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GENE TO REGULATE PROGRAMMED CELL DEATH IN PLANT EMBRYO
Researchers at the Swedish University of Agricultural
Sciences have succeeded in isolating a novel gene that
regulates cell death in plant embryos. They hope the new
knowledge about how programmed cell death is regulated
can be exploited to increase production and bolster
resistance in plants. Working with the Durham
University, England, and the Karolinska Institute,
Stockholm, the team discovered programmed cell death in
plant embryos and were able to identify the first gene
that regulates this cell death. Programmed cell death is
a natural and vital process during the life cycle of
multicellular organisms. Among other purposes, it
regulates the form of organisms during certain
developmental stages and removes superfluous or damaged
cells. The discovery is reported in the journal Current
Biology in an article entitled “Metacaspase-dependent
programmed cell death is essential for plant
embryogenesis.” For more information contact Carin
Wrange of the Swedish Research Council at
Carin.Wrange@info.slu.se.
A NEW TACK ON HERBICIDE RESISTANCE
(SRC:Science --
ATH:Erik Stokstad)
A team
of researchers from the U.S. biotechnology companies
Verdia Inc., Maxygen Inc., and Pioneer Hi-Bred
International Inc. have developed a new detoxifying
enzyme that allows plants to tolerate the herbicide
glyphosate. The researchers set out to find a
naturally-occurring glyphosate-resistance enzyme. After
growing and testing several hundred strains of common
microbes, they found that a soil microbe called Bacillus
licheniformis exhibited the highest level of herbicide
tolerance, thanks to the activity of the enzyme
glyphosate N-acetyltransferase (GAT). GAT effectively
detoxified glyphosate, but at insufficient levels for
the researchers' purposes, so they applied an innovative
technique called "directed evolution." Taking three
related microbial genes that they identified as coding
for GAT, the researchers fragmented the genes,
"shuffled" the pieces, and added them back to bacteria.
Then they selected those more effective at detoxifying
glyphosate. After 11 rounds of selection, the resulting
enzyme was 10,000 times more efficient. In a test of
its potential, the gene was inserted into corn plants.
The corn tolerated six times the concentration of
glyphosate that farmers normally apply. Linda Castle of
Verdia says that that level of effectiveness means that
the evolved GAT enzyme has more than enough commercial
potential. GAT can also be engineered into other crops
besides corn, according to Castle. Monsanto Co. already
produces genetically modified (GM) "Roundup Ready" crops
that tolerate glyphosate through the use of a different
mechanism, but the article says that if GAT-producing GM
crops make it to market, they could increase
competition, lower the price of GM crops, and stimulate
further innovation. Jonathan Jones of the U.K.-based
John Innes Centre predicts that it will take at least
five years to bring the plants to market. The article
says that glyphosate is "a safe, cheap, potent, and
environmentally friendly herbicide."
NEW GUIDELINES FOR RISK ASSESSMENT OF LMOS
Some
130 countries have adopted an international standard on
how to assess the risks of living modified organisms
(LMOs) to plants. The Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) recently came out with the guidelines after the
release of its annual report “The State of Food and
Agriculture 2003-04” which calls for adequate biosafety
regulations. The guidelines also cover other LMOs that
may be harmful to plants, such as insects, fungi and
bacteria. "Internationally accepted guidelines will help
countries to reduce the risks of releasing LMOs that are
weedy and could seriously harm our crop and plant
ecosystems," said Niek van der Graaff, Chief of the FAO
Plant Protection Service. FAO explained that a country
may use the guidelines to determine which LMOs pose a
threat and, if necessary, can subsequently prohibit or
restrict their import and domestic use. Developing
countries can now use the same risk analysis criteria as
developed countries. For more information contact Erwin
Northoff, FAO Information Officer, at
erwin.northoff@fao.org.
For the
FAO release visit
http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2004/43684/index.html.
Genetic Engineers Back Growing Drugs in Food Crops
(SRC:CSPI
Press Release -- ATH:CSPI)
On
Wednesday, June 2, the U.S.-based Center for Science in
the PublicInterest (CSPI) released a new report on the
use of genetically modified (GM) crops to produce
pharmaceuticals or industrial chemicals. The
reportnotes that in the past 12 months, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) has received 16 new
applications for "biopharming" permits, a marked
increase since 2002, when the U.S. company Prodigene was
fined for allowing experimental biopharm corn to
contaminate soybeans destined for the food supply. The
CSPI report notes that of the 16 new permits, 11 involve
GM food crops, "but virtually ever other salient detail
is shielded from public view." A CSPI press release on
the report quotes Gregory Jaffe, director of CSPI's
biotechnology project and the author of the report, as
saying "It is impossible to know whether these
biopharmed crops present any food-safety or
environmental risk, since the whole process is shrouded
in secrecy. . . What is clear is that the biopharming
industry has been given a big green light by federal
regulators, even though there is great concern among
food producers and consumers about using food crops to
produce drugs." The report says that the public
portions of the permit applications do not disclose
whether the permit is for a field trial or for
commercial production, the chemical to be produced, or
the origin of the genes spliced into the crop. In
addition to calling for more transparency in the
permitting process, the report recommends against using
food crops for biopharming unless greater protection can
be assured through a strong regulatory system. CSPI
also calls for USDA to conduct environmental risk
analyses prior to issuing permits and for the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration to conduct a food safety risk
analysis if a food crop is to be used. According to
Jaffe: "When non-food crops like tobacco can be used for
biopharming, it is unnecessarily risky to use crops like
corn or rice without a much stronger and more
transparent regulatory system. It would be a public
relations catastrophe for both the biotechnology
industry and the food industry if even minuscule amounts
of vaccines or other drugs ended up in cereal." The
CSPI report is available on line at the link below.http://www.cspinet.org/new/200406021.html
Biotech Events
June 13 - 18
Salt & Water Stress In Plants
Hong Kong, China
Contact: Gordon Research Conferences, PO Box 984, West Kingston, RI
02892-0984 USA; Tel: +1 (401) 783 4011; Fax: +1 (401)
783 7644;
Email:
grc@grc.org;
URL:
http://www.grc.org/programs/2004/salt.htm
June 20 - 26
The 9th International Barley Genetics Symposium
Brno, Czech Republic
Contact: Lenka Nedomova, Agricultural Research Institute Kromeriz Ltd.,
Havlickova 2787, CZ - 767 01 Kromeriz, Czech Republic;
Tel: +420 (5) 7331 7166; Fax: +420 (5) 7333 9725;
Email:
ibgs@vukrom.cz;
URL:
http://www.ibgs.cz/
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