Improving Crop Plants through Genomics

Agricultural Research magazine features some of the latest undertakings of the Agricultural Research Service’s (ARS) U.S. Plant, Soil, and Nutrition Laboratory (PSNL) in Ithaca, New York using genomics. Computational biology, which integrates computer science with biological research, and molecular biology are generating promising results for research on plant diseases particularly on virulence-related genes and pathways.

Research is being done to develop better tasting tomatoes, melon and strawberry that meet commercial shelf-life needs. Studies on manipulating genes that regulate fruit’s response to light are being done to alter fruit quality and nutritional value.

Worldwide vitamin A deficiency is being addressed by studies on carotenoids using a cauliflower gene, dubbed “Or” for the color orange, to induce accumulation of high levels of beta-carotene in food crops. Other projects include developing statistical and genetic tools for identifying natural variation in agronomically important traits in maize.

With genomic tools used on maize and rice, scientists have identified genes and associated mechanisms that help plants tolerate soil acidity and toxic metals, particularly aluminum tolerance in maize and sorghum. The goal of this research is to improve crop-plant cultivation on marginal, and even highly acidic, soils that limit crop production worldwide.

The web version of the article may be viewed at http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/jan07/plants0107.htm