an international team of scientists has developed salt-tolerant plants using a new type of genetic modification. The work has been led by researchers from the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics and the University of Adelaide’s School of Agriculture, Food and Wine and with scientists from the department of plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge, UK. the team used a new gm technique to contain salt in parts of the plant where it does less damage and is in the process of transferring this technology to crops such as rice, wheat and barley. the results have been published in the plant science journal, the plant Cell.
two new large-scale studies by researchers at Cornell University and the U. S. Department of Agriculture, published recently in the journal Science, report major discoveries in corn genetics that could revolutionize corn breeding. the study used more than one million corn plants to identify the genes involved in flowering time; the researchers found that the trait is influenced by the combined effects of more than 40 genes. the second study uncovered for the first time an important pattern in gene recombination, where large parts of the genome fail to recombine near the center of a hybrid corns chromosome. the researchers believe this pattern may contribute to the survival and vigor of hybrids.
midwest farmers are growing a new variety of soybeans developed by University of Illinois researchers that have resistance to soybean aphids. however, in addition to the resistant plants, U of i researchers also discovered a new soybean aphid which is not controlled by this resistance. Dowling and Jackson were the first two resistant varieties to be identified. “We found that there are different biotypes of soybean aphids, including a biotype that can overcome the resistance gene for Dowling. We don’t know how widespread those aphids are or whether or not this is actually going to occur in fields, but certainly its something to be concerned about,” says Glen Hartman, Soybean Plant Pathologist with the U.S. department of agriculture and U of i.
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