Biotech Updates

Biotech Mulberry Expressing Barley Gene Displays Enhanced Stress Tolerance

December 16, 2011

One of the most important aspects of sustainable agriculture is the ability of crops to withstand different kinds of biotic and abiotic stresses. Conventional breeding and marker-assisted selection have been used to improve varieties of mulberry however such techniques take long periods of time. Thus, biotechnological techniques can be employed to improve stress tolerance of mulberry for silk farming. Vibha Checker from University of Delhi South Campus, India, together with other scientists introduced a gene (Hva1) in barley by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation.

The transgenic mulberry showed better tolerance to drought and salinity. Overexpression of barley Hva1 confers cold tolerance. Transgenic lines had similar morphology with the isogenic lines but the growth was enhanced as well as the tolerance against drought, salt, and cold conditions. Transgenic plants showed better overall  performance than the non-GM plants under field conditions.

Read the abstract at http://www.springerlink.com/content/y4147111h5316617/.