of their domestication
and breeding into the crops grown today for food, fuel and other industrial
uses. This third edition of Plant Evolution and the Origin of Crop Species
brings the subject up-to-date, with more emphasis on crop origins. Beginning
with a description of the processes of evolution in native and cultivated
plants, the book reviews the origins of crop domestication and their subsequent
development over time.
All major crop species are
discussed, including cereals, protein plants, starch crops, fruits and
vegetables, from their origins to conservation of their genetic resources for
future development. Aimed at advanced students and postgraduates in plant
genetics and crop science.
Contents:
Part 1. Evolutionary Processes
1. Chromosome Structure and
Genetic Variability
2. Assortment of Genetic Variability
3. The Multifactoral Genome
4. Polyploidy and Gene
Duplication
5. Speciation
Part 2. Agricultural Origins
and Crop Evolution
6. Origins of Agriculture
7. The Dynamics of Plant
Domestication
8. Cereal Grains
9. Protein Plants
10. Starchy Staples and Sugars
11. Fruits, Vegetables, Oils
and Fibers
12. Postscript: Germplasm
Resources
More information: http://bookshop.cabi.org/?page=2633&pid=2366&site=191
Contributed by Halina Dawson
Head of Content Management
CABI
2.06 Breeding
Sorghum for low phosphorus soils in West Africa
For the last five years
ICRISAT-Mali together with IER-Mali have been working on selecting sorghum
genotypes specifically adapted to low phosphorus soils in Mali, West Africa.
Recently two publications were released about this ongoing effort to tackle low-input
cropping conditions by using improved varieties in West Africa.
Although sorghum in West Africa
(WA) is generally cultivated with limited or no fertilization on soils of low
phosphorous availability, no assessments of the genetic variation among WA
sorghum varieties for adaptation to low soil P are known.
We assessed grain yields of 70
diverse sorghum genotypes under –P (no P fertilization) and +P conditions at
two locations in Mali over five years. Especially the low-input trials were
hindered by soil heterogeneity. Spatial adjustment using mixed models can help
account for this variation and increase precision of low-input field trials.
Thus we used different spatial models (e.g. AR1, AR2) to account for the field
heterogeneity and get most out of our data sets. Spatial models (AR1, AR2)
improved broad sense heritability estimates for grain yield, averaging gains of
10 and 6 % points relative to randomized complete block (RCB) and lattice
models, respectively. The heritability estimate gains were even higher under
low phosphorus conditions and in two-replicate analyses. No specific model was
best for all environments.
A single spatial model, AR1 ×
AR1, captured most of the gains for heritability and relative efficiency
provided by the best model identified for each environment using Akaike's
Information Criterion. Spatial modelling resulted in important changes in
genotype ranking for grain yield. Thus, the use of spatial models was shown to
have potentially important consequences for aiding effective sorghum selection
in West Africa, particularly under low-input conditions and for trials with
fewer replications. The adjusted means derived from the spatial model single
environment analysis, were used to further look at genetic variation for grain yield
under –P conditions and the feasibility and necessity of sorghum varietal
testing for grain yield under –P conditions. Delayed heading dates (0-9.8 days)
and reductions of grain yield (2-59%) and
plant height (13-107cm) were
observed in –P relative to the +P
trials.
High estimates of genetic
variance and broad sense heritabilities were found for grain yield across both
–P (h²=0.93) and +P (h²=0.92) environments. The genetic correlation for grain
yield performance between –P and +P conditions was high (rG=0.89), suggesting
that West Africa sorghum varieties generally possess good adaptation to low P
conditions. However,
genotype-by-phosphorus cross-over interaction was observed between some of the
highest yielding genotypes from the –P and +P selected sets, with the variety
IS 15401 showing specific adaptation to –P. Direct selection for grain yield in
–P conditions was predicted to be 12% more efficient than indirect selection in
+P conditions. Thus selection under –P
conditions is useful and feasible for sorghum improvement in West Africa and
should be strengthened to beset address the farmers production conditions.
References:
Leiser W. L., H. F. W Rattunde
, H.-P. Piepho, E. Weltzien, A. Diallo, A. E. Melchinger, H. K. Parzies, B.
I.G. Haussmann. 2012: Selection Strategy for Sorghum Targeting Phosphorus
Limited Environments in West Africa: Analysis of Multi-Environment Experiments.
doi: 10.2135/cropsci2012.02.0139; Published online: 18 June 2012
Leiser W.L., H.F.W. Rattunde,
H.-P. Piepho, and H.K. Parzies. 2012: Getting the most out of sorghum low-input
field trials in West Africa using spatial adjustment. Journal of Agronomy and
Crop Science. doi: 10.1111/j.1439-037X.2012.00529.x. Published online: 20 June
2012
Contributed by: W.L. Leiser, H.F.W.
Rattunde and B.I.G. Haussmann
2.07 Historical
genomics of North American maize
Edited by M. T. Clegg, College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences,
Irvine, CA
Since the advent of modern
plant breeding in the 1930s, North American maize has undergone a dramatic
adaptation to high-input agriculture. Despite the importance of genetic
contributions to historical yield increases, little is known about the
underlying genomic changes.
Here we use high-density SNP
genotyping to characterize a set of North American maize lines spanning the
history of modern breeding. We provide a unique analysis of genomewide
developments in genetic diversity, ancestry, and selection. The genomic history
of maize is marked by a steady increase in genetic differentiation and linkage
disequilibrium, whereas allele frequencies in the total population have
remained relatively constant. These changes are associated with increasing
genetic separation of breeding pools and decreased diversity in the ancestry of
individual lines.
We confirm that modern
heterotic groups are the product of ongoing divergence from a relatively
homogeneous landrace population, but show that differential landrace ancestry
remains evident. Using a recent association approach, we characterize signals
of directional selection throughout the genome, identifying a number of
candidate genes of potential agronomic relevance. However, overall we find that
selection has had limited impact on genome-wide patterns of diversity and
ancestry, with little evidence for individual lines contributing
disproportionately to the accumulation of favorable alleles in today’s elite
germplasm. Our data suggest breeding progress has mainly involved selection and
recombination of relatively common alleles, contributed by a representative but
limited set of ancestral lines.
Contributed by Rodomiro Ortiz
2.08 Widespread
adoption of Bt cotton and insecticide decrease promotes biocontrol services
19 July 2012
Nature 487, 362–365
doi:10.1038/nature11153
Over the past 16 years, vast
plantings of transgenic crops producing insecticidal proteins from the
bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) have helped to control several major
insect pests and reduce the need for insecticide sprays. Because broad-spectrum
insecticides kill arthropod natural enemies that provide biological control of
pests, the decrease in use of insecticide sprays associated with Bt crops could
enhance biocontrol services.
However, this hypothesis has
not been tested in terms of long-term landscape-level impacts. On the basis of
data from 1990 to 2010 at 36 sites in six provinces of northern China, we show
here a marked increase in abundance of three types of generalist arthropod
predators (ladybirds, lacewings and spiders) and a decreased abundance of aphid
pests associated with widespread adoption of Bt cotton and reduced insecticide
sprays in this crop.
We also found evidence that the
predators might provide additional biocontrol services spilling over from Bt
cotton fields onto neighbouring crops (maize, peanut and soybean). Our work
extends results from general studies evaluating ecological effects of Bt crops
by demonstrating that such crops can promote biocontrol services in
agricultural landscapes.
2.09 First
Textbook on Organic Crop Breeding Published
Organic Seed Alliance among co-authors
Port Townsend, WA
Organic Seed Alliance (OSA) is
pleased to announce the release of Organic Crop Breeding, the first textbook on
breeding for organic agriculture, published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. This
comprehensive text provides a review of the latest efforts by breeders to
develop improved crop varieties for organic production systems. OSA staff
members are proud contributors to the book.
“Ten years ago, very few
researchers were even testing their varieties on organic farms,” says OSA
Executive Director and co-author Micaela Colley. “It is inspiring to read about
the growing momentum nationally and internationally to breed in and for organic
systems. The work documented in Organic Crop Breeding is inspiring to a new
generation of plant breeders and researchers who want to address the needs of
organic farmers and the broader organic community.”
The opening chapters of Organic
Crop Breeding look at breeding efforts focused on valuable traits, such as
quality, pest, and disease resistance, and assess the impacts improved breeding
efforts have on organic production. The second part of the book provides case
studies from around the globe on a variety of crops, from carrots to corn.
Organic Crop Breeding includes
chapters from leading researchers in the field and is edited by two pioneers in
organic crop breeding with long ties to OSA’s research and education efforts:
Dr. Edith T. Lammerts van Bueren and Dr. James Myers.
“Organic farmers face different
challenges than their conventional counterparts and need varieties adapted to
organic systems,” says Dr. James Myers of Oregon State University. “This book
examines the many unique facets of organic systems with a focus on how they influence
plant breeding and genetics.”
To order, visit the Wiley
Online Library.
Organic Seed Alliance supports
the ethical development and stewardship of the genetic resources of
agricultural seed. Learn more at www.seedalliance.org.
Contributed by CathleenMcCluskey
Communications & Outreach
Associate
Organic Seed Alliance
Port Townsend, WA 98368
3.
3.01 New
FAO Biotechnology Glossary website
A new web interface for the
multi-lingual FAO Biotechnology Glossary has just been launched, with an
improved look and structure to make it more accessible and user-friendly, and
with more advanced search capabilities. The new online Biotechnology Glossary
will now be updated and edited at regular intervals by a team of international
technical experts using VocBench, a web-based multi-lingual vocabulary
management tool developed by FAO.
The FAO Glossary of Biotechnology
for Food and Agriculture was published in 2001, prepared by A. Zaid, H.G.
Hughes, E. Porceddu and F. Nicholas, providing consolidated, comprehensive and
accessible definitions of over 3,000 terms and acronyms that are used regularly
regarding agricultural biotechnologies. It has proven to be a very popular
reference source and has been translated into the five other official UN
languages (i.e. Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish) as well as
Polish, Serbian and Vietnamese, while the terms have also been translated into
Kazakh.
See the new interface at
http://www.fao.org/biotech/biotech-glossary/en/ (in Arabic, Chinese, English,
French, Russian and Spanish). Comments on the new site are warmly welcome, at
biotech-website@fao.org.
FAO Biotechnology website http://www.fao.org/biotech/en/
Source: Update 2-2012 of
FAO-BiotechNews
3.02 TGAC launches MISO (Managing Information for
Sequencing Operations), a free open source LIMS for NGS
United
Kingdom
July
23, 2012
We
are pleased to announce the launch of our free open source LIMS system, MISO
(Managing Information for Sequencing Operations). The system has been developed
and designed to track next-generation sequencing experiments. Recently
presented at the 2012 ISMB conference in Long Beach, MISO is receiving interest
and positive comments via personal communication and social networking.
Developed
using fully open source technology, MISO is able to record sequencing metadata
based on a wide array of NGS sequencing platforms (i.e. Illumina GA, HiSeq and
MiSeq, Roche 454, AB SOLiD and PacBio RS), and public repository data
submission schemas (i.e. the Sequence Read Archive at the EBI). MISO has
features common to both bespoke and proprietary LIMS such as secure
authentication, fine-grained access control, simple sample and library
preparation workflows, barcode tracking and reporting. Other features of MISO
include high-performance compute access to bespoke bioinformatics pipelines,
novel data visualisation strategies, user alerting, and run progress
notifications.
MISO
is a modular system from top to bottom, allowing core functionality to be
reused and swapped out for elements developed by the community. In this way, we
are currently working on new plugin features which will enable MISO to be
extendable, making it easier for the community to contribute more features.
MISO
comes with a user-friendly interface which has been designed specifically for
use by NGS lab technicians, but can also be queried programmatically, meaning
helpful web services can be developed on top of MISO to provide remote custom
reporting and interoperability with other systems.
We
are currently working on automated data delivery solutions to user-configured
submission endpoints, to make it even easier to submit sequencing data to
public repositories.
To
stay up to date with the latest MISO updates, please follow us on Twitter:
@misolims.
If
you wish to try a demo version of MISO please visit http://miso-demo.tgac.ac.uk using “misodemo” as both the username and password.
For
more information please contact Dr Rob Davey at robert.davey@tgac.ac.uk or visit www.tgac.ac.uk/miso
http://www.seedquest.com/news.php?type=news&id_article=28547&id_region=&id_category=&id_crop=
Source:
SeedQuest.com
4.01 Monsanto
plant breeding and related scientist positions:
Requires a Ph.D. in plant
breeding and genetics, or related fields:
USA
1) Line Development Breeder -
Waco, NE - Job ID: 005P4
2) Line Development Breeder -
Williamsburg, IA - Job ID: 007ED
3) Soybean Discovery Scientist
– Iowa - Job ID: 008IW
4) Wheat Variety Development
Breeder - Yuma, AZ – Job ID: 008CQ
5) Statistical Geneticist – St.
Louis - Job ID: 008EA
6) Environmental Modeling
Scientist - St. Louis - Job ID: 0086W
7) Strategic Scientist -
Computational Biologist/Bioinformaticist- St. Louis - Job ID: 006M5
8) Development Team Lead - St.
Louis, MO – Job ID: 007QN
9) DH System Improvement Lead
(Vegetables Division) - Woodland, CA – Job ID: 005ES
10) Research Entomologist – St.
Louis - Job ID: 0050M
11) Soy Pathology Lead – St.
Louis - Job ID: 007LR
Asia
12) Hot Pepper Breeder –China -
Job ID: 006NS
13) Tomato Breeder –China - Job
ID: 006NQ
14) Cucumber Breeder –China -
Job ID: 006NY
15) Vegetable Trialing
Lead-China – Job ID: 006OG
16) Hot Pepper Breeder - India
– Job ID: 007E3
17) Tomato Breeder - India –
Job ID: 007E2
18) Asia Trait Integration
Breeder – India – Job ID: 007TQ
19) Scientist (Vegetables
division) – Job ID: 006JP
Latin America
20) Sugarcane Breeder - Brazil
– Job ID: 006RT
21) Research Entomologist —
Campinas, SP, Brazil – Job ID: 008JM
22) Sorghum Breeder - Brazil –
Job ID: 005LY
For more information or apply
online at: http://jobs.monsanto.com/careers/breeding-jobs
or www.monsanto.com/career
Contributed by Donn Cummings
Global Breeder Sourcing Lead,
Monsanto
5. MEETINGS, COURSES
New listings may include some program details, while repeat
listings will include only basic information. Visit web sites for additional details.
This section includes three
subsections:
A.
DISTANCE LEARNING/ONLINE COURSES
B.
COURSES OF THE SEED BIOTECHNOLOGY CENTER AT UC DAVIS
C.
OTHER MEETINGS, COURSES AND WORKSHOPS
(NEW) MS in Plant Breeding: Texas A&M University
We
were notified recently that our proposal to deliver the Master of Science
degree in Plant Breeding via distance
technology was approved by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Thus,
beginning with the Spring Semester 2013, students can apply and register as
distance education students and receive an M.S. in Plant Breeding without
residence on campus at College Station. This action also makes possible any
number of arrangements where the M.S. student can never come to campus or spend
a summer or some other length of time on campus. The approval covers both
thesis option (TO) and non-thesis option (NTO) M.S. degrees in plant breeding.
The
M.S. in Plant Breeding NTO requires a minimum of 36 semester credit hours past
a B.S. degree plus a report and the defense of that report on an internship or
some other graduate advisory committee approved activity. It does not require
original research that results in a thesis.
All
requirements for this degree are the same as those found in the Graduate Catalog
at http://catalog.tamu.edu/,
http://soilcrop.tamu.edu/graduatedegrees.html,
or http://hortsciences.tamu.edu/graduate-programs/
with
the exception that the on-campus residence requirement is waived.
The
M.S. in Plant Breeding TO requires a minimum of 32 semester credit hours past a
B.S. degree and a written thesis on original research directed by the student’s
graduate advisory committee.
The
unique requirement to obtain the M.S. in Plant Breeding TO is that there must
be a Ph.D. scientist at the student’s location who can qualify for membership
in the Graduate Faculty at Texas A&M University and serve as co-chair of
the student’s graduate advisory committee. The student also must have access to
research facilities and have a commitment by his/her employer to provide such
facilities for the conduct of original plant breeding research.
All
courses and requirements other than physical presence on campus at Texas
A&M University are the same as for on-campus students. All courses are the
same as those taken by on-campus students and taught by the same professors but
delivered via the internet. Graduate advisory committee meetings and all
conferences among co-chairs, committee, and student can be via electronic
media.
Individuals
interested in the M.S. in Plant Breeding distance program should:
[1] Contact either Wayne Smith, Associate
Department Head for Soil and Crop Sciences, David Byrne, Associate Department
Head for Horticultural Sciences, or LeAnn Hague, Distance Education Coordinator
in Soil and Crop Sciences, to discuss the application process (contact
information below).
[2] Apply for admission through the Apply Texas
on-line application process
(http://ogs.tamu.edu/prospective-students/admissions/applying-to-graduate-
schoo/).
[3] All admission requirements, including GPA,
GRE, and English Proficiency for non-U.S. citizens, are the same as for those
applying for admission for on-
campus
programs.
The
following information is available in a downloadable format at
http://soilcrop.tamu.edu/graduateprogram.html
Distance Education in Plant
Breeding
As
the global population increases, providing food, fiber and fuel to meet growing
demand has become a significant challenge.
We are one of the top tier U.S. universities training future plant
breeders to meet this challenge and have expanded our effort through our
Distance Education Program in Plant Breeding.
We
seek to alleviate hunger and poverty through the genetic
improvement
of plants while educating and developing plant breeders worldwide.
Overview
This
program is an extension of the existing Plant Breeding programs offered by the
Department of Soil and Crop Sciences and the Department of Horticultural
Science at Texas A&M University.
We
offer a non-thesis option M.S. and thesis option M.S. in Plant Breeding
completely
at a distance to students unable to study on-campus in a traditional
setting.
This
program is designed for individuals employed in private industry, CGIAR
centers, government agencies, non-government organizations, and other
agriculture professionals who need and desire additional knowledge and training
in plant breeding but cannot relocate to a university campus.
Distance
Education students will take advantage of the same curriculum available to
on-campus students with identical course
content and professors. Our unique
program is designed to deliver a high quality plant breeding education to students
across the globe.
Available Degrees
Master
of Science in Plant Breeding (Non-Thesis Option)
Description
The
non-thesis option M.S. in Plant Breeding requires 36 hours of coursework, four
of which are an internship activity at the student’s present company or
locale. This is considered a terminal
degree for students who do not wish to pursue their education beyond the M.S.
level.
Courses
will vary depending upon the student’s career goals and current situation.
Students will work with a graduate advisor to determine which courses best suit
their needs. A typical degree plan will
include a variety of course work in plant breeding, molecular and environmental
plant sciences, statistics, plant pathology, entomology, agricultural
economics, and education and human
development.
Time for Completion
Since
this program is designed for industry professionals who will continue to be
employed full time during their graduate studies, typical course load will be 1
to 2 classes per semester.
Many
factors will effect completion time, but most students can expect to finish
within 3-5 years.
Master of Science in Plant
Breeding (Thesis Option)
Description
The
thesis option M.S. in Plant Breeding requires 32 semester credit hours of
course work and a thesis on original research.
Student research can be completed at the student’s location.
An
on-site Ph.D. scientist, educator, or supervisor who qualifies as an adjunct
member of the Texas
A&M
graduate faculty must be available to serve as co-chair of the student’s
graduate advisory committee and be able to direct thesis research locally. Students will have an on-campus co-chair to
oversee the academic aspect of their degree.
Communication with committee members, examinations, and thesis defense
will be conducted via the internet.
Requirements
Leading to the Master of Science Degree
1. 32
graduate credit hours beyond the B.S. degree; general requirements are:
a.
23 course hours approved by the student’s advisory committee and the
Office of Graduate Studies.
b. Statistics 651 or equivalent.
c. An exit seminar discussing
research findings (SCCS 681).
d. No more than 8 hours of SCSC 691
(Research) or SCSC 685 (Directed Studies).
e. No more than 9 hours of upper
level (300 or 400) undergraduate courses and no
graduate credit for the following courses required for a B.S. degree:
SCSC 101
SCSC 105
SCSC 301
f. See Graduate Catalog for
additional requirements,
http://tamu.edu/admissions/catalogs/.
2. A thesis written on original research as
directed by student’s advisory committee.
Time for Completion
Time for completion will vary
depending on number of courses taken per semester
and the student’s original research project.
Typical completion time will be
3-5 years.
Course Delivery
Each
course has been uniquely designed by the instructor to provide course content
in an accessible, understandable format.
All courses will be delivered on-line, completely at a distance via
Texas A&M University’s E-learning system.
This
system utilizes the Blackboard Vista learning platform to allow students to
view instructional materials, interact with other students and faculty, and
complete assignments and examinations. (To
check your computer’s compatibility with this system visit Texas A&M’s
E-Learning and perform the E-Learning Browser Check.).
The
web based nature of course delivery allows students to access and complete
course material at a time convenient to them.
For
thesis option MS students, graduate advisory committee meetings,
examinations, and research defense will
be handled through electronic communication, including video and
teleconferencing. No campus visit will
be required.
Costs
Tuition
and fees are set by the university and will vary based on tuition rates,
residency, course load and applicable fees.
An
estimate of tuition and fees for a 3 hour course are: Texas Resident Tuition
and Fees: $1700 per 3 hour course.
Non-resident
Tuition and Fees: $2600 per 3 hour
course
Scholarships
and financial aid are available through the Office of Financial Aid. Your
graduate advisor can suggest other potential sources of funding. In addition, some employers provide financial
assistance for their employee’s educational expenses.
Admission Procedure
Applicants
should follow all of the guidelines and procedures to apply for graduate
studies in a department offering a plant breeding degree at Texas A&M
University at College Station using the Texas A&M on-line admission
process. On-line application to graduate
studies at Texas A&M University can be found at admissions.tamu.edu. The Department of Soil & Crop
Sciences
and the Department of Horticultural Sciences confer graduate degrees in plant
breeding.
Additional
items to be provided by the applicant:
Non-Thesis Option
- A letter of application directed to Wayne
Smith, David Byrne, or LeAnn Hague providing sufficient background information
to demonstrate the student’s commitment and ability to complete an on-line
Master of Science (NTO) program and internship, including prospective
internship location or activity.
Thesis-Option
- A letter of application directed to Wayne
Smith, David Byrne, or LeAnn Hague providing sufficient background information
to demonstrate the student’s aptitude to conduct plant breeding research.
- Identification of the area of plant breeding
research to be pursued and its importance to the agricultural industry.
- A one or two-page letter of support from the
perspective distance co-chair indicating
commitment
of facilities and time for the conduct of the proposed research.
Students
applying to the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences must send these additional
items to the attention of Wayne Smith, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences,
2474 Texas A&M University, college Station, TX 77843-2474 (cwsmith@tamu.edu).
Students
applying to the Department of Horticultural Sciences must send the additional
items to the attention of David Byrne, Department of Horticultural Sciences,
2133 TAMU, College Station, TX
77843-2133 (dbyrne@tamu.edu).
Some of the Available Courses
The
following courses are currently available and included in the distance program.
Course Name Credit Hours
SCSC 304:
Undergraduate Plant Breeding-3
SCSC 306:
Crop Production-3
SCSC 422:
Soil Fertility-3
SCSC 641:
Plant Breeding-3
SCSC 642:
Quantitative Plant Breeding -3
SCSC 643:
Quantitative Genetics -3
SCSC 654: Genomic Analysis -