News & Events
An international research group including researchers from the Institute for Environmental Biotechnology at Graz University of Technology have shown how a bacterium inside the seeds of rice plants effectively and environmentally friendly inhibits destructive plant pathogens. The research group has been investigating the microbiome of rice plant seeds for some time in order to establish correlations between plant health and the occurrence of certain microorganisms.
Being integral primary producers in diverse ecosystems, microalgal genomes could be mined for ecological insights, but representative genome sequences are lacking for many phyla. We cultured and sequenced 107 microalgae species from 11 different phyla indigenous to varied geographies and climates. This collection was used to resolve genomic differences between saltwater and freshwater microalgae. Freshwater species showed domain-centric ontology enrichment for nuclear and nuclear membrane functions,
An Israeli startup called eggXYt embarked on a groundbreaking project that uses gene editing to address the male chick culling problem in the poultry and egg industries. According to Yehuda Elram, co-founder and CEO of eggXYt, billions of male chicks are slaughtered every year because male layers (the breed of chicken used for eggs) can't lay eggs and their meat is too scrawny.
Researchers at the University of Chicago led by Prof. Gregory Voth have created the first usable computational model of the entire virus responsible for COVID-19, and they are making this model widely available to help advance research during the pandemic. Professor Voth and his team have used their previous research to find the most important characteristics of each individual component of the virus to make a comprehensive computational model that could run on a computer.
Plant-growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) are used to improve plant health and promote crop production. However, because some PGPB (including Bacillus subtilis) do not maintain substantial colonization on plant roots over time, it is unclear how effective PGPB are throughout the plant growing cycle. A better understanding of the dynamics of plant root community assembly is needed to develop and harness the potential of PGPB
Transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), a plant breeding innovation, have been successfully used to develop premium quality high-oleic soybean oil, bacterial blight resistant rice, and potato chips with reduced acrylamide. Transcription activator-like effectors (TALEs) are proteins made and used by plant pathogenic bacteria to control plant genes during infection. TALENs are protein combinations composed of two parts: one part is the TALE that targets the protein to a specific DNA sequence and the second part is a nuclease (N) that cuts DNA.
The United Kingdom's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is planning to conduct a consultation on gene editing which could unlock substantial benefits to nature, the environment and help farmers with crops resistant to pests, diseases, or extreme weather and to produce healthier, more nutritious food. Secretary George Eustice made the announcement in his speech at the Oxford Farming Conference on January 7, which focused on science.
Four transgenic chickpea lines harbouring stress inducible AtDREB1a were generated with transformation efficiency of 0.1%. The integration, transmission and regulated expression were confirmed by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), Southern Blot hybridization and Reverse Transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), respectively. Transgenic chickpea lines exhibited higher relative water content, longer chlorophyll retention capacity and higher osmotic adjustment under severe drought stress (stress level 4), as compared to control.
Scientists from the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have found a gene that plays an important role in helping rice adapt to low soil nitrogen. Nitrogen fertilizer has an indispensable role in increasing crop yields, but on the other hand, it creates a severe threat to ecosystems. For this reason, breeding new crop varieties with high nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) is a high priority for both agricultural production and environmental protection.
Martin Lema, Adjunct Professor at the National University of Quilmes, released an article containing a detailed review of evidence on off-target effects and unintended DNA insertions in gene editing. The document, published in the Journal of Regulatory Science, is a useful resource in proposing concrete regulatory criteria to address the issues. According to Lema, there is an increasing number of regulatory systems worldwide that consider applications for the authorization of activities involving the use of gene editing for agri-food use.
The experiment was conducted to assess associations between root yield and yield- related traits of orange-fleshed sweetpotato genotypes to identify traits that have maximum effect on root yield of sweetpotato to make possible selection. Twenty-four Orange Fleshed Sweetpotato genotypes were evaluated in 2017 main cropping season at Hawassa Agricultural Research Center using a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications.
Barkissa Fofana believes that microbiology is key to making degraded land green and productive again, and she is carrying out research to prove it. “Something has to be done to tackle the environmental problems caused by climate change, desertification and population growth,” says Barkissa from an Acacia field just outside the city of Djibo in Burkina Faso’s northern Sahel region.