Doubled Haploid Approach to Develop Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa
June 13, 2008 |
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
|
Biotech Updates is a weekly newsletter of ISAAA, a not-for-profit organization. It is distributed for free to over 22,000 subscribers worldwide to inform them about the key developments in biosciences, especially in biotechnology. Your support will help us in our mission to feed the world with knowledge. You can help by donating as little as $10.
-
See more articles:
-
News from Around the World
- Report Tackles Global Impact of Biotech Crops
- Leaves Keep Their Cool to Protect Photosynthesis
- New Production System to Boost Rice Yield in West Africa
- Doubled Haploid Approach to Develop Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa
- 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
- 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
- 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 Highlights
- 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
-
Resources
- Report on Synthetic Biology Now Published
-
Read the latest: - Biotech Updates (December 4, 2024)
- Gene Editing Supplement (November 27, 2024)
- Gene Drive Supplement (February 22, 2023)
-
Subscribe to BU: - Share
- Tweet