[Ngo-sanrm] BBC E-mail: Key wheat genetic codes unlocked

Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resources Management Working Group ngo-sanrm at ngocentre.org.vn
Thu Nov 29 02:53:02 GMT 2012


Thanks very much, Trude.  This may be extremely important.  I've made a few notes below, which are highlighted.

I'm also copying this to members of the Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resources Management Working Group (SANRM) and hope that more knowledgeable members will correct me if my comments below are not accurate.


CHUCK 


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CHUCK SEARCY
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________________________________
 From: Trude <trude_bennett at unc.edu>
To: chucksearcy at yahoo.com 
Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2012 8:17 AM
Subject: BBC E-mail: Key wheat genetic codes unlocked
 
Trude saw this story on the BBC News website and thought you
should see it.

** Key wheat genetic codes unlocked **
Scientists
 unlock key parts of the complex genetic code of wheat, one of the 
world's most important crops, which could help improve food security.

< http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/news/science-environment-20512197 >



28 November 2012 Last updated at 18:00 GMT 
Wheat genome's key parts unlocked in new studyBy Mark Kinver Environment reporter, BBC News

  
 
Wheat provides one fifth of the global population's intake of calories 

Scientists have unlocked key parts of the complex genetic code of wheat, one of 
the world's most important crops, which could help improve food 
security.

The team hopes the data will accelerate the development of 
varieties more resilient to stresses, such as disease and drought, that 
cause crops to fail.

The 2012 wheat harvest was hit by extreme weather events around the globe, causing a sharp rise in prices. 


Details of the findings have been published in the journal Nature. 


In 2011, the global output of 681 million tonnes made bread 
wheat the third most-produced food crop (behind maize and rice) and 
accounted for about 20% of the calories consumed by the world's 
population. 


The study - involving UK, US and German scientists - has 
built on the 2010 publication of the draft genome, resulting in the 
development of tools that can decipher the genetic code of segments of 
the genome.

The researchers hope the information could help breeders 
produce varieties that are better suited to cope with future threats to 
production yields.

Key traits

"One of the things about why bread wheat is grown all over 
the world is that you are able to adapt it to local environments," 
explained co-author Neil Hall from the University of Liverpool's 
Institute of Integrative Biology.

As far as I know, Vietnam is not able to grow wheat.  They have tried, with little success -- at least that's my understanding.  There may be some areas where wheat can be grown but I'm not aware of such locations.  I would have to inquire to be sure.  In any case, this development might lead to strains which Vietnam could grow successfully.


"The tools we have generated will allow people to more 
rapidly identify where in the genome these traits are located and breed 
them into new lines."

Prof Hall told BBC News that the tool would also "help identify disease resistance and better grain quality".

"We know that there are wild varieties that are particularly 
good when it comes to drought resistance or flood resistance, but they 
have very low productivity," he added.

"You have got to get those high-productivity traits into backgrounds that are more resistant to things like drought or disease."

The researchers say that breeders and researchers will now be able to select plants with desirable combinations of genes using the genetic landmarks (known as markers) identified in the study.

My understanding (based on Jeffrey Smith's presentations) is that 
"markers" are a safe, natural "hybridization" process to encourage 
better strains of plants and seeds but through natural selection.  If the genetic alteration is rejected by the plant, that's fine, that's a natural process.  The genetic modification is not forcedinto the biological makeup of the plant through the radical and 
powerful injection of millions of genes until one manages to cling to 
the target and heal the damage sufficiently to create an entirely new 
gene.  Genetic markers are simply speeding up a natural selection 
process.  (Sorry, that's a my layman's way of expressing ineffectively  a much more complex process, I'm sure.)

"With markers, breeders can track the genetic make-up of 
plants when new varieties are being bred," explained co-author Prof Mike Bevan from the John Innes Centre, Norfolk.

"Plants lacking the desired traits can be eliminated more 
efficiently, and those with the desired characteristics identified more 
quickly, speeding up the production of new varieties." 


Prof Hall said that while it was difficult to forecast when 
the first varieties of wheat using the new technique would be grown, he 
said that it was possible that it could be as little as five years.

Prof Douglas Kell, chief executive of the UK's Biotechnology 
and Biological Sciences Research Council, which funded the research, 
commented: "In the face of this year's wheat crop losses, and worries 
over the impact on prices for consumers, this breakthrough in our 
understanding of the bread wheat genome could not have come at a better 
time.

"This modern strategy is a key component to supporting food 
security and gives breeders the tools to produce more robust varieties 
with higher yields."
Facts about the 'staff of life' 
	* Wheat (Triticum spp) was one of the first domesticated food crops
	* For about 8,000 years, it has been the basic staple food of many major civilisations
	* The crop can be grown from equatorial regions to within the Arctic Circle
	* Wheat has been recorded growing as high as 4.5km above sea level
	* Raised bread loaves are possible because the wheat kernel 
contains gluten, which  traps minute CO2 bubbles when fermentation 
occurs 
	* It is grown on more than 240m hectares, more than any other food crop
(Source: UN FAO)
Related Stories
	* Can science help improve food security? 
	* Wheat genome boost to food supply 
	* World food prices up 10% in July 
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