GM/Biotech Crops Report – May 2019

The European Parliament has said that the EU is missing an opportunity due to its non-acceptance of GM and gene editing. The EU is trying to reduce the dependence of farmers on plant protection products and the parliament thinks that it is shooting itself in the foot by not embracing gene editing and GM crops.  More
Pic: InertiaCreeps

By introducing a gene from a herb and another one from a soil fungus to tomatoes, the Chinese have produced a plant that has a high resistance to root knot nematode attack. Perhaps this could also work in potatoes. More
Pic: Dane larsen

Striga is a parasitic weed from that was once a regular feature of the BCPC Brighton Conference as it defeated all efforts to control it. Now scientists have found a way to stimulate the dormant seeds into germination when no host plants are present so that they fail to develop. The technique involves using root extracts that contain the plant hormones strigolactones. More
Pic: IITA

Scientists in Vietnam have also identified a gene sequence in one variety of rice that confers resistance tobacterial leaf blight. They are now working on transferring this trait to other higher yielding varieties using CRISPr editing. Again the report is only available in Vietnamese but can be found here. More
Pic: Sarahoa

Jointed goatgrass is a problem weed in Chinese wheat fields. The only herbicide that is effective against it in Chinese wheat is mesosulfuron but this has a relatively long soil half life and can damage following crops. Therefore Chinese scientists have engineered wheat lines that are tolerant of ALS herbicides which means that nicosulfuron with its shorter soil persistence can also be used to control jointed goatgrass in the wheat. More
Pic: Matt Lavin

Researchers at Columbia University have used CRISPr editing to produce the world’s smallest tomato plant. At 4 cms high and 8 cms wide it fruits just 2 months after planting and has a good fruit/leaf ratio. Why did they do it? They believe that it might be suitable for cultivation on space stations. More
Pic: Steve Parker

CRISPr editing is not accepted everywhere because it can lead to off-target mutations and the introduction of foreign DNA but now a new technique has been developed where pre-assembled cassettes of ribonucleoproteins are introduced into zygotes with no DNA present. When the regenerated plant is grown on, was it edited or was it achieved by natural cross-breeding? More

Pic: Sanjeev_cdas

Panama disease attacks bananas and back in the 1800s most banana plantations were wiped out. A banana variety grown at Chatsworth house in the Peak District called Cavendish was found to be resistant to Panama disease and now 99% of exported bananas are of the Cavendish variety. However, a new strain of Panama disease (TR4) has overcome the Cavendish resistance and so now the race is on to engineer in new resistance. Some promising developments are reported here.

Pic: Neil Turner

Many crops are grown for the seed oil that they produce and now researchers in Singapore have discovered the gene that regulates seed oil content. Modification of this gene has produced plants that have seeds with 15% more oil in them. It has only been done with Arabidopsis so far but could have huge implications for oilseed rape, soybean, sunflower and for biofuel production. More

Pic: Isabelle Dsaut