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NewsGlobal[Top]
The diets and demands for staple foods are expected to alter together with global economic environment changes. This led economist Siwa Msangi and colleagues to assess these changes in relation to the long term impact of biofortification. They used a global agricultural market model to simulate future demands for food and nutrients under various situations. In their working paper entitled ‘Integrated Economic Modeling of Global and Regional Micronutrient Security,' they said that even if there is urbanization and increased income due to global trade, the need of the rural poor for micronutrients would still be dependent on staple foods because their incomes would still be too low to afford more diversified diets. Biofortification of cereal grains is most effective for South Asia, while biofortification of roots and tubers would be most effective in Sub-Saharan Africa. The model could also be used to identify possible malnutrition ‘hotspots' in the future and to devise cost-effective schemes to address the problem. Read more about the HarvestPlus working paper at http://www.harvestplus.org/content/changing-diets-what-does-future-hold. Africa[Top]
Widespread adoption of recently developed drought-tolerant varieties of maize could boost harvests in 13 African countries by 10 to 34 percent. This could generate up to US$1.5 billion in benefits for producers and consumers, says a study conducted as part of the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Initiative (DTMA). The study is being implemented by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture ( IITA) with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. "We need to move deliberately, but with urgency, to get these new varieties from the breeders to the farmers, because their potential to avert crises is considerable," said Roberto La Rovere, a socio-economist at CIMMYT and lead author of the study. "Our analysis shows that with high rates of adoption, more than four million producers and consumers would see their poverty level drop significantly by 2016." See the news release at http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=83621&CultureCode=en. [ Send to a Friend | Rate this Article ] [Top]
Egypt Biotechnology Information Center (EBIC) organized a workshop on "Challenges faced by media in dealing with biotechnological issues" at the Agricultural Genetic Engineering Research Institute (AGERI), Agricultural Research Center (ARC) in Cairo on August 18. Discussions were held with eminent scientists and heads of ARC institutes and central laboratories. This activity is in line with ARC policy to raise public awareness on agricultural technologies, particularly biotechnology. Prof. Abuhadid, president of ARC, focused on the need for media to be engaged in continuous training and sharing of knowledge. In his opening address, Prof. AbdelMonem Elbana, vice president of ARC, said that "we are here to listen to the media and discuss with them ways to facilitate their work and face the challenges in reporting new agricultural technology." Five journalists discussed their problems, notably scientists' use of technical jargon which they find difficult to understand. Mr. Ibrahim Elboushy, the chief editor of Eltaween Journal, explained that "Easy to understand EBIC publications facilitate our work in explaining biotechnology. We hope that this idea can be done for all new agricultural technologies." Mr. Ahmed Magdy from elAkhbar said "People should know that there is current work on agricultural research and achievements that give people hope. They can be good supporters of scientific research." Participants agreed on the need to develop strategies by which scientists and media can work best together.
For more news about crop biotechnology developments in Egypt, email Dr. Ismail Abdel Hamid of EBIC at ismail@isaaa.org. [ Send to a Friend | Rate this Article ] [Top]
Fifty scientists, maize breeders, and private company representatives, as well as 100 farmers visited Bt maize fields in Sharkia, Delta, Egypt last August 23, 2010. The event, organized by the Egypt Biotechnology Information Center, aimed to show efforts in controlling maize stemborer, a problem faced by many farmers in the country. Prof. Magdy Massoud from the Alexandria University explained to the audience that the Bt maize variety could be planted at any time of the season as it is resistant to the maize borer. He added that the new variety increases corn yield by up to 30 percent. Farmers expressed their interest in the variety noting that they can use less pesticide and labor, and have higher yields on top of its being an environmentally friendly crop.
Additional details of the field visit can be obtained by emailing Dr. Ismail Abdel Hamid of the Egypt Biotechnology Information Center at ismail@isaaa.org Americas[Top]
A team of scientists from the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) and the Institute for Genome Sciences (IGS), University of Maryland School of Medicine, has opened research possibilities for the improvement of the castor bean by studying the castor bean genome. The 4.5 X genome coverage of this oilseed crop is published in the journal Nature Biotechnology. The authors focused their research efforts on the important metabolic pathways and regulatory genes involved in the production and storage of oils and ricin production in the castor bean. These analyses would allow important comparative studies with other oilseed crops, and could also open possibility for genetic engineering of castor bean to produce oil without the toxin ricin, the news article said. Dr. Agnes P. Chan, one of the lead authors stated that, "The availability of the castor bean genome will encourage more research into the positive aspects of this oilseed crop as a potential biofuel. Further study will also elucidate many aspects about ricin and enable researchers to potentially eliminate the bioterrorism threat of this natural toxin." See the original news article at http://www.jcvi.org/cms/press/press-releases/full-text/article/castor-bean-genome-published-by-research-team-including-scientists-from-the-venter-institute/ [ Send to a Friend | Rate this Article ] [Top]
Michigan State University biochemists discovered the mechanism how plants protect themselves from freezing temperatures, a breakthrough which could also lead to finding out the plant's behavior during extreme conditions. Using Arabidopsis thaliana, Christoph Benning and his team observed a novel mechanism on how a specific gene controls the formation of a lipid that protects the chloroplasts and plant cell membranes from freeze damage. Another biochemistry researcher Eric Moellering investigated further the novel mechanism and found out that there is no single mechanism governing plant freezing tolerance. Some species are better in surviving freezing than the others. The research also suggests that freezing could possibly influence cell proteins to change the composition of the membrane, without activation or slow acclimation process. Visit http://news.msu.edu/story/8220/&topic_id=2 for the rest of the story. [ Send to a Friend | Rate this Article ] [Top]
Monsanto Company announced that the National Technical Biosafety Committee finally approved the planting of Bt Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybean in Brazil. This is a significant step in the commercialization of Monsanto's first biotechnology trait developed for non-U.S. market. "This is an important product for Brazilian soybean farmers because it protects against insects that cause significant economic loss in soybean production in Brazil, and provides the increased yield provided by the Roundup Ready 2 Yield trait," said Roy Fuchs, oilseed technology lead for Monsanto. Monsanto will commercially release Bt Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans in Brazil when the global approvals in key export markets have been completed. Read Monsanto's press release at http://monsanto.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=875; http://www.croplife.com/news/?storyid=2812. [ Send to a Friend | Rate this Article ] [Top]
Texas AgriLife Research scientists headed by Dr. Huangjun Lu discovered a wheat streak mosaic virus-resistance gene. They crossed the Colorado wheat line with TAM111 and found that the wheat streak mosaic virus resistance was due to a single dominant gene from the Colorado germplasm line. After conducting molecular mapping they were able to form markers to track the gene for wheat breeding programs. Prior to this research, Wsm1 from wheat grass was the only gene that was identified with resistance to wheat streak mosaic virus, and the newly identified gene from bread wheat was labeled as Wsm2. "A lot of programs will use this information to accelerate their breeding and increase the levels of resistance in new cultivars," said Dr. Jackie Rudd, wheat breeder and member of Dr. Lu's research team. Read the complete article at http://agnews.tamu.edu/showstory.php?id=2094. [ Send to a Friend | Rate this Article ] [Top]
Scientists have discovered protection for the fungus Beauveria bassiana, a biological agent that could be a substitute for pesticides. Spores of B. bassian were suspended in liquid as insecticide. The destructive insects die when they are exposed to the germinated fungus. However, Rober Behle and colleagues observed that the spores of the fungus are vulnerable to sunlight. Thus, they combined molecules from soybean oil and ferulic acid to form the soyscreen oil which could protect the fungus. "The spores survive quite well in oil-based formulations. We found that soyscreen had no harmful effects on the fungus spores stored in the oil for 28 weeks. Most important, the ‘soyscreen' successfully protected the spores from degrading when exposed to sunlight." This report was presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society. For more details, visit http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_ARTICLEMAIN [ Send to a Friend | Rate this Article ] [Top]
The US Courts revoked the approval for commercial cultivation of sugar beets starting 2011. During the hearings, the USDA had admitted mistakes in the approval process but believes that the mistakes were not serious and they are optimistic that a more thorough assessment of possible environmental consequences would eventually result in the approval of GM sugar beets, the news said. In addition, they will review the court order and consider appropriate measures to take. The judges said that the decision will not affect the farmers since they will be able to plant conventional seeds in the next growing season, and no sugar supply shortages is likely to occur. The original news can be seen at http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/news/531.docu.html [ Send to a Friend | Rate this Article ] [Top]
A scientific framework for monitoring the release of second-generation genetically modified (GM) crops was designed by a team of scientists from across Canada. Learning from the lessons of releasing first generation GM crops now being discovered in wild canola in Canada and the US, the team developed a post release monitoring protocol for the second generation GM crops. Second-generation transgenic crops include GM crops which tolerate environmental stress such as drought, cold, salt, heat, or flood as well as increased yield or lower nutrient requirements, or increase tolerance to disease and pathogens. See original news release at https://www.crops.org/news-media/releases/2010/0823/405/ [ Send to a Friend | Rate this Article ] [Top]
Seventeen new varieties of seed-reproduced and tuber-propagated plants have been given certificates by the US Department of Agriculture. The 17 certificates are for:
"A certificate of protection is awarded to an owner of a crop variety after an examination shows that it is new, distinct from other varieties, and genetically uniform and stable through successive generations," said Administrator Rayne Pegg, Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). "The public benefits as the recipient of lower prices from increased productivity, and from quality food, feed, fiber and other products, that result directly from improved plant varieties." For details, see the news at http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/ams.fetchTemplateData.do?template [ Send to a Friend | Rate this Article ] [Top]
A team of researchers from University of Wisconsin (UW) studying the mechanism of drought resistance in plants have identified the protein targets of the plant hormone abscisic acid. The work published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences is of utmost importance because of the current need to expand and intensify agricultural production on marginal lands worldwide in the midst of the global climate change. "Most plants have what's called a permanent wilting point, where if water content goes below 90 percent or so, they don't just dehydrate and go dormant, they dehydrate and die," said Michael Sussman, a UW-Madison professor of biochemistry. "Figuring out how to trigger a dormant state, such as exists naturally in seeds, which are 10 percent water and can in some cases remain viable for hundreds of years, could be key to creating plants that survive drought in the field", Sussman added. See details of the story at http://www.news.wisc.edu/18317 Asia and the Pacific[Top]
Chinese scientists have voiced out their opinion on how to produce food for the increasing Chinese population, in response to climate change and to reduce reliance on foreign technologies. GM crops can provide solutions to various problems facing the ecosystem such as limited land and water resources, scientists say. "Making technical preparations for transgenic technology is very necessary for China," said Zhai Huqu, president of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Currently China is consuming 10 million tons of soybeans and 40 million tons of soybean meal per year which are either processed for food or for animal feedstuff. China imports soybeans which are mainly genetically modified from the U.S. and Argentina since mid 1990s. This huge importation could be reduced if the government allows seed importation and planting in the country, the scientists said. In addition, climate change which is becoming the problem of the century should be met with effective solutions. "Currently we only deal with disasters such as droughts or floods passively when they occur, which isn't a long-term solution," said Wang Ren, director of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research. For details on the article, see http://english.cas.cn/Ne/CN/201008/t20100823_57770.shtml [ Send to a Friend | Rate this Article ] [Top]
InterGrain Pty Ltd and Monsanto Company announced a collaboration agreement to advance and strengthen wheat technology in Australia. The two agricultural companies will exchange particular wheat germplasm and breeding tools to develop wheat lines with increased yield performance, disease resistance, and drought tolerance utilizing reduced input resources, directly benefiting the Australian growers and the environment. "InterGrain has been actively seeking a partner to grow our wheat breeding program for some time, and is very pleased to reach this agreement with Monsanto. It will open the doors to a vast new library of germplasm and powerful technology capacity which Australian wheat growers have not previously had access to, which we expect will translate to more rapid improvements in wheat yields and performance," said Dale Baker, Chairman of InterGrain. Read InterGrain's press release at http://www.intergrain.com/images/stories/100824_Press_release_InterGrain_-_Monsanto.pdf. [ Send to a Friend | Rate this Article ] [Top]
It is time to remodel the traditional education system and incorporate biotechnology and molecular biology as well as sustainable technologies in the agriculture curriculum. This was the opinion of ministerial and academic experts during the Golden Jubilee celebration of the Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) last August 18, 2010. Over 4000 joined the celebration of BAU's 50th anniversary. Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury mentioned the potentials of stress tolerant crop development, jute genome sequencing, and technological outcomes associated with agricultural production enhancement. Other top level heads included Fisheries and Animal Resources Minister MA Latif Biswas, Health Minister (State) Majibur Rahman Fakir and Cultural Affairs Minister (State) Adv. Promod Mankin, and Vice Chancellor of BAU MA Sattar Mondal. The Vice Chancellor noted the efforts of the Biotechnology Department in developing innovative activities in teaching, research and extension particularly its foray into biotech ventures.
Email Dr. Khondoker Nasiruddin for more details about the BAU celebration at nasirbiotech@yahoo.com [ Send to a Friend | Rate this Article ] [Top]
Thirty three participants composed of regulators from the Department of Agriculture (DA) regional agricultural offices and representatives from the Department of Education (DepEd) and Commission on Higher Education (CHED) recently gathered in a Biotechnology 101 Training Course on the Basic Biotechnology Tools for Crop/Animal Improvement which was held last August 16-19, 2010 at the Philippine Rice Research Institute in Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, Philippines. The course provided understanding on the basics of agricultural biotechnology, and the principles involved in improving crops and livestock through conventional and modern biotechnology. Tools such as tissue culture, molecular marker technology, cloning and genetic engineering were also learned through lectures and laboratory demonstrations. In addition, the participants were informed on the policies that govern safety assessment and risk management in the country. The Philippine biotechnology regulation is considered to be a model system in Southeast Asia for being the only country to successfully assess and commercialize modern biotech products. Biotechnology products are not offshoots of a person's imagination but rather innovations that underwent detailed scientific studies and rigorous and robust safety assessment. This was made clear by Dr. Candida Adalla, Director of the DA-BPO, in her opening remarks in the training workshop. She believes that biotechnology is the technology of the future, and pointed out that the technology could and has tremendous benefits, particularly for the Filipino people. Dr. Adalla also emphasized the critical role of regulators not only in assessing safety of biotech products but also be able to speak about biotechnology as informed persons. Likewise, Attorney Ronilo Beronio, Executive Director of PhilRice, also shared the importance of biotechnology as a tool in addressing challenges in food security and health concerns. He informed on the current research efforts of PhilRice in the development of the Golden Rice, a GM rice that produces beta carotene, which becomes vitamin A in the body. The Golden Rice is a promising rice variety which aims to contribute to the global problem in Vitamin A deficiency. PhilRice is one of the centers of excellence in the Philippines in terms of biotech research and development. The training course was organized by the Department of Agriculture Biotechnology Program Office (DABPO), the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) and the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) Biotechnology Information Network in collaboration with the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice). It was part of the build up activity in the celebration of the 6th National Biotechnology Week which is scheduled to be conducted on November 21-28, 2010.
For biotech updates in the Philippines, visit http://www.bic.searca.org or email bic@agri.searca.org. Research[Top]
Cytokinin is a plant hormone involved in several developmental processes of plants. One of these processes is the root to shoot signaling. If there are low concentrations of cytokinin transported from the roots to the shoots, then there would be an adaptive response on the shoot. However, abscisic acid (ABA) has been widely accepted as an effective root to shoot signaling hormone. Lydia Vysotskaya of the Russian Academy of Sciences, together with other scientists conducted a study to re-examine the function of cytokinins in root to shoot interaction by using transgenic tobacco plants with gene coding for isopentenyltransferase (ipt) and root-targeted expression of the ipt gene. To induce local expression of ipt in the root system of Nicotiana tabaccum, heat shock (HS) promoter at 40 oC was applied for 1 hour. HS was also applied to wild type (WT) tobacco plants and it was observed that the effect was smaller in WT, concentrated only in the upper leaves. Zeatin riboside, the main transportable form of cytokinin, was also increased in the roots. This could be the reason for the increased concentration of cytokinin in the leaves through transpiration. HS treatment in the roots of both WT and transgenic plants also elevated the transpiration and stomatal conductivity or the speed at which water evaporates from pores in a plant. Elevated transpiration caused depressed leaf relative water content, which further raised the concentration of ABA causing closure of the stomata. With the observed effects of cytokinin in the stomatal opening and transpiration, it is confirmed that cytokinin has a role in root and shoot communication. The abstract of this study is available at http://jxb.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/61/13/3709. [ Send to a Friend | Rate this Article ] [Top]
Kernel length in rice (Oryza sativa L.) is regulated by different stretches of DNA, wherein the gene GS3 is the most essential because it controls 80-90% of the variation in kernel length. Previous studies have shown that when the exon or the portion of DNA that codes information for protein synthesis of the GS3 is mutated, maximum variations in the kernel length were observed. M. S. Madhav and other scientists of the Directorate of Rice Research, India, developed a simple marker system named DRR-GL using polymerase chain reaction, a technique used to amplify a single or few copies of a piece of DNA, forming thousands to millions of copies of a particular DNA sequence. This was done to target small changes in the DNA sequence of GS3. The marker was validated using a segregating population and 152 rice varieties and was found to be associated with the kernel length and elongation after cooking. According to the scientists, the marker is easy to use, saves time and cost, and could also be utilized for large-scale marker-assisted selection for the kernel length trait. Subscribers of Molecular Breeding can download the complete research article at http://www.springerlink.com/content/x302345003n2p528/. [ Send to a Friend | Rate this Article ] [Top]
Attack by herbivores and pathogens activate the release of plant compounds that exhibit defense responses. Among those compounds are small peptides, which are short polymers of amino acids joined by peptide bonds. However, only a few of these defense peptides have been identified and reported. Thus, Gregory Pearce and colleagues at Washington State University isolated a peptide from soybean leaves that even nanomolar concentrations have induced pH of soybean (Glycine max) suspension media in a period of 10 minutes. This is a similar response with other pathogen-derived signal molecules. When they sequenced the amino acid of the peptide, they found that it is derived from a member of the subtilisin-like protease (subtilase) family, which are characterized by a catalytic triad of amino acids-aspartate, histidine, and serine. The researchers named this peptide signal as Glycine max Subtilase Peptide (GmSubPep). When GmSubPep is supplied to soybean cultures, it was found to induce the expression of defense genes. Thus, this study confirms that GmSubPep is a plant defense peptide signal embedded within a plant protein with specific metabolic function, and provides hints about plant defense mechanisms. Read the complete research article released by PNAS at http://www.pnas.org/content/107/33/14921.full. [Top]
AnnouncementsThe 4th Indian Horticulture Congress is being organized by the Horticultural Society of India and National Skills Foundation of India at NPL, Pusa Campus, New Delhi from November 18-21st 2010. The four day event aims to provide a unique platform to strategize and explore all growth avenues that exist in the horticulture sector. The Congress will showcase innovative technological advancements in horticulture and address the emerging challenges in the sector. Reform packages through public-private partnership will also be formulated during the event. For registration, participation and exhibition contact Dr. A.K. Singh at: hsiihc10@gmail.com Details of the event are available at: http://horticongress2010.com/ Chile research and industry concerns from around the world will highlight the list of topics for The 20th International Pepper Conference, hosted by New Mexico State University's Chile Pepper Institute. The event will take place on Sept. 12-14 at Hotel Encanto de Las Cruces. The conference will provide opportunities for participants to share up-to-date, research-based information on the chile pepper industry. Researchers from South Korea, China, India, Peru, Germany and the United Kingdom are scheduled to deliver their findings on topics such as disease, pest control and genetics. For details, see the news at http://newscenter.nmsu.edu/?page=article&action=show&id=5350 National Research Centre on Plant Biotechnology (NRCPB) is organizing a winter school on "Molecular techniques in gene identification and characterization" sponsored by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi from November 8 to 28, 2010 for the teachers/research personnel of State Agricultural Universities(SAUs) and ICAR Institutes. In this winter school, various techniques for novel gene isolation and characterization and other recently developed methods used have been incorporated. Participants will be trained on gene isolation and characterization and their application in agriculture. For more details contact Dr. P. Ananda Kumar, Project Director at kumarpa@nrcpb.org or visit http://www.nrcpb.org/brochure_icar_winter_school.pdf The Institute of Plant Biotechnology for Developing Countries (IPBO) in Ghent, Belgium is organizing a distance learning postgraduate course "Biosafety in Plant Biotechnology" at Ghent University for the 5th consecutive academic year. This international e-learning course is organized in cooperation with UNIDO and aims to train scientists and law specialists in biosafety expertise and evaluation both at governmental and industrial levels. The course combines distance learning with on campus training at Ghent University and offers a solid basis to set up and implement regulatory biosafety frameworks related to plant biotechnology, and to assist in the legislation and interpretation of biosafety risk assessment, risk management and communication to policy makers or the public. Check out the information on the website at http://www.ugent.be/we/genetics/ipbo/en/education/postgraduate.htm/overview.htm [Top]
Document RemindersA new booklet on Agricultural Biotechnology (A Lot More than Just GM Crops) is now availabe and downloadable at the ISAAA website. The booklet discusses in detail and in simple language agricultural biotechnology as it compares with conventional breeding, the agricultural biotechnology tools used in crops such as tissue culture and micropropagation, molecular breeding and marker-assisted selection, and genetic engineering and GM crops. A section on Answers to Frequently Asked Questions for food safety and environmental issues was also included to clarify important public concerns. Download the Agricultural Biotechnology (A Lot More than Just GM Crops) booklet at http://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/agricultural_biotechnology/download/default.asp A six-page report on biotechnology in France published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture is available online. The GAIN report notes that restrictive measures on plant biotech dossiers, a national ban on MON810 (Bt maize) cultivation, and the recent destruction of its only biotech open field experiment are signs that France, through the National Institute of Agronomic Research (INRA), might have to forgo future research. Download the report at http://gain.fas.usda.gov/Recent%20GAIN%20Publications/Is%20Plant%20Biotech%20Becoming%20More%20Acceptable%20for%20French%20Authorities_Paris_France_8-11-2010.pdf The European Union's status on Biotechnology: GE Plants and Animals has been released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service. The 33-page report noted that the EU remains a major importer and consumer of biotech products particularly soybean and corn for animal feed and human food. The EU food chain supply may weaken due to European authorities "absence of tolerance" of biotech events approved and commercially grown outside the EU but not approved in the EU. For the full report visit http://gain.fas.usda.gov/Recent%20GAIN%20Publications/Biotechnology%20-%20GE%20Plants%20and%20Animals_Paris_EU-27_7-23-2010.pdf |
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