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Plant virus RNA in glacial ice
trends in plant science Headlines Crop gene diversity declining A new report by the World Watch Institute, Nature’s Cornucopia: Our Stake in Plant Diversity, was cited as saying that the diversity of plant life around the world is diminishing at an alarming rate. To fix the problem, the report recommends that more seed banks be set up around the world to conserve the genetic traits of plants at a cost of about $670 million a year worldwide. The development of large, modern farms has drastically cut the number of different varieties of crops grown, and human encroachment has diminished wild ecosystems. For example, .90% of the varieties of peas and cabbages, and 81% of the varieties of tomatoes that were grown in the USA in 1904 are no longer grown and the seeds are not being stored for future use. In China, 10 000 wheat varieties grown in 1949 had shrunk to 1000 by the 1970s. In Mexico, only 20% of the corn varieties grown 60 years ago remain in cultivation, ‘an alarming decline for the cradle of corn domestication,’ the report says.
New website and pesticide research updates Expanded access to pesticide and related resources. New features include: pesticide-related news stories, updated daily from hundreds of sources; Pesticide Research Updates, a new trimestral publication about the health effects of pesticides; pesticide and related issue resource guide, and The Pesticide Advisor, a resource guide for questions about specific pest and pesticide problems. The website content is now fully searchable (http://www.panna.org).
Myths of gene patents E. Richard Gold, author of the 1996 Property Rights and the Ownership of Human Biological Materials, argues that there are two myths about patenting. Myth 1: without patents, nobody would invest in researching genes because there would be no way for that person to make back the money invested. Not true he says, people invent for many reasons, from personal pride to reputation and patents might actually prevent others from conducting research because they often relate to earlystage research. Anyone wishing to carry out later-stage research might be discouraged from doing so by that patent. Myth 2: those opposed to gene patenting argue that many of the ethical and environmental problems surrounding the commercialization of genes will be slowed down by eliminating gene patents. Not true he says, because in the absence of patents anyone might use the invention without restriction. When there is a patent owner, the public can hold that person responsible for unethical conduct. Gold concludes that patents are neither all good nor all bad. They have their place in the regulation of genetic technology, but that place must be determined by all of us, not only those who profit from the technology or who live in fear of it.
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January 2000, Vol. 5, No. 1
Strawberry fruit genes A biologist at the Center for Plant Breeding and Reproduction Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands, focused on a group of 1800 strawberry genes. Using microarray technology, strawberry cDNAs were printed on slides and the genes that were being expressed in fruit, from green to fully ripe, were monitored. Two hundred genes whose expression varies with development were found, including a late-stage cluster that is turned on during membrane breakdown. Genes that affect hormonal control will be investigated next. Science (1999) 286, 445.
Growing rice in Canada Rice, a crop normally associated with steamy sub-tropical countries or southern USA, is thriving in experimental paddies in the southwestern corner of Ontario. The crop trials are offering researchers strong indications that rice can be adapted to Canadian conditions and can provide farmers with another grain to grow alongside such familiar staples as wheat and barley. The nearest North American areas where large amounts of rice are cultivated are Arkansas and Mississippi, hundreds of kilometers to the south. However, the researchers say that Canada theoretically has a good shot at becoming a rice producer because the grain thrives at similar latitudes in Korea and Japan, and even in northern China. The quest to grow rice in Canada is the product of an effort by the federal and provincial agriculture ministries and Ducks Unlimited, a wildlife group that hopes that the flooding of farm fields to create rice paddies can perform double duty as a wetland habitat for waterfowl.
Biodiversity as insurance Just why are diversity and competition so important for balancing the overall health of ecosystems? The true measure of a community’s biological health and stability is a reflection of the ability of just some species to
withstand environmental changes, such as a warmer climate, or a change in the atmosphere or in land use. Biodiversity is an insurance policy against unknown environmental fluctuations and disturbances. A mathematical model developed at University of Wisconsin at Madison might contribute to a better understanding of ecosystem dynamics and how ecosystems change along with the larger environment. Science (1999) 286, 542–544.
GM plants communicate with bacteria N-acylhomoserine lactones (AHLs) play an important role in plant–microorganism interactions. The AHLs produced by the transgenic plants are sufficient to induce target gene expression in several recombinant bacterial AHL biosensors, to restore biocontrol activity to an HHL-deficient Pseudomonas aureofaciens strain and to restore pathogenicity of an Erwinia carotovora strain. The ability to generate bacterial quorum-sensing signaling molecules in plants offers novel opportunities for disease control and for manipulating plant–microorganism interactions. Nat. Biotechnol. (1999) 17, 1017–1020.
Detoxification confers bacterial resistance Transgenic sugarcane plants have been generated that express an albicidin detoxifying gene (albD) cloned from a bacterium that provides biocontrol against leaf scald disease. Plants with an albicidin detoxification capacity show resistance to both disease symptoms and multiplication of the toxigenic pathogen. Nat. Biotechnol. (1999) 17, 1021–1024.
Plant virus RNA in glacial ice Scientists have detected tomato mosaic tobamovirus (ToMV) RNA by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RTPCR) amplification of glacial ice subcores ,500 to ~140 000 years old. Using 244 bp of the coat protein gene, a neighbor-joining tree of ice virus and extant ToMV isolates revealed the relationships between isolates. Subcores that contained sequences nearly identical to contemporary ToMV sequences suggest that recent ToMV populations have an extended age, perhaps because ancient forms continually return to the atmosphere and hydrosphere from glacial meltwater or from ablated glacial surfaces. This raises the possibility that modern populations of viruses are complex mixtures continually released from ancient sources such as ice. Polar Biol. (1999) 22, 207–212.
New website and pesticide research updates Expanded access to pesticide and related resources. New features include: pesticide-related news stories, updated daily from hundreds of sources; Pesticide Research Updates, a new trimestral publication about the health effects of pesticides; pesticide and related issue resource guide, and The Pesticide Advisor, a resource guide for questions about specific pest and pesticide problems. The website content is now fully searchable (http://www.panna.org).
Myths of gene patents E. Richard Gold, author of the 1996 Property Rights and the Ownership of Human Biological Materials, argues that there are two myths about patenting. Myth 1: without patents, nobody would invest in researching genes because there would be no way for that person to make back the money invested. Not true he says, people invent for many reasons, from personal pride to reputation and patents might actually prevent others from conducting research because they often relate to earlystage research. Anyone wishing to carry out later-stage research might be discouraged from doing so by that patent. Myth 2: those opposed to gene patenting argue that many of the ethical and environmental problems surrounding the commercialization of genes will be slowed down by eliminating gene patents. Not true he says, because in the absence of patents anyone might use the invention without restriction. When there is a patent owner, the public can hold that person responsible for unethical conduct. Gold concludes that patents are neither all good nor all bad. They have their place in the regulation of genetic technology, but that place must be determined by all of us, not only those who profit from the technology or who live in fear of it.
8
January 2000, Vol. 5, No. 1
Strawberry fruit genes A biologist at the Center for Plant Breeding and Reproduction Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands, focused on a group of 1800 strawberry genes. Using microarray technology, strawberry cDNAs were printed on slides and the genes that were being expressed in fruit, from green to fully ripe, were monitored. Two hundred genes whose expression varies with development were found, including a late-stage cluster that is turned on during membrane breakdown. Genes that affect hormonal control will be investigated next. Science (1999) 286, 445.
Growing rice in Canada Rice, a crop normally associated with steamy sub-tropical countries or southern USA, is thriving in experimental paddies in the southwestern corner of Ontario. The crop trials are offering researchers strong indications that rice can be adapted to Canadian conditions and can provide farmers with another grain to grow alongside such familiar staples as wheat and barley. The nearest North American areas where large amounts of rice are cultivated are Arkansas and Mississippi, hundreds of kilometers to the south. However, the researchers say that Canada theoretically has a good shot at becoming a rice producer because the grain thrives at similar latitudes in Korea and Japan, and even in northern China. The quest to grow rice in Canada is the product of an effort by the federal and provincial agriculture ministries and Ducks Unlimited, a wildlife group that hopes that the flooding of farm fields to create rice paddies can perform double duty as a wetland habitat for waterfowl.
Biodiversity as insurance Just why are diversity and competition so important for balancing the overall health of ecosystems? The true measure of a community’s biological health and stability is a reflection of the ability of just some species to
withstand environmental changes, such as a warmer climate, or a change in the atmosphere or in land use. Biodiversity is an insurance policy against unknown environmental fluctuations and disturbances. A mathematical model developed at University of Wisconsin at Madison might contribute to a better understanding of ecosystem dynamics and how ecosystems change along with the larger environment. Science (1999) 286, 542–544.
GM plants communicate with bacteria N-acylhomoserine lactones (AHLs) play an important role in plant–microorganism interactions. The AHLs produced by the transgenic plants are sufficient to induce target gene expression in several recombinant bacterial AHL biosensors, to restore biocontrol activity to an HHL-deficient Pseudomonas aureofaciens strain and to restore pathogenicity of an Erwinia carotovora strain. The ability to generate bacterial quorum-sensing signaling molecules in plants offers novel opportunities for disease control and for manipulating plant–microorganism interactions. Nat. Biotechnol. (1999) 17, 1017–1020.
Detoxification confers bacterial resistance Transgenic sugarcane plants have been generated that express an albicidin detoxifying gene (albD) cloned from a bacterium that provides biocontrol against leaf scald disease. Plants with an albicidin detoxification capacity show resistance to both disease symptoms and multiplication of the toxigenic pathogen. Nat. Biotechnol. (1999) 17, 1021–1024.
Plant virus RNA in glacial ice Scientists have detected tomato mosaic tobamovirus (ToMV) RNA by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RTPCR) amplification of glacial ice subcores ,500 to ~140 000 years old. Using 244 bp of the coat protein gene, a neighbor-joining tree of ice virus and extant ToMV isolates revealed the relationships between isolates. Subcores that contained sequences nearly identical to contemporary ToMV sequences suggest that recent ToMV populations have an extended age, perhaps because ancient forms continually return to the atmosphere and hydrosphere from glacial meltwater or from ablated glacial surfaces. This raises the possibility that modern populations of viruses are complex mixtures continually released from ancient sources such as ice. Polar Biol. (1999) 22, 207–212.