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U.S. RESEARCHERS DEVELOP ENHANCED CORN
Researchers at the University of California, Riverside
reported the development of a technology that doubles
the protein and oil content of corn while reducing its
carbohydrate content. University of California's Ricardo
Duran explained that Daniel R. Gallie and colleagues
introduced a gene that enabled the production of
cytokinin in developing flowers. Flowers in the corn ear
develop in pairs but one from each pair aborts before
pollination can occur. Because of the role that the
plant hormone, cytokinin, plays in preventing organ
death, the authors reasoned that cytokinin might rescue
those flowers, which were destined to abort. Flower
abortion was prevented and the kernels produced from
pairs of flowers fused into a single normal-sized kernel
that contained two embryos and a smaller endosperm.
"Because it is the embryo that contains the majority of
protein and oil, the presence of two embryos doubles
their content in corn grain. The reduction in the size
of the endosperm in the kernel, the tissue that contains
most of the carbohydrate, means that the nutritional
value of the grain has been improved considerably,"
Gallie explained.The full article is available in the
June issue of the Plant Journal. For more information
contact Ricardo Duran at
ricardo.duran@ucr.edu.
Treaty on Biodiversity To Become Law
(SRC:FAO Newsroom --
ATH:n/a)
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO's)
International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food
and Agriculture will enter into force on June 29, 2004.
New ratifications of the treaty on March 31 by 11
European countries, Egypt, and the European Community
brought the total number of ratifications to 48, finally
exceeding the minimum number of 40 required to bring the
treaty into force. "Years of multilateral negotiations
under the auspices of FAO's Intergovernmental Commission
on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture have
finally been successful, "according to Jose
Esquinas-Alcazar, Secretary of the Commission. He said:
"The Treaty provides an international legal framework
that will be a key element in ensuring food security,
now and in the future. The challenge is now to ensure
that the treaty becomes operative in all countries."
According to the press release, the treaty will
institute, for the first time, a multilateral system of
facilitated access and benefits-sharing for the crops
and forages most important for food security. The
multilateral system will give scientists, international
research centers, and plant breeders from public and
private organizations "enhanced access" to genetic
biodiversity. The press release says that it will also
ensure the fair sharing of benefits derived from the use
of genetic resources, in particular for farmers in
developing countries that have for centuries contributed
to the conservation of genetic resources.
Benefits-sharing provisions of the treaty require the
obligatory sharing of monetary benefits arising from the
utilization of genetic resources, including from
commercialization of new varieties by the private
sector. The 31st session of the FAO conference approved
the treaty in November 2001. The press release can be
viewed online at the link below.
http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2004/39887/index.html
Spain to Ban Syngenta Corn, EU's Biggest Biotech Crop
(SRC:Bloomberg L.P. --
ATH:n/a)
Spain, the only EU country where genetically modified
(GM) crops are commercially grown, has announced a ban
on the cultivation of Syngenta's Bt 176 corn, which now
makes up almost two-thirds of the country's 32,000
hectares of GM plantings. Bt 176 has been grown in
Spain since 1998, but the Spanish government decided to
ban the GM crop following the release of a European Food
Safety Authority (EFSA) recommendation that its use be
restricted to field trials. EFSA expressed concerns
that a marker gene contained in the Bt 176 could confer
resistance to the antibiotic ampicillin. The European
Commission has not yet made a decision on the advice.
Syngenta spokesman Markus Payer said that Spain's
decision to ban Bt 176 was "obviously political" given
that the Socialist Party took control of the country's
government on April 17, shortly after defeating the
Popular Party in general elections.
The article can be viewed online at the link below.
http://www.checkbiotech.org/root/index.cfm?
Horticultural Biotechnology Faces Significant Economic
and Market Barriers
(SRC:California
Agriculture -- ATH:Julian M. Alston)
While
genetically modified (GM) varieties of major U.S. row
crops have been developed and widely adopted, this
article says that economic and political obstacles have
prevented the application of GM technology to
horticultural crops like fruits and vegetables, tree
fruits and nuts, and nursery crops. The diversity of
horticultural varieties and the small acreages planted
often make it difficult to support the expensive
research, development, and regulatory approval required
for GM crop development and commercialization. The
article notes that political opposition has slowed the
process as well. However, the article says that the
technological potential for GM horticultural crops
appears to be great, particularly for crops with
"output" traits like pharmaceuticals and shelf-life
enhancement. It says that the U.S. government could
reform patent laws in order to improve access to
enabling technologies for biotechnology research. The
government could also revise its regulations to increase
efficiency and reduce costs for regulatory approval;
instead of requiring a completely separate approval for
each genetic transformation "event," the article says
that it "may be feasible" to approve classes of
technologies with more modest specific requirements for
individual varieties. The article also suggests that
the government and biotechnology and agriculture
industries could promote the education of consumers and
market intermediaries through the release of non-food GM
applications, or home garden GM applications, that have
good odds for near-term success because of low barriers
to market acceptance and good total benefits. This and
other articles from California Agriculture magazine's
April-June edition, which focuses on horticultural
biotechnology, are available online at the link below.
http://californiaagriculture.ucop.edu/pressroom.html
Biotech Events
June 7 - 12
5th European Conference on Grain Legumes with the 2nd
International Conference on Legume Genomics and
Genetics, Legumes in Agriculture and the Impact of
Genomics
Dijon, France
Contact: Organizing Committee, 5th European Conference on Grain Legumes,
INRA Genetics and Ecophysiology of Legumes Unit, BP
86510, 21065 DIJON, France; Tel: +33 (3) 8069 3141; Fax:
+33 (3) 8069 3263;
Email:
legconf2004@epoisses.inra.fr;
URL:
http://www.grainlegumes.com
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