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After Cotton, Genetically Tweaked Eggplant Soon
(SRC:New Kerala -- ATH:n/a)
Several institutions in India are working to develop
genetically modified (GM) varieties of eggplant, also
known as brinjal.
Research at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute
(IARI) and Monsanto's India-based Maharashtra Hybrid
Seed
Company (Mahyco) has reached the field trial stage, with
both organizations testing GM eggplants designed for
resistance to the
shoot and fruit borer. Mahyco is testing Bt eggplant
engineered with the gene for Cry1Ac protein. Tests of
the crop's
environmental and health safety and agricultural
performance are being conducted in different Indian
agro-climatic conditions.
Officials say, "We should know about the success of the
transgenic variety of Mahyco's brinjal varieties after
the crop is
harvested in December or January at a dozen trial
sites." IARI is conducting field trials of another GM
eggplant variety,
developed
through the introduction of a gene purchased from Japan
in 1996. The variety is designed for resistance to
shoot
and fruit borer, but IARI researchers report that it is
providing moderate protection from the pests at only
three of six trial
locations. An IARI official reports, "We are now trying
to introduce [an] additional gene or two to enhance
levels of protection."
According to the official: "Shoot and fruit borer is the
single most important problem faced by eggplant, which
is
relatively
tolerant to drought. It is a perennial crop, which go on
bearing fruit and can be adapted to a wide variety of
climatic regions. " The article reports that India's
Department of Biotechnology (DBT) hopes that the
government will
approve the commercial cultivation of GM eggplant in two
to three years.In India, insecticide sprays for shoot
and fruit borer
cost between Rs. 1,750 and 4,375 (US$38-96) per
hectare. The article says that eggplant yields have
been seriously
affected by the pest in recent years, not only in India
but also in sub-Saharan Africa, Sri Lanka, Burma and
Thailand,
Malaysia, and Germany.
The article can be viewed online at the link below.
http://www.checkbiotech.org/root/index.cfmfuseaction=news&doc_
id=8966&start=21&control=219&page_start=1&page_nr=101&pg=1
EU
Authorises Monsanto GMO Maize for
(SRC:Reuters -- ATH:n/a)
The European Commission approved sales on October 26 of
Monsanto's "RoundupReady" maize, known as NK603.
The Commission was given the power to approve the
genetically modified (GM) variety after ministers from
EU member
states failed to reach a consensus on the issue.
Roundup Ready maize is the second new GM organism to be
approved in the
EU since the end of its de facto moratorium on GM
organisms in May 2004. The crop's approval does not
include authorization
for its cultivation.
The articlecan be viewed online at
the link below
http://www.checkbiotech.org/root/index.cfm?fuseaction=news&doc_id=8931&start=1&control=219&page_start=1&page_nr=101&pg=1
BIG BREAK FOR BANANAS
Priver Namanya of the Kawanda Agricultural Research
Institute (KARI), Uganda recently reported that her team
has
developed a cell suspension system that is considered to
be a critical step in the genetic improvement of the
East African
highland banana. A number of diseases afflict Uganda’s
banana crop, which is planted over 1.5 million hectares
of arable land,
and which serves the country’s population with 500
pounds of the crop per capita annually, one of the
highest in the world.
These include banana bacterial wilt disease, black
sigatoka, fusarium wilt, and banana streak.The method
has also been adopted
into an ongoing banana biotechnology project run in
collaboration with the National Agricultural Research
Organisation (NARO),
the International Network of Banana and Plantains, and
Makerere University, among others.For more information,
visit
KARI at
http://www.naro.go.ug/research_institutes/KARI.htm
POSSIBLE APHID RESISTANCE
IN SOY TRACED TO GENEr
Researchers at the
University of Illinois have recently identified a
single-gene source of aphid resistance in soybean. The
gene, tentatively designated Rag1, is dominant, making
it easy to introduce into commercial varieties by
backcrossing using marker-assisted selection. Current
cultivars do not contain the gene, but testing on
ancestral lines stored in the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's Soybean Germplasm Collection revealed that
two varieties Jackson and Dowling carried the aphid
resistance gene. The lines, however, have not been
commercially available for the last 30 years. Aphids
can decrease soybean yield by stunting plants,
transmitting viruses, distorting leaves, and reducing
seeds in a soybean pod set. Infestations can be
controlled by
insecticides, which can
cost as much as 20 to 25 dollars per acre to spray. With
the recent discovery, as well as the potential ease with
which the trait can be introduced into commercial lines,
researchers predict that soybean seeds with the
resistance gene may be available on the market within
the next 5 years. For more information,
visit the
National Soybean Research Laboratory at
http://www.otm.uiuc.edu/techs/techdetail.asp?id=267.
Read the complete article at
http://web.aces.uiuc.edu/news/stories/news2857.html
Breakthrough Takes Root in
Acid Soils
(SRC:CSIRO Australia -- ATH:n/a
Researchers from CSIRO
Plant Industry in Australia and Japan's Okayama
University have isolated "the world's first"
aluminum tolerance gene
from wheat. The gene enables roots to exude malate, a
normal constituent of plant cells, which
binds aluminium in the
soil into a non-toxic form and protects roots from
damage. The researchers demonstrated the
effectivenessof the
wheat gene by inserting it into barely, a plant normally
very sensitive to aluminum. The resulting
experimental genetically
modified GM) barley plants exhibited a high level of
tolerance to aluminum in acidic soils. The
discovery of the wheat
gene is expected to accelerate the development of crops
capable of growing in high soil acidity levels;
high acidity levels limit agriculture when naturally
occurring aluminium dissolves and inhibits root growth
in sensitive plants.
Peter Ryan of CSIRO
says: "Aluminium tolerance is not present in many crop
and pasture species, including barley, so they
cannot be improved by
conventional plant breeding. But as a single gene is
responsible, gene technology is an ideal
way to introduce the tolerance trait." High soil
acidity affects more than 40 percent of the world's
arable land.
The article can be viewed online at
the link below.
http://www.checkbiotech.org/root/index.cfm?fuseaction=news&doc_id=9006&start=11&control=233&page_start=1&page_nr=101&pg=1
Biotech Events
December 4 - 8
Annual Meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology
Washington DC, USA
Contact:
American Society for Cell Biology, 8120 Woodmont Avenue,
Suite 750, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA; Tel: +1 (301) 347
9300;
Email:
ascbinfo@ascb.org;
URL:
http://www.ascb.org/
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