CROP BIOTECH UPDATE
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A weekly summary of world developments in agri-biotech for developing countries, produced by the Global Knowledge Center on Crop Biotechnology, International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications SEAsiaCenter (ISAAA)
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June 13, 2008
In This Week’s Issue:
News
Global
• Report Tackles Global Impact of Biotech Crops
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• Leaves Keep Their Cool to Protect Photosynthesis
Africa
• New Production System to Boost Rice Yield in West Africa
• Doubled Haploid Approach to Develop Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa
Americas
• Argentina Approves New GM Maize Variety
• Honduras to Increase GM Maize Cultivation
• Australian Sunflower Genes Could Fortify U.S. Sunflowers
• Bacterial Extracts to Combat Fungal Diseases
• Companies to Develop Nitrogen Use Efficient Lawn Grass
• Dow AgroSciences and Sangamo BioSciences Announce Biotech Milestones
Asia and the Pacific
• ERMA Plans Hearing for GM Field Test Application
• UA Receives Approval for Release of GM Wheat and Barley
• Keeping Biotech-Derived Foods Halal in Indonesia
• India Declares "Food Safety and Quality Year 2008-09"
• UA Scientists Receive Grant to Solve Iron Deficiency
• Bangladesh Scientist Emeritus Calls for Biotech Directorate
• Lawmakers Consider First-Ever Biodiversity Bill in Vietnam
Europe
• Scientists Find Horizontal Gene Transfer of No Significance
• Deliberate Release of GM Crops in Spain
• EFSA Develops Database of External Scientific Experts
• VIB and Bayer Team Up for Plant Research
Research
• Novel Arsenic Transporter in Plants
• Scientists Develop Nitrogen Use Efficient Rice
• GM Papaya Transgenes Remain Stable For Several Generations
• Functional Human IL13 from GM Tobacco
Announcements
• World Congress on In Vitro Biology
• Solanaceae Genome Workshop
Document Reminders
• Report on Synthetic Biology Now Published
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NEWS
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Global
REPORT TACKLES GLOBAL IMPACT OF BIOTECH CROPS
A comprehensive study on the global impact of biotech crops by PG Economics says that "biotech crop commercialization has resulted in significant global economic and environmental benefits and is making important contributions to global security". PG Economics Limited, based in the United Kingdom, is a specialist provider of advisory and consultancy services to agriculture and other natural resource-based industries.
"“Since 1996, biotech crop adoption has contributed to reducing the release of greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, decreased pesticide spraying and significantly boosted farmers’ incomes,” said Graham Brookes, director of PG Economics and co-author of the report. “The technology has also made important contributions to increasing the yields of many farmers, raising global production and trading volumes of key crops. World price levels of crops like corn and soybeans would also probably be higher than the current (record high) levels if this technology had not been widely adopted by farmers. These economic and environmental gains have also been greatest in developing countries”.
The full report can be downloaded from http://www.pgeconomics.co.uk.
A study published in Nature showed that plants protect one of their most important functions – photosynthesis – by maintaining the average leaf temperatures at 21°C, regardless of the weather. The findings could have implications on how scientists use tree rings to model past climates, and how they predict future responses to climate change.
The scientists in the study decided to use the oxygen isotope method, a technique which has been employed to determine a region's climate, to calculate the temperature of modern tree canopies. The data revealed that the average temperature of the leaves hovered around 21°C during photosynthesis.
Plants use several mechanisms to adjust their temperature. In warmer climates, some cool off by changing the angle of their leaves relative to the sun, or using fine hairs as a kind of sunscreen. They can also ‘sweat’, sacrificing water for the cooling effects of evaporation. In colder climates, trees clump their leaves closer together on their branches. The branch can be likened to a mitten, keeping the leaves close so that each is less affected by the weather conditions.
The complete article is available at http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080611/full/news.2008.884.html.
The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) has developed a new rice growing system that could significantly boost production in West Africa. The new system, termed ‘Sawah’ (Indonesian for “wet rice-field”), makes it possible to grow the crop in the region’s wetlands with more than twice the yield of traditional dryland rice farms. Yield of as high as 3.5 tons per hectare has been recorded, compared to the average 1.5 tons per hectare yield in traditional lowland rice farms. IITA estimates that some 10 million rice farmers stand to benefit from the adoption of the Sawah system.
Although rice production in West Africa steadily grew over the past decades, it only supplies 58 percent of the domestic demand. Dr. Oluwarotimi Fashola, agronomist at IITA’s headquarters in Nigeria noted that “by expanding rice production to the wetlands, where the crop is not traditionally planted, and intensifying yield per unit area, the basic principles of the ‘Sawah’ system, Nigeria alone could be producing up to 10 million tons of rice annually by the year 2020”.
The ‘Sawah’ rice-growing system was developed through IITA’s five-year “Hirose Project” sponsored by the Development Corporation of Japan (JSPS).
View the press release at http://www.iita.org/cms/details/news_details.aspx?articleid=1615&zoneid=81
The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is using an advance technology called the doubled haploid approach to develop inbred lines of tropical maize for sub-Saharan Africa. Maize lines from this work will be used initially in the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa and the Water Efficient Maize for Africa projects.
“Maize breeders working on hybrids—the most productive type of maize variety and the one marketed by most seed companies—must at some point create genetically-stable and pure lines of desirable, individual plants, for use as parents of hybrids,” says CIMMYT maize physiologist Jose Luis Araus. Conventional breeding to get the desired lines requires a longer process – as much as seven or more generations which represents three years and requires expensive field space, labor and time. When perfected, the process using the modern approach will only take two generations or one year.
Contact Kevin Pixley, associate director of the Global Maize Program, at k.pixley@cgiar.org or read the press release at http://www.cimmyt.org/english/wps/news/2008/may/amnet.htm
Argentina’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food recently approved the commercial release of the genetically modified maize line 1507xNK603. The maize line, jointly developed by Dow AgroSciences and Pioneer Hi-Bred, harbors the Herculex I insect protection gene stacked with the glufosinate ammonium Roundup Ready Corn II gene.1507xNK603 has been approved for cultivation in the United States and Canada. The GM maize can also be imported and used for food and feed by several countries around the world. The newly approved GM variety is resistant to the stem borer, sugarcane borer (Diatraea saccharalis) and the fall armyworm, pests that severely limit maize production in the region.
Read the complete article (in Spanish) at http://www.porquebiotecnologia.com.ar/doc/reportes/result_indiv.asp?Id=4067
Honduras is promoting the cultivation of genetically modified (GM) corn "as a viable strategy" to improve productivity and meet the demand for food. The country’s Minister of Agriculture, Hector Hernandez, sees the use of GM varieties as the key to overcoming maize shortage in the region. Honduras plans to increase the area planted to corn and sorghum this year, including an additional 140,000 hectares for maize and 14,000 hectares for sorghum. Last year, the country planted 122,500 hectares of maize.
Read the article at http://croplifela.org/cms/
A team from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) has been collecting seeds from wild sunflowers growing in Australia. Their goal? To search for disease resistance genes in Australian wild flowers and incorporate these genes in sunflower hybrids growing in America.
Sunflowers from Down Under might have developed resistance from rust because of the year-round presence of rust and the rust fungus Puccinia helianthi. Scientists are hoping that there would be a kind of sunflower survival of the fittest, whereby genes from the hardiest Aussie plants could be used to fortify the defenses of their U.S. brethren.
In fall 2007, “We began greenhouse trials of the 59 wild Australian sunflower populations we collected to evaluate their resistance to downy mildew, which doesn’t currently exist in Australia, and to rust, which is severe there,” says ARS plant pathologist Thomas Gulya. “We’ll also compare them with some North American wild sunflower populations for resistance to Sclerotinia stalk rot. Of the three diseases, it is by far the most significant threat to the U.S. crop, so finding new sources of even partial resistance would be a great accomplishment.”
Read the complete press release at http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/may08/sunflower0508.htm.
Scientists from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) are using natural bacterial extracts to treat fungal diseases such as the brown rot in peaches and pecan scab. Bacterial methods to control fungi are not new, but according to the ARS scientists, the compounds they isolated from the bacteria Xenorhabdus and Photorhabdus have never been used to control disease in these two commodities. Various diseases result in annual losses of more than $3.5 million for peach growers and $13 million for the pecan industry.
The bacterial extract, when applied in 6 to 12 percent dilutions, can suppress the growth of Phytophthora, which causes root and crown rots, as well as foliar and fruit infections. It is an effective and safe alternative to chemical fungicides. The scientists have submitted a patent on these treatments. They are now planning to develop the bacterial metabolites for commercial use.
Read more at http://www.ars.usda.gov/News/docs.htm?docid=1261
Two companies, Arcadia Biosciences, Inc and the Scotts Company LLC, recently announced a research agreement for the development of nitrogen use efficient (NUE) turf grass varieties. NUE grasses consume less nitrogen and do not require frequent application of fertilizers. With an estimated 40 million acres of managed turf grass in the United States alone, lawn grass is the world’s most cultivated non-agricultural plant.
To read more, visit: http://www.arcadiabio.com/media/pr/0026.pdf.
Dow AgroSciences LLC and Sangamo BioSciences, Inc. recently announced the completion of research milestones regarding the use of Sangamo’s zinc finger DNA-binding protein (ZFP) technology to the generation of specific traits in maize and canola. The ZFP technology can accelerate the process of ‘trait stacking’. Trait stacking is when two traits like herbicide-tolerance and insecticide-tolerance are introduced simultaneously into a crop in one transformation event.
Scientists from both companies used ZFP Nucleases (ZFNs™) to place a herbicide resistance gene into a specified location of the maize genome in a rapid, single-step process. Sangamo’s ZFP transcription factor (ZFP TF™) technology, on the other hand, was used to achieve the second milestone, the control of the expression of a native gene in canola.
Read the press release at http://www.dowagro.com/newsroom/corporatenews/2008/20080605a.htm.
New Zealand’s Environmental Risk Assessment Management Authority (ERMA) expects to hold a public proceeding in August or September to hear oral submissions on the Institute for Crop and Food Research’s application to field test genetically modified (GM) onions, spring onions, garlic and leeks. Crop and Food Research has submitted an application to plant the transgenic vegetable species in a 2.5 hectare field at the Institute’s Lincoln facility southwest of Christchurch for a 10-year research project.
According to Libby Harrison, ERMA New Zealand’s General Manager, New Organisms, ERMA has received more than 120 submissions, mostly from iwi (social units in Maori population), community groups and scientists, on the application. This is just a fraction of the 1933 submissions received for Crop and Food’s previous genetically modified onions application in 2003. Harrison pointed out ERMA will base its decision, not on the number of submissions, but on the quality of inputs submitted.
The media release is available at http://www.ermanz.govt.nz/news-events/archives/media-releases/2008/mr-20080605.html
The University of Adelaide (UA) has received approval from the Acting Gene Technology Regulator for the limited and controlled release of up to 30 wheat and barley lines genetically modified (GM) for enhanced tolerance to different environmental stressors, such as drought, or for increased dietary fiber. None of the GM wheat or barley will be permitted for human food or animal feed. The release is expected to take place at one site in Marion, South Australia between June 2008 and June 2009.
To read more, visit: http://www.ogtr.gov.au/pdf/ir/dir077notific.pdf.
During the seminar “The Role of Biotechnology for Human Welfare” LPPOM MUI (Lembaga Pengkajian Pangan Obat-Obatan dan Kosmetika Majelis Ulama Indonesia) Director Dr. Ir. Tridoko W. Murti stated that science and technology can be used to examine haram (unlawful) foods and may be used to detect haram ingredients present in both foods and beverages. LPPOM MUI is an institution commissioned for examining, studying, analyzing and determining whether food products and its derivative, drugs and cosmetics are safe to be consumed considering both health and Islamic aspects.
Meanwhile, Indonesian Minister of Agriculture, Anton Apriyantono, pointed out that the government is now serious in controlling and managing biotechnology-derived foods to remain halal and fit for consumption by Muslims in Indonesia. He added that the biotechnology products must be exempted from haram ingredients. This also applies for fermentation production processes.
For more information, contact the Indonesia Biotechnology Information Center at b.purwantara@biotrop.org.
In an effort to spread awareness and sensitize farmers, consumers and other stakeholders on food safety, quality and food wastages, India’s Minister of Food Processing Industries declared 2008-09 as “Food Safety and Quality Year”. New initiatives, to be undertaken by the Ministry of Food Processing, will be integrated with the schemes and programs already operationalized, said Mr S.K. Sahai, Food Processing Minister during the launching ceremony of “Food Safety and Quality Year 2008-09” held at the National Seminar on “Food Safety and Quality Management Systems – from Farm to Fork” in New Delhi.
Food safety is a growing concern across the world, hence, there is increasing need to provide greater assurance about the safety and quality of food to consumers. India’s potential to garner a higher share in the world food trade also led to increasing recognition and adoption of food safety measures. A plethora of measures being adopted to buttress India’s growing interest in world food trade include the establishment of mega food parks, creation of integrated cold chain infrastructure at different levels as well as farm level primary processing center-cum-cold chain, setting up of collection and strategic distribution centers, capacity building through a National Institute of Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM), and upgrading quality control laboratories. The Ministry of Food Processing Industries will carry out a year-long campaign to reach out to all stakeholders and consumers on food safety and quality initiatives.
For more information on the food safety and quality year 2008-09 visit http://www.pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=39519. Information about the different initiatives taken by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries is available at http://mofpi.nic.in/. Contact b.choudhary@isaaa.org for biotech developments in India.
A group of scientists from the University of Adelaide (UA), led by Alex Johnson, was awarded an almost $300,000 grant to work with the Bill Gates-funded HarvestPlus Challenge Program to increase iron content in rice and other cereal grains. The team will focus on the transport of iron from leaves to seeds. "We know of several proteins that move iron around in a plant so it is a matter of increasing the flow of iron into a seed tissue called endosperm, which survives the milling and polishing process," Johnson says.
Around two billion people suffer from iron deficiency. Iron-rich cereals will greatly benefit developing countries, since most cannot afford fortification of processed products such as flour.
The press release is available at http://www.adelaide.edu.au/news/news27021.html
Dr. Kazi M Badruddoza, Scientist Emeritus from Bangladesh, recommended that a separate Biotech Directorate in the Agriculture Ministry similar to that of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) in India be established in the country to expedite research and development efforts. He urged Bangladeshi scientists in collaboration with development partners to produce biotech crops that can help contribute to solving food shortage and alleviate poverty. These views were presented by the Scientist Emeritus who was the chief guest during the International Biotech Conference in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
In addition, Dr. Badruddoza suggested that biotechnology be included in the O and A academic level syllabi. The Bangladesh Association for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (BABGE) in collaboration with the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) and other sponsors organized the conference. Among the topics during the scientific sessions were the progress of trials of Bt brinjal, Late blight resistant potato and Golden Rice.
Contact Dr. K. Nasiruddin, national coordinator of the Bangladesh Biotechnology Information Center, at k.nasiruddin@isaaa.org for additional details about the conference.
The majority of the National Assembly in Vietnam recently agreed to the nation's first-ever biodiversity bill. This sets the stage for more legal framework for sustainable use of natural resources and protection of biodiversity. Many advocated provisions that allow the commercial breeding and raising of rare animals, arguing this would not be counter to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) that Vietnam has ratified. Some called for provisions to encourage all economic sectors to take part in conservation and sustainable development of biodiversity. The provisions should specify mechanisms for reasonable profit-sharing and tight management and supervision over the transportation, trading and marketing of species listed for special protection, legislators said.
For more information, visit: http://english.vietnamnet.vn/politics/2008/06/786353/ or contact Le Thu Hien of the Vietnam Biotechnology Information Center at hientttm@yahoo.com.
The controversy surrounding the transfer of antibiotic-resistance gene from transgenic plants to bacteria has been put to rest when scientists from France and Switzerland found that horizontal gene transfer is so insignificant that transgenic plants play no part in the spread of antibiotic resistances. The scientists studied soil bacteria from a field where genetically modified Bt maize has been growing for years. Antibiotic resistance genes occur naturally in bacteria due to the fact that these genes are already commonly found in the soil.
To read more, visit: http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/news/365.docu.html.
Environmental risk assessments have indicated that the releases pose negligible risk to human health and safety or to the environment. Likewise, certain measures, such as maintaining a 200-meter isolation distance and destruction of GM plant materials after trials, will be adopted by the applicants.
For more information visit http://gmoinfo.jrc.it/gmp_browse.aspx
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) will develop a database of external scientific experts to help it carry out risk assessments and enhance the transparency of the expert recruitment process. The European Union’s scientific risk assessment body on food and feed safety, nutrition, animal welfare, plant protection and health has been criticized for its perceived bias toward genetically modified organisms and its growing workload.
Rebutting this perception, EFSA's Alun Jones said that "We need more scientific experts across the whole range of EFSA'a activities." The experts will not be hired as members of scientific panels but will provide support for the panel members in preparing their opinions. The aim is to enhance transparency so as "to take into account as many views as possible".
See the article at http://www.euractiv.com/en/cap/eu-food-safety-agency-aims-transparency/article-173171.
Today’s agriculture is contending with huge losses due to climate change. Conditions may worsen in the coming decades, considering not only climate change but also the diminishing availability of arable land and ever-growing demand for food and biomass. Crops resistant to abiotic stresses, such as high temperatures, drought and waterlogged conditions, will be needed. To this end, the Flanders Institute of Biotechnology (VIB) and Bayer BioScience NV, the Flemish agro-biotech center of Bayer CropScience, are teaming up to elucidate the molecular mechanisms that make plants stress-resistant. The project will be carried out in close collaboration with the VIB Department of Plant Systems Biology in the Ghent University. Experiments will mainly focus on the roles of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) as important regulators of plant stress response.
Read the press release at http://www.vib.be/NR/rdonlyres/E8FB2BC8-3D32-4D76-BFC1-9609FA07C689/2595/20080611_ENG_phoenixBayer_web.pdf
Arsenic is a highly toxic and potent carcinogen. It is widespread in the Earth’s crust and is usually taken up and accumulated by crops. Argentina, Bangladesh, Thailand, India, Mexico and Chile have reported arsenic concentrations higher than the permissible levels and have documented negative effects on human health.
Scientists from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark and Gothenburg University in Sweden have identified proteins that allow the entry of arsenite, one of the most common forms of arsenic in the environment, into plant cells. The nodulin26-like intrinsic protein (NIPs) family of transporters was found to serve as the “shuttle bus” of arsenite across the cell membrane. NIPs are related to the aquaglyceroporins found in microbes and mammalian cells. The researchers also observed that the NIPs don't just transport arsenite in one direction, but they also play a role in clearing the cells of the toxic compound. The discovery might be important for the development of low-arsenic crops for food production or hyperaccumulating varieties for phytoremediation.
Read the paper published by BMC Biology at http://www.biomedcentral.com/imedia/1121076562174829_article.pdf?random=759933
Nitrogen is a major limiting factor in plant productivity. Crop plants, especially those grown for grain yield, are usually supplied with inorganic nitrogen fertilizers. The use of nitrogen fertilizer, however, is generally inefficient. It is estimated that only about a third of the fertilizer applied is actually absorbed by crops. Unused fertilizer can leach into ground water or be washed away into lakes, rivers and streams, where it depletes the bodies’ dissolved oxygen and induces phytoplankton bloom. Thus, development of plants that can take-up and assimilate nitrogen efficiently has been a long-term goal of agricultural researchers.
Scientists from the University of Alberta in Canada have developed nitrogen use efficient (NUE) transgenic rice lines. The NUE rice harbors alaAT gene (codes for the enzyme alanine aminotransferase) from barley driven by a rice tissue-specific promoter. The transgenic plants exhibited higher biomass and grain yield compared to its non-GM counterparts. The GM lines also demonstrated significant changes in key metabolites and total nitrogen content, indicating increased nitrogen uptake efficiency.
Read the paper at http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-7652.2008.00351.x
Insights from transgenic papaya genome sequences revealed that transgenes generally stay put following integration and can achieve stable expression level from generation to generation, according to a paper published by the journal Nature Biotechnology. The SunUp papaya variety, developed by scientists to combat the papaya ring spot virus, is the first transgenic organism to have its genome sequenced.
Ajay Kohli and Paul Christou, authors of the paper, noted that the genome now provides definitive evidences against transgene rearrangement, which is one of the suspected causes of the instability of inserted genes. The transgenes generally become a fixed part of the genome, with predictable and consistent expression patterns. Introduction of the foreign genes interrupted no endogenous gene; so that except for the virus resistance characteristic, the GM plants are functionally similar to their non-transformed counterparts. Despite the stability of the GM papaya variety, however, nonessential sequences such as the tetA and nptII marker genes and vector DNA remain in its genome.
Read the paper at http://www.nature.com/nbt/journal/v26/n6/full/nbt0608-653.html
Interleukin 13 (IL13) is a regulatory cytokine (signaling protein) that plays a central role in mediating immune responses. It prevents excessive allergic inflammation in tissues by inhibiting the production of pro-inflammatory proteins such as tumor necrosis factors. IL13 has the potential to treat numerous human diseases such as type-1 diabetes, chronic arthritis and several types of cancer. It is also needed in providing host protection against gastrointestinal helminths. Recently, scientists showed that IL13 is effective in preventing Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) replication. Despite these promises, treatment of human diseases by IL13 may be limited by the unavailability of functional IL13 at a low cost.
Currently, large scale production of IL13 is dependent on cell based expression systems. IL13 obtained using these systems must first be purified since both biologically active and inactive forms are produced. Isolation of functional IL13 increases the production cost.
In search of ways that will make its production cheaper, scientists from Canada developed transgenic tobacco lines expressing biologically active IL13. This is the first report of interleukin 13 production in plants. The team reported IL13 accumulation as high as 0.15 percent of the total soluble proteins in leaves. Simulated gastric and intestinal fluid digestion demonstrated the stability of the GM tobacco-derived cytokine.
The paper published by the Plant Biotechnology Journal is available to subscribers at http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1467-7652.2008.00337.x Non-subscribers can read the abstract at http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-7652.2008.00337.x
The 5th Solanaceae Genome Workshop will be held on October 12-16, 2008 in Cologne, Germany with the aim of stimulating research in tomato, potato, tobacco, pepper, petunia, coffee and all useful solanaceous plants. The event will allow participants to learn about genomic research that are useful in related solanaceae genomes. For more information visit http://www.sol2008.org/
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A report commissioned by the Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council’s (BBSRC) Bioscience for Society Strategy Panel regarding social and ethical challenges associated with the research into, and the application of, synthetic biology has been published recently. The report, ‘Synthetic Biology: social and ethical challenges’ reviews what synthetic biology is, where it has come from, and where it is going, as well as making recommendations to research donors and the scientific community about how social and ethical issues should be addressed.
To read more, visit: http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/media/releases/2008/080609_synthetic_biology_challenges.html.