The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) has brought its 15 international agricultural research institutes together into a formal, stronger Alliance of Future Harvest Centers. This Alliance was created to bring resources and programs together, and to make this partnership work in areas where the CGIAR’s help is needed most in addressing critical problems.

The CGIAR will also streamline access to its Future Harvest Centers, bring more disciplines and lines of thought to enhance institutional innovations, enable Centers to speak with one voice on global issues, achieve cost savings in corporate services, and resolve conflicts. All these are meant to increase the efficiency, effectiveness, and synergy amongst the Centers, and likewise increase the overall performance of the CGIAR system.

The Alliance may also have its own office soon, within the premises of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) at Rome, Italy. Discussions are already underway.

For more information, as well as the press release, visit http://www.icrisat.org.

AFRICA URGED TO SPEED UP COMMERCIALIZATION OF BIOTECH CROPS

African countries have been urged to speed up the process of putting genetically improved crops into the hands of farmers.

“Africa must decide now whether their public biotech crop research will remain purely just that: research,” said Dr Joel I. Cohen, Director, Program for Biosafety Systems (PBS), at a press conference in Nairobi, Kenya, where he launched the findings of a new biotech crop survey conducted in Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. Dr Cohen, who is also a Senior Research Fellow with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), said lack of biosafety laws in most African countries was to blame for non-commercialization of transgenic crops; yet such crops had the potential to reduce the use of pesticides, increase drought tolerance, and improve the nutritional value of staple foods on the continent.

The new study, commissioned by IFPRI and conducted by Dr Cohen and Prof Idah Sithole-Niang of the University of Zimbabwe, assessed the state of public biotech crop research, the types of genes being used, and the biosafety and regulatory challenges facing Africa. According to the study, current biotech research has the potential to benefit the environment, improve health, reduce the cost of food, and increase the incomes of poor smallholder farmers throughout Africa. The study documents public biotech research on 20 different crops, including maize, sweet potato and cowpeas. It focuses on improving resistance to diseases and pests that increasingly devastate crop yields on the continent. The study recommends an increase in small-scale, confined field trials to test crops, determine safety, and receive feedback from farmers. It also stresses the need to provide decision-makers with science-based biosafety information, so as to improve the clarity of regulatory policies and procedures.

For details contact Daniel Otunge of KBIC on dotunge@absfafrica.org

ARS TO HELP IMPROVE CASSAVA

The Agricultural Research Service (ARS), the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) chief scientific research agency, will soon contribute to the improvement of cassava, one of the African continent’s most important food crops. With ARS molecular biologist Edgar B. Cahoon, the project aims to increase the cassava root’s vitamin A and E content.

Cassava is a major food source for most Africans, and is the fourth most important crop in the world. Its root is low in protein and several micronutrients, however, so the new project seeks to develop modified roots with higher levels of zinc, iron, protein, and vitamins A and E. It also hopes to produce cassava with longer shelf life and resistance to geminivirus infection. Development of the product will take place in the United States, and will be tested for nutrient content and field stability and safety in Africa.

The project, called “BioCassava Plus,” is a 10-institution wide endeavor, and is one of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s program grants in its “Grand Challenges in Global Health” initiative.

For more information, visit http://www.ars.usda.gov/
is/pr/2005/050711.htm.

EUROPE’S STRATEGIC RESEARCH AGENDA OUT

The strategic research agenda ‘Plants for the future’ on how Europe can improve the safe exploitation of the genetic diversity in plants using plant genomics and biotechnology has just been released. It was an output of a multi-sectoral group that included research institutions, industry, farmers, regulatory authorities, as well as consumer and environmental organizations.

Europabio, the European association of bioindustries, said that the agenda defines the strategic research priorities for the two coming decades. The priorities are to produce healthy and safe food and feed, and to increase competitiveness of the agricultural value chain while contributing to sustainability.

Specifically, the research platform will focus on aspects in agriculture, raw materials, feed and food, such as oil plants containing more long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids with health benefits for humans, or crops with higher levels of vitamins. It will also deal with animal feed crops that are important to Europe such as wheat, grain, legumes, and rapeseed. Crop research will also be done to reduce the need for agricultural inputs and better disease protection.

Download the 100-page agenda by visiting http://www.europabio.org.

CHINA APPROVES NEW GM CORN VARIETY

Mike Johanns, Secretary of the US Department of Agriculture, announced that China has approved NK603, a variety of Round Up Ready corn, bringing the total Chinese biotech approvals to eight varieties of corn, two of cotton, seven of canola and one variety of soybeans. Johanns also said that the US will work with China to promote a regulatory system based on sound science to expedite future approvals.

Secretary Johanns and Minister Li Changjiang of China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine agreed on a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to improve bilateral cooperation on animal and plant health and food safety. This will enable the US to address the sanitary, phytosanitary, and food safety issues that have hindered its agricultural access to China. The MOU also provides for the exchanges of information on relevant laws; regulations and standards; inspection and quarantine procedures; methodology and technology; pests and disease; toxic and harmful residues; food certification and establishment registration.

For more of Johanns’ first visit to China, visit http://www.usda.gov.

FAO REPORTS ON WORLDWIDE GM TREE EFFORTS

A new global study of biotechnology in forestry conducted by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) revealed that about 70 percent of forest biotechnology activities is taking place in developing countries. India and China are the most active players in the developing world.

Of the over 2700 biotechnology activities reported worldwide over the past 10 years, genetic modification accounts for around 19 percent only. FAO reported that overall, genetic modification activities in forestry are taking place in at least 35 countries, with the vast majority at the laboratory stage, with some supporting field trials.

The study also noted that more than 210 field trials of genetically modified (GM) trees are currently under way in 16 countries. Most of the trials which are largely on Populus, Pinus, Liquidambar and Eucalyptus, are being conducted in the US. Only China has reported the commercial release of GM trees: around 1.4 million plants on 300-500 hectares in 2002.

Read more on the FAO study at http://www.fao.org.

In the latest issue of Nature Biotechnology, Ganga Rao Davuluri of Stazione Zoologica, Naples, Italy, and colleagues demonstrate that “Fruit-specific RNAi-mediated suppression of DET1 enhances carotenoid and flavonoid content in tomatoes.” The research shows new work on raising the levels of nutritious compounds in tomato through the use of inverted repeat RNA interference (RNAi) constructs under the control of fruit-specific promoters – and through the control of a single gene.

The gene in question is DET1, which codes for a transcription factor first identified in Arabidopsis. DET1 mutants can grow in the dark, as though the plants were exposed to light. Researchers were able to engineer tomato plants in such a way that DET1 would be suppressed by RNA interference, but would not result in any other disruption of plant metabolism or growth.

After testing the fruits for nutrient content, researchers found that both lycopene and beta carotene were present at higher levels than in wild-type fruits. Other nutrients were also increased, including chlorgenic acid and naringenin-chalcone. All the increased nutrients have been shown to be potent antioxidants in previous studies.

The findings of the research may prove to be highly beneficial to both consumers and the food industry. First, the transgene and the constructs created are of host plant origin, the gene in question has natural mutants, and the modifications on the plant do not result in lower yield.

Download the journal article at http://www.nature.com/
nbt/journal/v23/n7/pdf/nbt1108.pdf, and the news at http://www.nature.com/nbt/journal/v23/n7/pdf/nbt0705-825.pdf

PAPER ASSESSES BIOTECH IN AFRICA

Carl K. Eicher and colleagues of the Department of Agricultural Economics. Michigan State University write on “Biotechnology And The African Farmer,” a staff paper produced and published online by the university. It seeks to answer why most African governments underinvest in modern and productive agriculture, and why countries in Africa are fearful of supporting and investing in the gene revolution.

The paper is divided into five parts. The first discusses the problem; the second and third present the case studies on the use of genetically modified (GM) crops in Africa; the fourth draws lessons from the case studies; and the fifth discusses what financial resources, infrastructure, and expertise (scientific, technical, political, institutional, and financial) are needed to help Africa overcome these barriers and join the global biotech revolution.

The researchers conclude that agricultural biotechnology has the potential to help African smallholders, and also confer benefits to consumers, the environment, and health of farmers and farm worker. In particular, it concludes that investment in major agricultural biotechnology institutions should be given immediate and sustained priority; African capacity in biosafety, regulatory procedures, and research, among others, should be strengthened; and African governments should invest in long term training programs for African scientists to allow them to become efficient borrowers of GM research while building their own capacity to carry out the same research in Africa.

For more details, read the paper at http://agecon.lib.umn.edu/cgi-bin/pdf_view.pl?paperid=
16821&ftype=.pdf

VITAMIN C ALSO HELPS PLANTS, RESEARCH SHOWS

In “Increasing Tolerance to Ozone by Elevating Foliar Ascorbic Acid Confers Greater Protection Against Ozone Than Increasing Avoidance,” Daniel Gallie and Zhong Chen of the University of California, Riverside show that Vitamin C can help plants defend themselves against the destructive effects of ozone. Their findings are published in the latest issue of Plant Physiology.

Atmospheric oxygen, though beneficial for most living organisms, can be degraded to ozone. Exposure to ozone, in the case of plants, results in impaired photosynthesis, reduced growth, and an accelerated onset of senescence in plants. In the research, the authors increased the vitamin level in leaves by manipulating dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR), a naturally occurring enzyme that recycles vitamin C. Using transgenic tobacco exposed to varying levels of ozone, the researchers showed that the change also reduced the harmful effects of ozone on plants, such as brown spots, slower plant growth, and lowered crop yields. Moreover, after enzyme assays and measurement of stomatal size in transgenic plants, among other protocols for measuring the effects of ozone on plant growth and metabolism, they found that DHAR-overexpression allowed plants to have higher levels of chlorophyll, and a higher level of photosynthetic activity.

Read more at http://www.plantphysiol.org/cgi/
content/full/138/3/1673

RESEARCH LOOKS INTO COLD, SALT INTOLERANT PLANT

Jianhua Zhu of Purdue University, USA found out that “HOS10 encodes an R2R3-type MYB transcription factor essential for cold acclimation in plants.” The research reports the identification and characterization of an Arabidopsis mutant extremely sensitive to freezing temperatures and sodium chloride levels due to the mutation of a gene, and is published in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences online.

Plant metabolism is highly complex, and still not completely understood. For instance, evidence indicates that metabolic pathways can cross each other and affect one another when pathways controlling drought, salinity, and cold tolerance are concerned. Through RNA gel analysis, cloning of the HOS10 gene, mutation of the gene, and identification of the HOS10 locus, among other things, researchers produced plants which were reduced in size, flowered early, and yet had reduced fertility. These HOS10 mutants, moreover, could not survive in cold and high salt conditions, and could not synthesize an important hormone.

This mutation, researchers said, could prove useful in further studies involving connections between cold or salt tolerance, and plant metabolism. Download the complete article at http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/102/28/9966.

Dr. Charles Vest, former president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), will introduce new observations on the openness of research and partnership among universities and industry in “To Contribute to Society: Lessons learnt from building the relationship between University, Industry and Government in the USA”. His lecture is supported by the University of Cambridge Vice-Chancellor's Office, and will be webcast live on July 15th, 2005, at 5 p.m., British Summer Time.

For more details, visit http://www.cambridge-mit.org/
cgi-bin/default.pl?SID=6&NewsID=286