Biotech Updates

University of Virginia economics professor Federico Ciliberto leads the largest-ever study of the environmental impacts of genetically modified (GM) crops in the U.S.

Maize Genetics Helps Scientists Study Crop Adaptation to Climate Change

Scientists from the University of California Davis are leading a new project to study the genetic adaptation of maize to different environmental conditions. The team is looking at the genetic basis of maize adaptation to high-elevation environments, to find out how wild and domesticated maize populations adapt to new climates.

Plant Defensin from Legume Confers Resistance to Leaf Rust in Wheat

Leaf rust caused by fungus Puccinia triticina (Pt) is known as an economically important disease of wheat globally, causing up to 50 percent yield loss. For the past years, producers used resistant wheat cultivars to control the disease, but genetic resistance lasts only for a short time and breaks down with the arrival of new virulent Pt strains. Thus, Jagdeep Kaur of Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and colleagues developed a transgenic wheat with durable resistance to leaf rust.

Researchers Enhance Rice Blast Resistance via CRISPR/Cas9-Targeted Mutagenesis of OsERF922

Sequence-specific nucleases (SSNs) have known to be powerful tools for crop improvement, with CRISPR/Cas9 being thought to be the most effective. A team of researchers from Guangxi University, the Chinese Academy of Agriculture Sciences and the South China Agricultural University report on the improvement of rice blast resistance by targeting the OsERF922 gene in rice using CRISPR/Cas9 SSN (C-ERF922).