How Genetics Affects What Plants We Grow and How We Grow Them

1
DNA in your GARDEN
How Genetics Affects What Plants We Grow and How
We Grow Them
Peggy G. Lemaux Cooperative Extension
Specialist UC Berkeley
2
Tour d'Onion
3
(No Transcript)
4
(No Transcript)
5
CELLS
6
Cell Wall
Nucleus
7
Dividing cell
Chromosomes
8

Chromosome
Genes
9
How is a new plant variety created by classical
breeding?
Triticum monococcumAncient variety
Triticum aestivum Modern bread variety
10
Chemical units represented by alphabetic letters
11
of wheat
Random retention of information from each parent
12
Yield Increase by year
13
wheat
Used for Marker-Assisted Breeding
Genomics
1700 books (or 1.7 million pages)
14
Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) uses
marker-assisted breeding and biotechnology to
develop African maize varieties
SOURCE Body announces plan to develop
drought-tolerant maize for Africa, April 1,
2008, Checkbiotech.org http//www.checkbiotech.org
/green_News_Genetics.aspx?infoId17403
15
Genetic Engineering Methods
Inserts randomly in genome
equivalent to a gene
16
TERMS USED
GMO Genetically Modified Organism GEO
Genetically Engineered Organism LMO
Living Modified Organism rDNA
Recombinant DNA Biotechnology
17
Genetic Engineering
Classical Breeding
compared to
18
SOURCE NCFAP USDA
19
SOURCE http//www.ers.usda.gov/Data/BiotechCrops/
20
Global Area of Biotech Crops, 1996 to
2007 Industrial and Developing Countries
(Million Hectares)
282 million acres worldwide comparable in size
to combined areas of CA and TX
23 industrial and developing countries in order
of acreage US, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, India,
China, Paraguay, South Africa, Uruguay,
Philippines, Australia, Spain, Mexico, Colombia,
Chile, France, Honduras, Czech Republic,
Portugal, Germany, Slovakia. Romania, Poland.
Source Clive James, 2008
21
Estimated 75 of Processed Foods Have GE
Ingredients
22
Only a few whole foods on the market are
genetically engineered
23
WHATS IN THE PIPELINE?
24
Arcadia Biosciences develops canola that uses 50
less nitrogen fertilizer
SOURCE http//archives.foodsafety.ksu.edu/agnet/2
007/4-2007/agnet_april_10.htmstory0
25
Engineered drought tolerance leads to vigorous
growth of plants after prolonged drought while
control plants died
SOURCE Rivero, R.M., Kojima, M., Gepstein, A.,
Sakakibara, H., Mittler, R., Gepstein, S. and
Blumwald, E. 2007. Delayed leaf senescence
induces extreme drought tolerance in a flowering
plant. Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences USA 104 19631-19636.
26
Mitigating food allergies, like peanut, soy and
wheat, through engineering of plants
27
Genetically engineered pollen reduces allergy
symptoms in sufferers
SOURCE Niederberger et al., 2004. Vaccination
with genetically engineered allergens prevents
progression of allergic disease. PNAS early
edition (August 13, 2004)
28
(No Transcript)
29
Genetic engineering used to improve breakdown of
global wastepaper glut
SOURCE Fierobe et al. 2005. Action of Designer
Cellulosomes on Homogeneous Versus Complex
Substrates CONTROLLED INCORPORATION OF THREE
DISTINCT ENZYMES INTO A DEFINED TRIFUNCTIONAL
SCAFFOLDIN. J. Biol. Chem. 28016325-16334.
30
Engineered poplar removes environmental
pollutants through roots and air
SOURCE Doty, S.L., James, C.A., Moore, A.L.,
Vajzovic, A., Singleton, G.L., Ma, C., Khan, Z.,
Xi, G., Kang, J.W., Park, J.Y., Meilan, R.,
Strauss, S.H., Wilkerson, J., Farin, F. and
Strand. S.E. 2007. Enhanced phytoremediation of
volatile environmental pollutants with transgenic
trees. Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences USA 10416816-16821.
31
ENERGY FARMS
32
What is the U.S. regulatory process that governs
these engineered plants?
33
U.S. Regulatory Agencies (based oversight on
existing regulations)
USDA
FDA
EPA

• Field testing
• Permits
• Notifications
• Determination of
• non-regulated status

• Food safety
• Feed safety

• Pesticidal plants
• tolerance exemption
• registrations
• Herbicide registration

34
Safety of engineered food Is it as safe as a
conventional food?
for the introduced genetic material and the
products made from it. These products have to be
tested and analyzed separately. Regulators look
at, for example, specificity and mode of action
of protein, source of protein, its stability
during digestion and processing
SOURCE Safety of Genetically Engineered Foods
Aproaches to Assessing Unintended Health Effects
2004. Natl Acad Press
35
Substantial
36
(No Transcript)
37
Hierarchical metabolomics demonstrates
substantial compositional similarity between
genetically modified and conventional potato crops
apart from targeted changes, these GM potatoes
in this study appear substantially equivalent to
traditional cultivars.
SOURCE Catchpole et al. 2005. Hierarchical
metabolomics demonstrates substantial
compositional similarity between genetically
modified and conventional potato crops.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
USA 105 14458-14462.
38
Precautionary principle The assumption that
experimentation should only proceed where there
is a guarantee that the outcome will not be
harmful.