Global

A team of researchers from the US announced that they have sequenced the genome of maize, an achievement that will boost research efforts to develop higher yielding varieties of one of the world's most important crops. The team, composed of more than 150 scientists, reported their findings in this week's issue of Science. They specifically sequenced the genome of an inbred line of maize called B73.

The team identified some 32,000 genes spread across the crop's 10 chromosomes. They also found that more than 85 percent of the genome is composed of transposable genetic elements and that the crop shares 8,494 gene families with Arabidopsis, sorghum and rice. "Just as cytogenetic and genetic maps revolutionized research and crop improvement over the last century, the B73 maize reference sequence promises to advance basic research and to facilitate efforts to meet the world's growing needs for food, feed, energy, and industrial feed stocks in an era of global climate change," the team wrote in the paper.

Maize's 3.2 billion base pair genome has many things to reveal, as evidenced by numerous companion papers published by Science, PLoS Genetics, PNAS and Plant Physiology analyzing everything from transposable genetic elements, maize centromere evolution, characterization of microRNA genes to hybrid vigor and the crop's evolutionary history.

With the B73 maize genome sequence available, researchers have begun sequencing other maize varieties. Luis Herrera-Estrella and colleagues, for instance, sequenced the variety Palomero, a maize from the Mexican highlands, and compared its features to those of the modern inbred line B73. They found that the genome is around 22 percent smaller and contained 20 percent less repetitive DNA. The team also identified several genes, mainly for heavy metal tolerance, that were present in both B73 and Palomero but were absent in the maize ancestor teosinte. Herrera–Estrella and colleagues suggested that environmental factors related to the metal contents of local soils may have been important in maize domestication.

Catherine Feuillet from INRA France and Kellye Eversole, in a perspectives article also published by Science, noted that "[the studies] represent a milestone in genetics and plant biology, as well as the crowning achievement of a group of corn growers and scientists who envisioned changing the world of agriculture."

The B73 maize genome report is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1178534 Herrera-Estrella and colleagues' paper, on the other hand, is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1178437 The companion papers published by Science are accessible at http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1177837 and http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1178294 The companion studies published by the open-access PLoS Genetics is collected at http://collections.plos.org/plosgenetics/maize.php Read the perspectives paper at http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1183463

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The head of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization Jacques Diouf concluded the World Food Summit by affirming that it is possible to free the world from hunger but called for a "move from words to actions." The World Food Summit, held earlier this week in Rome, brought together 60 heads of state and 191 ministers from 182 countries and the European community. Diouf said that the Summit produced four important commitments. These include:

• a firm pledge to renew efforts to achieve the First Millennium Development Goals of halving hunger by 2015,
• a pledge to improve international coordination and the governance of food security through a profound reform of FAO's Committee on World Food Security (CFS),
• a promise to reverse the downward trend in funding for agriculture, food security and rural development in developing countries, and
• a decision to promote new investments in agricultural production and productivity in the third world.

However several critics questioned the Summit's outcome. All but one of the G8 leaders, Italy's Silvio Berlusconi, failed to attend the Summit. Even Diouf himself acknowledged that the Summit "didn't go as far" as he had hoped. "To my regret the official Declaration adopted by the Summit this past Monday contains neither measurable targets nor specific deadlines which would have made it easier to monitor implementation," Diouf said. The UN Agency said that world hunger can be eradicated if rich countries hand over USD 44 billion a year.

Read http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/37465/icode/ for more information. The transcript of Diouf's closing speech is available athttp://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/newsroom/docs/dgfinalspeech.pdf

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The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is asking scientists from all over the world to join in its vision of sequencing the genomes of the more than 109,000 different types of rice contained in the International Rice Genebank. IRRI said that the information will help rice breeders and farmers worldwide breed and develop new and improved rice varieties. IRRI Director General Robert Zeigler also noted that sequencing the genomes will open the door to understanding the rich genetic diversity of the crop, a staple food for more than 50 percent of the world's population.

"All rice types need to be sequenced to capture the entire genetic diversity of rice. Rapidly progressing technologies have made this a realistic goal - achievable within a few years," said Zeigler during the 6th International Rice Genetics Symposium (RG6) held in Manila earlier this week. "New rice varieties developed using the genetic diversity of rice have already helped double rice yields in the last fifty years, helping keep food prices low, averting famine, and preventing many natural ecosystems being converted to farmland."

The RCG6, attended by more than 700 experts in rice science, marks the official launching of the Institute's 50^th founding anniversary. The anniversary celebration will include 12 months of special activities to draw the world's attention to rice, including the 3rd International Rice Congress which will take place on November 9-10, 2010 in Hanoi, Vietnam. The rice congress is the world's largest gathering of the rice industry.

Read the original stories at http://beta.irri.org/news/index.php/press-releases/50-years-of-rice-science-for-a-better-world-and-it-s-just-the-start.html and http://beta.irri.org/news/index.php/press-releases/entire-genetic-diversity-of-rice-to-be-revealed-and-shared.html For more information, contact Sophie Clayton at s.clayton@cgiar.org

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The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) announced that they have signed a USD 1 billion agreement to finance agriculture development projects in 26 least-developed IDB member countries. The agreement, inked earlier this week by Ahmad Mohamed Ali, President of IDB, and FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf, is expected to help leverage additional resources and bring total investment in the IDB-FAO program to USD 5 billion by 2012.

FAO said in a press release that the deal "comes at a critical moment, when the international community recognizes it has neglected agriculture for many years." The UN agency also said that the two institutions share the same vision and strategy and will continue working together in improving rural infrastructure, promoting local economic development and enhancing food security while strengthening and revitalizing their cooperation.

For more information, read http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/37341/icode/

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Bayer CropScience and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for enhancing productivity in cereals in India. The MOU aims to facilitate collaboration in the field adaptive research of Wheat, Maize and Rice under the Cereals System Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) project to increase productivity in these crops on a sustainable basis in India. The agreement would focus on conservation agriculture and promotion of hybrid technology, efficient use of inputs like fertilizer, water and crop protection products, especially herbicides to enhance productivity in these area.

"This Memorandum of Understanding is destined to facilitate better productivity and to introduce improved agricultural practices," said Jens Hartmann, Country Head, India, Bayer CropScience. Dr. Raj Gupta, Chief Coordinator, South Asia, CIMMYT who signed agreement with Bayer echoed "this collaboration will certainly help in tackling hunger and malnutrition, as well as increase food and income security for resource-poor farm families in the identified regions through the accelerated development and inclusive deployment of new varieties, sustainable management technologies, and practices."  "A key objective of the cooperation is to work together for improving the Rice-Wheat-Maize cropping system in the hubs identified by the ‘Cereal System Initiative for South Asia, CSISA'. Bayer CropScience being a pioneer in hybrid rice development and also the first company to offer a comprehensive Seed to Harvest solution is the perfect working partner," said Mahesh Girdhar, Head, Bayer BioScience, India, on the occasion.

A copy of press release and other related information about the CSISA project visit: http://www.cimmyt.org/ and http://www.bayercropscience.com/ or contact: uvl.ananda@bayercropscience.com More information about biotech development in India contact: b.choudhary@cgiar.org and k.gaur@cgiar.org

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The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has a new director general. Shenggen Fan has been selected to succeed Joachim von Braun. Fan became director of IFPRI's Development Strategy and Governance Division in 2005. He also served as Director of the International Center for Agricultural and Rural Development at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and is an Executive Committee member of the International Association of Agricultural Economists.

"We are confident that under Shenggen Fan's direction and guidance, IFPRI will continue to grow in stature as a leading research organization focused on sustainable policies to end hunger, reduce poverty, and enhance rural development," IFPRI Board Chair, Ross Garnaut said.

For more information, visit http://www.ifpri.org/staffprofile/shenggen-fan

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Africa

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has awarded the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center with a five year USD 2.5 million grant to develop disease-resistant cassava plants. Danforth researchers are working to develop crop varieties resistant to the cassava mosaic disease (CMD) and the cassava brown streak disease (CBSD), diseases that seriously threaten the food security in unstable regions of the Africa, such as Rwanda and Tanzania. They are working with colleagues in Kenya and Uganda under the umbrella of VIRCA, which stands for "Virus Resistant Cassava for Africa". All technologies developed by VIRCA and used to produce these plants will be freely transferred to African partners, so that they will be in a position to repeat the work if they wish to do so.

"We are very grateful for this support from U.S.A.I.D. as the project moves from the laboratory and greenhouse stages to field trial evaluations in Africa," said Paul Anderson, executive director, Office of International Programs, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center.

Read the media release at http://www.danforthcenter.org/newsmedia/NewsDetail.asp?nid=183

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Americas

The wide use of glyphosate resistant biotech crops over the last 13 years caused some alarm to scientists who have observed the growing number of weeds developing resistance to glyphosate. "Unfortunately it is too late to prevent glyphosate resistance from developing," says David Shaw, Weed Science Society of America president. "It's a problem that is already with us. The challenge now is to adopt effective management techniques that can keep resistance from spreading."

To come up with an effective management technique and learn the economics of the technology, a four-year research project was conducted in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, Nebraska, and North Carolina. This will compare in detail the economics of the university-recommended, herbicide resistance management programs with the use of glyphosate as an exclusive treatment for weed control. Results at the end of the third year of the study showed that, net returns on fields managed according to recommended best practices are equal to or greater than the returns on those where glyphosate is used alone.

For details on the story, visit: http://www.wssa.net/WSSA/PressRoom/WSSA_GlyphosateResistance.htm

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The USDA Award for Specialty Crops in the amount of US$46 million was recently announced by the Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. Initiatives will be focused in solving critical specialty crop agriculture issues, address priorities and solve problems through multifunctional research and extension. "Specialty crops are an important part of American agriculture, valued at nearly US$50 billion every year," Vilsack said. "This significant investment into research, education and extension will enable specialty crop producers to improve their products and increase their profitability."

The Initiative established by the 2008 Farm Bill, will support the specialty crop industry by developing and disseminating science-based tools to address the needs of specific crops in five focus areas: 1) improve crop characteristics through plant breeding, genetics and genomics; 2) address threats from pests and diseases; 3) improve production efficiency, productivity and profitability; 4) develop new innovations and technologies and 5) develop methods to improve food safety.

For details on the grant and university/ institution recipients, visit: http://www.nifa.usda.gov/newsroom/news/2009news/11182_specialty_crops.html

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A technique called "mobile mating disruption" is going to be tested to control nettle moth. Caterpillars of the nettle moth, Darna pallivitta have sharp, spiky hairs that cause a painful, stinging sensation in humans and also infest palm and ornamentals plants. Eric Jang of the US Pacific Basin Agricultural Center in Hilo, Hawaii will use sterilized fruit flies such as melon flies, as winged carriers of an alluring nettle moth scent, a component of a pheromone. "Once they are set in Hawaii, the melon flies would create confusion among amorous male moths that use the scent to find female moths. The pheromone component can also be placed in traps to detect the caterpillar and monitor its spread," Jang noted.

View the article at: http://www.ars.usda.gov/News/docs.htm?docid=1261

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Grapefruit juice has been found to contain furanocomarins (FCs) that interfere with the metabolism of certain medications used to treat a wide range of conditions such as allergies, abnormal heart rhythm, depression, hypertension, infections, heart disease, and high cholesterol.

Agricultural Research Service chemists Kyung Myung and colleagues have found that the fungus Aspergillus niger binds and breaks down the FCs in grapefruit juice. Research is now geared towards the identification of the enzymes in the fungus and to confirm findings that fungal proteins could be responsible for removing the FCs from the grapefruit.

For details, see the story at:  http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2009/091116.htm

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Brazil's National Biosafety Committee has approved Syngenta's genetically modified corn MIR162 and Bt11xGA21 for commercial cultivation in the country, Syngenta said in a press release. MIR162 expresses the Vip3Aa20 insecticidal protein for protection against lepidopteran pests such as the corn ear worm, black cut worm and fall army worm, which according to Syngenta is the main insect threat to corn in Brazil. Bt11xGA21, on the other hand, expresses both the EPSPS and PAT enzymes for tolerance to glyphosate and glufosinate herbicides and the cry1Ab protein for insect resistance.

For more information, read http://www.syngenta.com/en/media/mediareleases/en_091113.html

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Asia and the Pacific

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India's Minister of State for Agriculture K V Thomas said that the country cannot oppose the use of biotechnology as it wants to increase crop yields. An article by the Press Trust of India (PTI) quoted Thomas as saying "the country needs to take scientific and practical steps to improve productivity and bring down cost of production. The GM technology is one way to achieve this." The Minister however pointed out that when it comes to food products from GM technology, it "should be a matter of choice." Thomas' views were supported by Swapan Datta, deputy head of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). The ICAR head noted that "new generation crops" that can survive extreme weather conditions should be developed. "The climate change will further add difficulties to our present food crisis," Datta said to PTI.

The original article is available at http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blnus/07131806.htm

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The Crop Biotechnology media workshop organized by China Biotechnology Information Center of ISAAA (CHINABIC) was held on November 14, 2009 at the China Science and Technology Museum in Beijing. China's top experts from the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) and China Agricultural University participated in the workshop. Prof. Huang Dafang, director of CHINA BIC, vice president of Chinese Society of Biotechnology (CSBT) and former director of Biotechnology Research Institute of CAAS, and Prof. Luo Yunbo, dean of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering College of China Agricultural University, gave their insights on biotechnology and biosafety.

Huang Dafang said "consumers' worry over the GMOs safety is mainly because of the absence of knowledge about them. The whole process of GMO development and adoption can be monitored and it includes strict management and a lot of scientific experiments with predictable results and guaranteed security". Prof. Luo Yunbo highlighted the safety of GMO products in the market, and governments conduct rigorous assessments and tests on the GM foods before its commercialization, using stricter standards than any other food products. More than twenty internal mainstream media reporters such as XinHua news agency, People's Daily online attended the workshop and had in depth communication with GM experts.

To expand the workshop impact and increase public understanding of biotechnology, a large-scale science popularization activities named "GMOs enter the homes of ordinary people" was also held at the China Science and Technology Museum by CSBT, China Science and Technology Museum, CAAS, Chinese Society of Agricultural Biotechnology and Croplife China Biotech committee on November 14 to 22, 2009. The science popularization activities included graphic display boards with information on genetics and biotechnology, GM cotton and maize show, transgenic experiments demonstration, to name a few.

For more information, contact Prof. Zhang Hongxiang at zhanghx@mail.las.ac.cn or Dr. Yue Tongqing at yuetq@mail.las.ac.cn

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Europe

Large scale cultivation of Bt maize may lead to the development of insects resistant to the Bt proteins. To date, no maize pests have developed resistance to Bt proteins. To prevent this, farmers in the USA are required to plant 20% percent of the field with non-Bt plants in the vicinity of Bt maize fields. Non resistant European corn borers and Western corn rootworms can survive in these fields and may delay the development of resistance.

However, a survey conducted by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, an American consumer organization found that the percentage of farmers complying with the refuge requirements is declining. Seed companies on the other hand are developing new genetically modified maize varieties which they hope will make it possible to relax the resistance management requirement. A report however shows that resistance can take ten to fifteen years to develop. Genetically modified Bt crops have been grown in the USA since 1996. First populations of Bt-resistant pests were found in Bt cotton between 2003 and 2006, and a recently published study shows that the cotton bollworm can develop multiple resistance. Against this background, the report recommends waiting a few years before relaxing the resistance management requirements for Bt maize.

For details, see: http://www.gmo-safety.eu/en/news/726.docu.html

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AGREENIUM, a National Consortium for agriculture, food, animal health and the environment have been launched to strengthen initiatives geared towards the global challenges imposed by new requirements in these four fields.

The consortium is composed of INRA, CIRAD, AgroParis Tech, Agrocampus Ouest, Montpellier SupAGro and ENV Toulouse and created by the Ministries for Agriculture, Higher Education and Research, and Foreign Affairs. Activities will be geared towards the improvement of the French research and training structures in their fields, increase France's visibility, appeal and international relevance, and help create and mobilize new scientific capabilities in these areas.

 For further details, see the press release at: http://www.international.inra.fr/press/agreenium

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The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), EU's top food watch dog, issued a statement in 2007 on Bayer's application for the market authorization of its genetically modified herbicide-resistant LLRice62 for food/feed uses, import and processing in the European Union. EFSA in the statement concluded that although "there is a possibility that small numbers of GM rice plants could enter cultivation and cross-pollinate with cultivated or weedy rice," it is unlikely that "spillage will result in feral plants establishing around ports, mills, and transit routes." EFSA maintained that there is no indication of changes in fitness or behavior of the GM rice, except in the presence of the herbicide glufosinate.

Recently the European Commission asked EFSA to review a paper by Lu & Yang published in the journal Biotechnology Advance to indicate whether this paper contains new information that would alter the previous EFSA environmental safety conclusions on LLRice62. The paper reviews the processes of vertical gene flow between cultivated GM rice and its cross-compatible wild/weedy relatives, as well as its potential ecological consequences.

Having considered relevant scientific publications, EFSA stood by its original conclusions. The agency noted that "in terms of risk to the environment, no new scientific evidence has been provided that invalidates the previous environmental risk assessment evaluation of LLRice62 for its intended uses, which exclude cultivation."

Download a copy of EFSA's Scientific Opinion at http://www.efsa.europa.eu/cs/BlobServer/Statement/1365.pdf?ssbinary=true Lu and Yang's review paper is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biotechadv.2009.05.018

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