CIMMYT
DRAWS UP NEW MAIZE MAP
Maize is an important crop, especially throughout the developing
world, but its yields are hampered by problems such as
soil infertility and insect infestation. The second greatest
constraint to its production, however, is drought, and
such a phenomenon is thought to reduce yields worldwide
by more than 15%, or over 20 million tons, annually.
Maize is also a complex crop, at the genetic level. Domesticated
from the grass teosinte, it contains high levels of genetic
diversity compared with other cereal crops such as rice
and wheat. There are portions of its genome, however,
which may be able to improve the crop from within. For
instance, Quantitative Trait Loci (or QTLs), are potential
hotspots for genes which can make the crop better.
With
a view of using these QTLs to improve maize's drought
resistance, scientists from the International Maize and
Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and its partner organizations
have developed a singe genomic map for maize that identifies
regions of DNA that are involved in conferring drought
tolerance. Such maps have already been drawn for the
crop, but applying only to specific maize lines and populations.
The latest map combines data from many trials of different
tropical maize types in diverse environments.
“Having
all the QTL information integrated into a single map
should allow us to identify the outstanding genomic regions
involved in drought tolerance,” Jean-Marcel Ribaut,
director of the Generation Challenge Program of the Consultative
Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)
said, “The idea is ambitious for it should allow
maize breeders to select the right parents for drought
tolerant maize by ensuring they have these important
regions on their genome.”
With
funding from the Rockefeller Foundation, members of the
project team will give courses on this approach to scientists
in Kenya and China over the coming months.
Read
the complete article at http://www.cimmyt.org/english/
wps/news/2005/oct/hotSpots_maize.htm.
For further information, contact Jean-Marcel Ribaut (j.ribaut@cgiar.org)
or Mark Sawkins (m.sawkins@cgiar.org).
AFRICA
URGED TO UP AGRI SYSTEMS TO MEET MDGS
The
Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi
Annan on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and
UN Millennium Project Director Dr Jeffrey D. Sachs has
called on African governments to fast track adoption
of transgenic crops to boost food security on the continent.
He
said more African scientists should be trained in cutting-edge
biotechnology so that they can provide the much needed
scientific advice on the use of genetically modified
crops on the continent. “This is something the
MDGs could look into as it explores various possibilities
of achieving the goals in Africa,” he observed.
Dr
Sachs, who is also the director of The Earth Institute,
was addressing via telephone about 200 delegates of the
First Annual Conference of the African Science Academy
Development Initiative (ASADI) that has just ended in
Nairobi, Kenya. With the theme “Improving Public
Policy to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals in
Africa: Harnessing Science and Technology Capacity,” the
conference was attended top scientists, academicians,
ministers, journalists, and politicians.
Dr Sachs said Africa would not achieve the MDGs unless her agricultural systems
are modernized to produce more food, end hunger and famine, and boost nutritional
content of foods. He likewise called on the African Academies of Sciences to
be prepared to provide expert scientific advice to their governments on agriculture,
health, climate change, water management, energy science, and good ecological
science, which he identified as crucial to poverty reduction on the continent.
For
more information, contact Daniel Otunge of KBIC at dotunge@absfafrica.org
THAI
CORP CALLS FOR GM FIELD TRIALS
The
Charoen Pokphand Group (CP), Thailand's largest agricultural
corporation, has called on the local government to allow
field trials of three genetically modified (GM) crops:
cassava, rubber, and corn for animal feed.
"China,
Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam have already
developed their own GM crops, including rice, corn and
soybean," CP's managing director, Sumet Pinyosanit,
said, "The global market is increasingly receptive
to GM crops." He also asked the Thai government
to consider allowing commercial cultivation of GM crops
to help Thai farmers compete in the world markets of
the future.
CP
began as a seed supplier in Thailand. It is now a global
conglomerate, with investments, operations and trading
in 20 countries around the world. It focuses on agri-business
production and processing, as well as telecommunications,
logistics, and retailing services.
Visit
the CP Corporation at http://www.cpthailand.com/
webguest/home.aspx.
Read the complete article at http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/page.arcview.php?
clid=3&id=123117&usrsess=.
FRANCE
GM GRAPE TRIALS RESUME
Nature
Biotechnology reports that field trials of genetically
modified (GM) grapevine rootstocks have resumed in France.
These vines are designed to resist infection to grapevine
fanleaf nepovirus, a virus transmitted by the soil nematode
Xiphinema index, as well as infected seeds. No naturally
occurring resistance genes are available in wild grapevines,
ruling out traditional breeding methods as an alternative.
The
trials come after a six-year suspension, and are now
being carried out by researchers at the National Institute
for Agricultural Research (INRA). According to Olivier
Lemaire, project leader, the technology will not be patented,
allowing all wine growers to use GM rootstocks. He also
adds that the grape scion will remain non-GM, "making
the acceptability of such a strategy easier for society."
In
line with the resumed field trials, strict biosafety
measures, are in place, and were decided upon by a local
steering committee made up of researchers and consumer
groups, among other concerned sectors. Only the rootstocks
are GM, and non-GM scions of Pinot Miunier, a grape variety
not used in wine-making, will be grafted on top of the
rootstocks.
As
added precautions, floral buds from the rootstocks will
be cut off. Currently, over 1,500 non-GM rootstocks have
been planted to surround the 70 GM rootstocks being tested.
Subscribers
to Nature Biotechnology can access the article in brief
at http://www.nature.com/news/2005/051031/pf/nbt1105-1329_pf.html.
Visit INRA at http://www.inra.fr.
DIALOGUE
EXPLORES IMPLICATIONS OF GM IMPORTS ON US POLICIES
The
Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology recently sponsored
a policy dialogue entitled GM Imports: Implications for
U.S. Biotechnology Policy. The goal of the dialogue was
to stimulate an informative discussion about how various
industry sectors are preparing to address genetically
modified (GM) imports from other countries, and what,
if any, U.S. government policies are in place to address
these commodities.
“While
a great deal of attention has been paid to international
trade in genetically engineered products, relatively
little of it has been focused on the potential that products
developed abroad may enter into the U.S marketplace,” said
Michael Fernandez, executive director of the Pew Initiative
on Food and Biotechnology.
Moderated
by Michael Rodemeyer, former Executive Director of the
Pew Initiative, the dialogue was attended by participants
such as Joel Cohen, director of the program for biosafety
systems at the International Food Policy Research Institute;
Mark Mansour, a partner at the Washington, D.C.-based
law firm Morgan, Lewis and Bockius, LLP; Gregory Jaffe,
director of the biotechnology project at the Center for
Science in the Public Interest (CSPI); and David Coia,
vice president of communications at the USA Rice Federation.
Cohen
identified intellectual property rights as a potential
problem down the road for countries developing these
technologies. Mansour, on the other hand, said the U.S.
must remain consistent in its approach to biotech products
from other countries.
For
more information contact Kara Flynn at kflynn@pewagbiotech.org,
or listen to the webcast at http://www.connectlive.com/events/gmimports.
PIGEONPEA
BACK IN CHINA
Pigeonpea is an essential ingredient in Indian cooking. Next door
in China, however, pigeonpea is used to hold up the soil
in mountainous regions, and to rear insects. When the
latter industry collapsed, pigeonpea cultivation decreased
in Chinese farmlands.
With
help from the International Crops Research Institute
for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), China has once again
started to cultivate improved varieties of the crop.
Work started back in 1997, when they were first tested
in selected locations in the country. Today, pigeonpea is estimated to be grown on around 50,000 acres in China
alone. Strong research programs on the crop have also
been established by the Institute of Resources Insects
of the Chinese Academy of Forestry in Kunming, Yunnan
and at Guangxi Academy of Agriculture Sciences (GxAAS),
Nanning, Guangxi.
According
to Dr William Dar, Director General of ICRISAT, the impact
of the institute's varieties in China recognizes the
significance of pigeonpea as a crop with many useful
qualities. Among others, it can also be used as animal
fodder, which is important to the rural economy in Southern
China.
For
further information, contact Dr KB Saxena at k.saxena@cgiar.org.
GENE
FLOW MODEL PRESENTED FOR IRISH CROPS
The
issue of co-existence of genetically modified (GM) and
non-GM crops is important in the European Union (EU).
Related to this issue is gene flow, which is currently
evaluated by ranking a crop as a high, medium, or low
risk one. This system, however, does not provide the
detail required to highlight aspects of a crop's biology
that will serve to challenge coexistence management.
Marie-Louise
Flannery of Teagasc Crops Research Centre, Ireland
and colleagues offer their country's side
of the story by “Employing a composite gene-flow
index to numerically quantify a crop's potential for gene flow: an Irish perspective.” Their
article is published in Environmental Biosafety Research.
Researchers
present a means to calculate the gene flow index (GFI)
of a crop, and apply it to sugar
beet, oilseed rape,
potato, perennial
ryegrass, maize, wheat, and barley.
They also combine the four strands of gene flow to establish
a baseline data set that describes the potential of Ireland's
crops for both pollen and seed mediated gene flow. These
are the crop pollen-to-wild relative (CPW); crop pollen-to-crop
(CPC); crop seed-to-volunteer (CSV); and crop seed-to-feral
(CSF).
Researchers
found that oilseed rape, ryegrass, and sugar
beet attained
a high GFI value, but cautioned that such a value does
not imply that the crops are not suitable for GM development,
but have a higher propensity for gene flow and may require
greater management precautions if efficient coexistence
is to be attained.
Read
the complete article at http://www.edpsciences.org/
articles/ebr/pdf/2005/01/ebr0418.pdf.
REPORT
EXAMINES LOWER ISOFLAVONE SOY
Soybean contains isoflavone, a compound associated with positive
health effects in human adults, such as reduced risk
of breast and prostate cancer, cardiovascular disease,
and osteoporosis. However, isoflavone may be harmful
for infants. It would thus be advisable to breed soybean low in isoflavones, but what impact would this change
have on agronomic, and other seed quality traits?
Valerio
S. Primomo of the University of Guelph, and colleagues,
seek to answer the question as they assess the “Agronomic
Performance of Recombinant Inbred Line Populations Segregating
for Isoflavone Content in Soybean Seeds.” Their
work appears in the latest issue of Crop Science.
By
breeding low isoflavone content soybean seeds and looking
at traits such as yield, researchers found there were
significant differences among populations, environments,
and their interaction for isoflavone content. They also
found that yields of low isoflavone content plants were
comparable to high yielding soybean cultivars, and that
isoflavone content in the seed had minimal effects on
oil content, seed quality, and weight.
Subscribers
to Crop Science may access the full article at http://crop.scijournals.org/cgi/content/full/45/6/2203.
MILLET
GETS MILDEW DEFENSE FROM WITHIN
Pearl
millet is the most drought tolerant of all domesticated
cereals. It is widely grown, and its worst pest is downy
mildew disease, which is caused by the fungus Sclerospora
graminicola (Sacc.) Schroet. Control methods are ineffective,
since the crop is grown under a wide range of environmental
settings.
With
a little outside help, Bejai R. Sarosh, and colleagues,
of the University of Mysore, India document the “Elicitation
of defense related enzymes and resistance by L-methionine
in pearl
millet against downy mildew disease caused by
Sclerospora graminicola.” Their work appears in
the latest issue of the Journal of Plant Physiology and
Biochemistry.
Researchers
induced resistance to downy mildew by treating the crop
with L-methionine. They then profiled the messenger RNA
transcripts which accumulated, and found that a good
number of defense response genes were being expressed
due to the treatment.
Subscribers
to the Journal of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry can
access the complete article at http://dx.doi.org/
10.1016/j.plaphy.2005.06.009.
CGIAR
TO HOLD GENERAL MEETING
The
Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
will hold its annual General meeting on the 5th of December
2005, at the Palais des Congres, Marrakech, Morocco. The
event, entitled “Mitigating the Impact of HIV/AIDS
on Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa Towards a Coordinated
Perspective and Approach,” aims to be a multi-stakeholder
discussion forum on new action plans and the opportunities
for a more coordinated effort from the CGIAR centers and
their partners to have a bigger impact in the area of the
effects of HIV/AIDS on agriculture in the region.
The
conference is organized by the Africa Rice Center (WARDA)
and CABI Bioscience. For more information, visit http://www.cgiar.org/meetings/agm05/index.html.
INDIA TO HOLD COTTON DIALOGUE
A
national dialogue on "Resurgence of Cotton" will
be held on the 26th of November 2005, at the CIRCOT Auditorium,
CIRCOT, Adenwala Road, Matunga, Mumbai, India. Organized
by the Indian Society for Cotton Improvement (ISCI) and
the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech
Application (ISAAA), the dialogue will provide an opportunity
to deliberate on the potential and prospects of improvement
of quality, production and trade of cotton, and its implications
for cotton textile industry in India.
Confirm
your participation by sending an email to b.choudhary@cgiar.org,
charumayee@yahoo.co.in, or perianambi@hotmail.com at the
earliest possible time.
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