News & Events
Farmers worldwide have been applying nitrogen fertilizers to boost crop yields, but excessive use could have an impact on the environment. Thus, improving crop nitrogen efficiency is vital for yield increase and environmental protection. Foxtail millet (Setaria italica L.) is one of the model crops used to study abiotic stress resistance in crops. However, the molecular mechanisms involved in nitrogen use efficiency in foxtail millet remain elusive.
Prior to the field trials that were conducted Tando Jam, Pakistan during Kharif seasons of 2019-2020 and 2020-2021, the transgenic cotton variety underwent molecular analysis to confirm the presence of the three genes, bioassay tests to prove its resistance against the three insect pests, glyphosate assay for herbicide tolerance, and plant characterization to identify the best-performing transgenic cotton line.
Rapeseed (Brassica napus) is an excellent and important source for vegetable oil production, but its production is severely affected by lodging. Lodging hinders mechanization and decreases yield, and an ideal solution is semidwarf breeding. Limited by germplasm resources, semidwarf breeding developed slowly in rapeseed. In the current study, a mutant called sdA03 was isolated from EMS-mutagenized lines of Zhongshuang 11 (ZS11)
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Panel on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO Panel) has published the Scientific Opinion on the safety of genetically modified herbicide tolerant oilseed rape GT73 for placing on the market of isolated seed protein for food under Regulation (EC) No. 1829/2003. Application EFSA-GMO-RX-026/2 was submitted by the Bayer Group for the modification of the terms of the authorization regarding the placing on the market of isolated seed protein from oilseed rape GT73 for food.
Researchers from the University of Copenhagen have discovered that plants can change their root direction and grow away from saline areas. This discovery changes current understanding of how plants change their shape and growth direction and may help alleviate the accelerating global problem of high soil salinity. Professor Staffan Persson of the University of Copenhagen's Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences said that the world needs crops that can better withstand salt.
CRISPR-Cas9-mediated knockdown of vacuolar invertase (VInv) gene was carried out using two sgRNAs in local cultivar of potato plants. The transformation efficiency of potatoes was found to be 11.7%. The primary transformants were screened through PCR, Sanger sequencing, digital PCR, and ELISA. The overall editing efficacy was determined to be 25.6% as per TIDE analysis. The amplicon sequencing data showed maximum indel frequency for potato plant T12 (14.3%) resulting in 6.2% gene knockout and 6% frame shift.
Researchers from the Centre of Excellence in Molecular Biology, University of the Punjab, used CRISPR-Cas9 to knockdown vacuolar invertase (VInv) gene, which resulted to reduced cold-storage sugar formation and sweetening in potatoes. The findings are published in Planta. CRISPR-Cas9-mediated knockdown of VInv gene was carried out using two sgRNAs in local cultivar of potato plants. The mRNA expression of VInv gene was reduced 90–99-fold in edited potato plants, in comparison with the non-edited potato plant.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) launched seeds into space as part of their initiative to develop crops that can withstand the impacts of climate change. The Arabidopsis and sorghum seeds are traveling to the International Space Station staring November 7, 2022, at the same time when leaders met at the UN Climate Change Conference COP 27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, to tackle the environmental challenges that we are facing today, including the impact of climate change on agrifood systems.
The apocarotenoids play a vital role in plant growth and development process, especially strigolactones, which can induce rooting and help in the interaction with symbiotic microbes in plants. They also act as colorants, antioxidants, hormones, signalling components, scent/aroma constituents and chromophores. In silico approaches are valuable in reducing the complexity regarding gene networks in plants that help to develop new biotechnological and bioinformatics tactics in crop improvement programmes.
Forty-four sorghum scientists representing public and private institutions from Asia and the Americas visited ICRISAT headquarters to participate in a field day that had 2100 unique hybrid products and 5000 breeding lines of varieties on display. Dr Sean Mayes, Research Program Director-Accelerated Crop Improvement, called for increased private-sector participation to take advantage of the benefits of the Sorghum Hybrid Parents Research Consortium (SHPRC). He encouraged the participants to disseminate the benefits of SHPRC through their respective networks and to credit ICRISAT for its material when used in their released variety/hybrid.
This week, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is hosting two sessions starting with the fifth global meeting of the Farmers’ Forum February 17-20th in Rome, Italy. The Farmers’ Forum is a bottom-up consultation process which creates a dialogue between small farmers’ and rural producers’ organizations, IFAD, and governments centered around rural development and poverty reduction. In celebration of the International Year of Family Farming (IYFF), IFAD will sponsor a side event on family farming, as well as a special session on small-scale fisheries.
We demystify recent advances in genome assemblies for the heterozygous staple crop cassava (Manihot esculenta), and highlight key cassava genomic resources. Cassava, Manihot esculenta Crantz, is a crop of societal and agricultural importance in tropical regions around the world. Genomics provides a platform for accelerated improvement of cassava's nutritional and agronomic traits, as well as for illuminating aspects of cassava's history including its path towards domestication.