An unassuming little weed with a short life cycle has revealed the secrets of its genetic code, opening the possibility of unimagined breakthroughs in agriculture.
A consortium of scientists in the United States, Europe and Japan announced in December they had completed the six-year task of mapping the genes of Arabidopsis thaliana, also known as thale cress, or mouse ear cress.
This blueprint of Arabidopsis thaliana, a member of the mustard family, is important because the plant, like the white mouse, is a common laboratory stand-in for other life forms.
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It will give scientists a better
understanding of all the world’s flowering plants, a prospect that excites Bill Crosby, program leader of plant genomics at the National Research Council’s Plant Biotechnology Institute in Saskatoon.
“The next 50 years are going to be extraordinarily exciting, not just for the scientists who are playing in their laboratories, but it is going to have enormous positive impact for every single Canadian because the Canadian economy relies very strongly on agriculture as part of its foundation,” he said.
“I would argue that this accomplishment is going to do more in the next 50 years for agricultural development than the previous 10,000 years of agricultural domestication has achieved.”
Sequencing the plant’s genome – all 25,500 genes – is the first step in understanding fundamental plant processes, such as how they make protein, oil and starch, and how they respond to stresses such as cold, disease and insects.
Despite the controversy that swirls around genetic modification of plants, this knowledge will have immediate and wide-ranging impact.
That’s because it is applicable to all aspects of plant breeding, including conventional selection.
For example, once a scientist knows the location of a gene and has identified its function, such as its role in defending the plant against a disease, then he can look for it in varieties that might not on the surface appear to have the trait, Crosby said.
But the functions of most genes have not been identified, so a new project is beginning to do that work.
The U.S. National Science Foundation has begun what it calls the 2010 Project as part of a worldwide effort to determine the function of all Arabidopsis’s genes over the next decade. It will be co-ordinated in a similar manner to the genome-sequencing project.
Canada did not participate in the sequencing project, but is already involved in the second stage, Crosby said.
The Plant Biotechnology Institute will work with Agriculture Canada and the universities of Saskatchewan, Toronto, Alberta, Lethbridge and British Columbia.
Crosby said the Arabidopsis project has particular implications for canola because the plants are closely related.
But it is also directly relevant to human biological functions.
A release from the National Science Foundation said many fundamental life processes at the molecular and cellular levels are common to all higher organisms.
Some of those processes are easier to study in Arabidopsis than in human or animal models. Arabidopsis contains numerous genes equivalent to those that prompt disease in humans – ranging from cancer and premature aging to ailments such as Wilson’s disease, in which the human body’s inability to excrete copper can be fatal.
It also has implications for research into using plants to produce sources of renewable energy.
With the help of the Arabidopsis genome sequence, researchers are revealing how photosynthesis converts solar energy and carbon dioxide into biomass, helping scientists develop better plants for fuel and chemical uses.
Cuts stumps
Shaver Manufacturing has a new power take-off powered stump cutter.
The StumpBuster mounts to the three-point hitch of any 35-100 horsepower tractor.
The gearbox delivers 895 rpm tip speed and 450 foot-pounds of hub torque to the cutting wheel.
It can grind down to 30 centimetres below ground level.
The 55-degree wing arc grinding area means it can handle stump diameters of up to 112 cm in one pass.
Most of the 25 cutter teeth are on the left side of the blade, meaning the StumpBuster cuts from right to left, as viewed from the tractor seat.
For more information, contact Shaver Manufacturing, Box 358, Graettinger, Iowa, U.S.A., 51342, phone 712-859-3293 or visit the website at www.shavermfg.com.
On-farm grain cleaner
Farmstead Products has improved its farm-sized grain cleaner.
The model 150HD3 is rated at 150 bushels per hour when cleaning soybeans. The manufacturer says the capacity is slightly lower when cleaning wheat, barley, oats and other small grains.
It features three-screen cleaning: two scalping screens and one for fines removal. A high volume fan blows air between the scalping and sifting screens, removing lighter material such as hulls.
The frame is made of white oak and exterior grade three-quarter inch plywood, reinforced with steel, for the body and hopper.
For more information, contact Famstead Products at RR2, Box 169H, Hinckley, Minnesota, U.S.A., 55037 or view the website at www.farmsteadproducts.com.
