The New Genetics

2019 ◽  
pp. 157-187
Author(s):  
Gordon Conway ◽  
Ousmane Badiane ◽  
Katrin Glatzel

This chapter turns to genetic intensification, which consists of developing crop and livestock crosses that contain genes capable of producing improved yields on a sustainable basis. These crosses often show increased vigor, such that they tend to outperform both parents, although for reasons that are not fully clear. Today, hybrids and crosses are the basis for most improved crop and livestock breeds, including wheat, rice, maize, and dairy cattle. Nevertheless, as has been long recognized, conventional breeding techniques have practical limitations. The application of modern cellular and molecular biology is pursued through four practical techniques: marker-assisted selection, cell and tissue culture, recombinant DNA, and gene editing. The chapter examines the extent to which these interventions contribute to sustainable intensification: improving nutrition, increasing resilience to pests, diseases, and climate change, and improving nitrogen fixation.

1991 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-25
Author(s):  
D. I. Ferreira

Conventional plant breeding has made a significant impact on the increase in crop production during the last half century. Several shortcomings however, opened up the opportunities for the application of biotechnology in plant breeding. The vari­ous approaches in the field of cell biology (tissue culture) and molecular biology (recombinant DNA technology) are dis­cussed and the application thereof is advocated in a global approach to plant breeding.


2019 ◽  
Vol 102 (5) ◽  
pp. 4215-4226 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.L. Mueller ◽  
J.B. Cole ◽  
T.S. Sonstegard ◽  
A.L. Van Eenennaam

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Naoko Kato-Nitta ◽  
Tadahiko Maeda ◽  
Yusuke Inagaki ◽  
Masashi Tachikawa

Abstract This study empirically examined expert and public attitudes toward applying gene editing to agricultural crops compared with attitudes toward other genetic modification and conventional breeding technologies. Regulations regarding the application of gene editing on food are being debated around the world. New policy measures often face issues of public acceptance and consensus formation; however, reliable quantitative evidence of public perception toward such emerging breeding technologies is scarce. To fill this gap, two web-based surveys were conducted in Japan from December 2016 to February 2017. Participants (N = 3197) were categorised into three groups based on the domain-specific scientific knowledge levels (molecular biology experts, experts in other fields, and lay public). Statistical analysis revealed group differences in risk, benefit, and value perceptions of different technologies. Molecular biology experts had higher benefit and value perceptions, as well as lower risk perceptions regarding new technologies (gene editing and genetic modification). Although the lay public tended to have more favourable attitudes toward gene editing than toward genetic modification, such differences were much smaller than the differences between conventional breeding and genetic modification. The experts in other fields showed some characteristics that are similar to the experts in molecular biology in value perceptions, while showing some characteristics that are similar to the lay public in risk perceptions. The further statistical analyses of lay attitudes revealed the influence of science literacy on attitudinal change toward crops grown with new breeding technologies in benefit perceptions but not in risk or value perceptions. Such results promoted understanding on distinguishing conditions where deficit model explanation types are valid and conditions where they are not.


Author(s):  
Nidhi Chakma ◽  
Moutoshi Chakraborty ◽  
Salma Bhyan ◽  
Mobashwer Alam

Abstract This chapter discusses current progress and prospects of molecular breeding and strategies for developing better saline-tolerant sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) varieties. Most molecular breeding techniques for salt tolerance have been carried out in controlled environments where the plants were not exposed to any variation of the surrounding environment, producing reliable results. Due to the polygenic nature of salt tolerance, the identified quantitative trait loci (QTLs) could be false QTLs. Therefore, QTL validation is important in different plant populations and field conditions. Subsequently, marker validation is important before utilizing marker-assisted selection for screening salt-tolerant plants. Combining molecular breeding with conventional breeding can hasten the development of salt-tolerant sorghum varieties.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 125
Author(s):  
Ravinder K. Goyal ◽  
Maria Augusta Schmidt ◽  
Michael F. Hynes

The contribution of biological nitrogen fixation to the total N requirement of food and feed crops diminished in importance with the advent of synthetic N fertilizers, which fueled the “green revolution”. Despite being environmentally unfriendly, the synthetic versions gained prominence primarily due to their low cost, and the fact that most important staple crops never evolved symbiotic associations with bacteria. In the recent past, advances in our knowledge of symbiosis and nitrogen fixation and the development and application of recombinant DNA technology have created opportunities that could help increase the share of symbiotically-driven nitrogen in global consumption. With the availability of molecular biology tools, rapid improvements in symbiotic characteristics of rhizobial strains became possible. Further, the technology allowed probing the possibility of establishing a symbiotic dialogue between rhizobia and cereals. Because the evolutionary process did not forge a symbiotic relationship with the latter, the potential of molecular manipulations has been tested to incorporate a functional mechanism of nitrogen reduction independent of microbes. In this review, we discuss various strategies applied to improve rhizobial strains for higher nitrogen fixation efficiency, more competitiveness and enhanced fitness under unfavorable environments. The challenges and progress made towards nitrogen self-sufficiency of cereals are also reviewed. An approach to integrate the genetically modified elite rhizobia strains in crop production systems is highlighted.


Life ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 502
Author(s):  
Tinashe Zenda ◽  
Songtao Liu ◽  
Anyi Dong ◽  
Huijun Duan

Adapting to climate change, providing sufficient human food and nutritional needs, and securing sufficient energy supplies will call for a radical transformation from the current conventional adaptation approaches to more broad-based and transformative alternatives. This entails diversifying the agricultural system and boosting productivity of major cereal crops through development of climate-resilient cultivars that can sustainably maintain higher yields under climate change conditions, expanding our focus to crop wild relatives, and better exploitation of underutilized crop species. This is facilitated by the recent developments in plant genomics, such as advances in genome sequencing, assembly, and annotation, as well as gene editing technologies, which have increased the availability of high-quality reference genomes for various model and non-model plant species. This has necessitated genomics-assisted breeding of crops, including underutilized species, consequently broadening genetic variation of the available germplasm; improving the discovery of novel alleles controlling important agronomic traits; and enhancing creation of new crop cultivars with improved tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses and superior nutritive quality. Here, therefore, we summarize these recent developments in plant genomics and their application, with particular reference to cereal crops (including underutilized species). Particularly, we discuss genome sequencing approaches, quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping and genome-wide association (GWAS) studies, directed mutagenesis, plant non-coding RNAs, precise gene editing technologies such as CRISPR-Cas9, and complementation of crop genotyping by crop phenotyping. We then conclude by providing an outlook that, as we step into the future, high-throughput phenotyping, pan-genomics, transposable elements analysis, and machine learning hold much promise for crop improvements related to climate resilience and nutritional superiority.


1999 ◽  
Vol 34 (10) ◽  
pp. 1733-1761 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Elita Batista de Castro ◽  
Marlinda Lobo de Souza ◽  
William Sihler ◽  
Júlio Carlyle Macedo Rodrigues ◽  
Bergmann Morais Ribeiro

Baculoviruses are insect viruses found mainly in Lepidoptera. The family Baculoviridae is taxonomically divided in two genera, Nucleopolyhedrovirus and Granulovirus, which differ by occlusion body morphology. NPVs (Nucleopolyhedroviruses) have polyhedrical inclusion bodies (PIBs) containing multiple viral particles, while GVs (Granuloviruses) appear to be generally single particles occluded in oval shaped occlusion bodies. During the life cycle, two different viral progenies are produced: BV (Budded Virus) and PDV (Polyhedra Derived Virus), which are essential for the infectious process and virus propagation in host cells. Baculoviruses are being used for pest control and they are especially safe due to their specificity and invertebrate-restricted host range. Baculoviruses have been used as vectors for high level protein expression ofheterologous genes from prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms. Also, recombinant DNA techniques have allowed the production of genetically modified viral insecticides. This study is a review on the taxonomy, structure, replication and molecular biology of baculoviruses, as well as their use as bioinsecticides in Brazil.


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