scholarly journals Will Plant Genome Editing Play a Decisive Role in “Quantum-Leap” Improvements in Crop Yield to Feed an Increasing Global Human Population?

Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 1667
Author(s):  
Anton V. Buzdin ◽  
Maxim V. Patrushev ◽  
Eugene D. Sverdlov

Growing scientific evidence demonstrates unprecedented planetary-scale human impacts on the Earth’s system with a predicted threat to the existence of the terrestrial biosphere due to population increase, resource depletion, and pollution. Food systems account for 21–34% of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Over the past half-century, water and land-use changes have significantly impacted ecosystems, biogeochemical cycles, biodiversity, and climate. At the same time, food production is falling behind consumption, and global grain reserves are shrinking. Some predictions suggest that crop yields must approximately double by 2050 to adequately feed an increasing global population without a large expansion of crop area. To achieve this, “quantum-leap” improvements in crop cultivar productivity are needed within very narrow planetary boundaries of permissible environmental perturbations. Strategies for such a “quantum-leap” include mutation breeding and genetic engineering of known crop genome sequences. Synthetic biology makes it possible to synthesize DNA fragments of any desired sequence, and modern bioinformatics tools may hopefully provide an efficient way to identify targets for directed modification of selected genes responsible for known important agronomic traits. CRISPR/Cas9 is a new technology for incorporating seamless directed modifications into genomes; it is being widely investigated for its potential to enhance the efficiency of crop production. We consider the optimism associated with the new genetic technologies in terms of the complexity of most agronomic traits, especially crop yield potential (Yp) limits. We also discuss the possible directions of overcoming these limits and alternative ways of providing humanity with food without transgressing planetary boundaries. In conclusion, we support the long-debated idea that new technologies are unlikely to provide a rapidly growing population with significantly increased crop yield. Instead, we suggest that delicately balanced humane measures to limit its growth and the amount of food consumed per capita are highly desirable for the foreseeable future.

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tian-Gen Chang ◽  
Xin-Guang Zhu

AbstractOn the face of the rapid advances in genome editing technology and greatly expanded knowledge on plant genome and genes, there is a strong demand to develop an effective tool to guide designing crops for higher yields. Here we developed a highly mechanistic model of Whole plAnt Carbon Nitrogen Interaction (WACNI), which predicts crop yield based on major metabolic and biophysical processes in source, sink and transport tissues. WACNI accurately predicted the yield responses of so far reported source, sink and transport related genetic manipulations on rice grain yields. Systematic sensitivity analysis with WACNI was used to classify the source, sink and transport related molecular processes into four categories, i.e. universal yield enhancers, universal yield inhibitors, conditional yield enhancers and weak yield regulators. Simulations using WACNI further show that even without a major change in leaf photosynthetic properties, 54.6% to 73% grain yield increase can be potentially achieved by optimizing these molecular processes during the rice grain filling period while simply combining all the ‘superior’ molecular modules together cannot achieve the optimal yield level. A common macroscopic feature in all these designed high-yield lines is that they all show ‘a sustained and steady growth of grain sink’, which might be used as a generic selection criteria in high-yield rice breeding. Overall, WACNI can serve as a tool to facilitate plant source sink interaction research and guide future crops breeding by design.One sentence summaryA mechanistic model of source, sink flow model is developed and used to demonstrate that optimization of the whole plant carbon nitrogen metabolism can dramatically increase crop yield potential.


Author(s):  
Trương Thị Hồng Hải ◽  
Nguyễn Thị Diệu Thể ◽  
Phan Thu Thảo

In order to establish the pure line of sponge gourd containing aroma feature, we selected the desirable inbred lines by using a self-pollinating method. The present study was investigated to estimate the morphological traits and fruit quality of 6 sponge gourd inbred lines which generated at 4th generation of an aroma Luffa accession B29 under plastic house conditions. The experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications, from May to November in 2016. Five plants per replication were examined. The results indicated that all inbred lines could grow well under plastic house conditions. The inbred lines had the same stem and leaf traits; whereas fruit shape, skin color and fruit veins color were observed differently among inbred lines. The aromatic trait was retained in all inbred lines either before or after cooking. The high yield was found in lines BC1 and BC2 by 10.1 tons/ha and 10.7 tons/ha, respectively. These inbred lines should be examined in open field condition to confirm the presence of aromatic trait and yield potential before completion of the procedures for recognition of new Luffa varieties.  


Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 121
Author(s):  
Monica Bacchi ◽  
Michele Monti ◽  
Antonio Calvi ◽  
Emilio Lo Presti ◽  
Antonio Pellicanò ◽  
...  

The crop yield and quality of seven annual forages (four grasses and three legumes) in sole crop and in mixtures (ratio 50:50) for oat (Avena sativa L.), Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.), triticale (x Triticosecale Wittmack), barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), pea (Pisum sativum L.), berseem (Trifolium alexandrinum L.) and common vetch (Vicia sativa L.) were evaluated in a two-year field experiment adopting two harvesting times, green fodder and silage. The main bio-agronomic traits, dry matter forage yield (DMY) and quantity of crude protein (CP) were determined in both sole crop and intercrop. The land equivalent ratio (LER) was used for evaluating biological efficiency and competitive ability of the intercrops. Our results showed that the total calculated LER for fodder and protein yields was always greater than one and corresponded to crop yield advantages of 16.0% and 11.5%, respectively. Our data also highlighted the low competitive ability of the ryegrass in intercrop, which achieved the lowest yield among all the mixtures. Conversely, the same grass showed the best green fodder quality, due to the high incidence of the legume, equal (on average) to 46%. Triticale and barley, harvested for silage (hard dough stage), provided the best quantitative and qualitative results both in sole crop and intercropped with common vetch and pea, determined mainly by the cereal grain.


2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 109-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Budianti Kadidaa ◽  
Gusti Ray Sadimantar ◽  
Suaib . ◽  
La Ode Safuan ◽  
Muhidin .

Pedosphere ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wiqar AHMAD ◽  
Farmanullah KHAN ◽  
Zahir SHAH ◽  
Muhammad Jamal KHAN

2011 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 531-536 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Kwiatkowski ◽  
Edmar Clemente ◽  
Carlos Alberto Scapim

In Brazil, the greengrocery market of sweet corn has been expanding along the country. In contrast, there have been few agri-industries canning sweet corn (Zea mays) because of the lack of cultivars with agronomic characteristics proper to industrial purposes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the general combining ability (GCA) of seven inbred lines of sweet corn, and the specific combining ability (SCA) of their hybrid combinations based on their agronomic traits, and the chemical composition of the grain. In the growing season 2006/2007, twenty-one single hybrids were evaluated in the Iguatemi Research Station, Maringá County, Northwestern Paraná, in Brazil using a complete randomized block design with four replications. Data were subjected to the analysis of variance and the genotypes were clustered by the Scott-Knott test. We estimated the GCA and SCA effects using the Griffing's method IV with the fixed model for plant height (PH), height of ear (EH), dehusked ears yield (DEY), reducing (RS) and total sugars (TS), starch (ST), proteins (PTN), ether extract (EE) and fibers (FB). The inbred line L4, which was originated from the 'Doce de Cuba', had the best GCA for crop yield and grain quality and therefore should be used in the next hybrid combinations. The hybrids L4xL5 and L3xL7 were the most promising with regard to crop yield and grain quality.


2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
José F.T. GANANÇA ◽  
José G.R. FREITAS ◽  
Humberto G.M. NÓBREGA ◽  
Vanessa RODRIGUES ◽  
Gonçalo ANTUNES ◽  
...  

Taro [Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott] is a root crop which is an important staple food in many regions of the world, producing 10.5 million tonnes on 1.4 million hectares a year. The crop is cultivated in wet (rain fed) or irrigated conditions, requiring on average 2,500 mm water per year, and in many countries it is cultivated in flooded plots. It is estimated that taro production could decrease by 40% as a result of the increase in drought and other severe events. In this work, thirty three accessions, including local cultivars, selected and hybrid lines were submitted to long duration drought stress and screened for tolerance. Twelve physiological, morphological and agronomic traits were measured at harvest, and subject to multivariate analysis. Stress indices, Water Use Efficiency and Factorial Analysis were useful for discriminating accessions regarding drought tolerance and yield stability, and drought tolerant and susceptible cultivars were identified. Our results confirm that different taro cultivars have different drought avoidance and tolerance strategies to cope with water scarcity. Better yield performers minimised biomass and canopy loss, while tolerance was observed in cultivars that presented low potential yield, but efficiently transferred resources to enhance corm formation. Among the 33 accessions, two local cultivars showed high yield stability and could be considered as suitable parents for breeding programs, while two others are well adapted to drought, but with overall low yield potential.


2013 ◽  
Vol 105 (5) ◽  
pp. 1335-1344 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. B. Arnall ◽  
A. P. Mallarino ◽  
M. D. Ruark ◽  
G. E. Varvel ◽  
J. B. Solie ◽  
...  

2007 ◽  
Vol 363 (1491) ◽  
pp. 591-609 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth S Dennis ◽  
Jeffrey Ellis ◽  
Allan Green ◽  
Danny Llewellyn ◽  
Matthew Morell ◽  
...  

The current tools of enquiry into the structure and operation of the plant genome have provided us with an understanding of plant development and function far beyond the state of knowledge that we had previously. We know about key genetic controls repressing or stimulating the cascades of gene expression that move a plant through stages in its life cycle, facilitating the morphogenesis of vegetative and reproductive tissues and organs. The new technologies are enabling the identification of key gene activity responses to the range of biotic and abiotic challenges experienced by plants. In the past, plant breeders produced new varieties with changes in the phases of development, modifications of plant architecture and improved levels of tolerance and resistance to environmental and biotic challenges by identifying the required phenotypes in a few plants among the large numbers of plants in a breeding population. Now our increased knowledge and powerful gene sequence-based diagnostics provide plant breeders with more precise selection objectives and assays to operate in rationally planned crop improvement programmes. We can expect yield potential to increase and harvested product quality portfolios to better fit an increasing diversity of market requirements. The new genetics will connect agriculture to sectors beyond the food, feed and fibre industries; agri-business will contribute to public health and will provide high-value products to the pharmaceutical industry as well as to industries previously based on petroleum feedstocks and chemical modification processes.


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