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BẢN TIN SỐ 1
IRRI Develops SpeedFlower, the First Speed Breeding Protocol for Rice
ISAAA January 10, 2024
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Figure: The SpeedBreed multiplication chamber in the SpeedBreed facility at the IRRI South Asia Regional Centre (ISARC) in Varanasi, India. Photo Source: IRRI
Scientists from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) have developed SpeedFlower, a robust, first-ever speed breeding protocol for rice that will achieve 4 to 5 crops of rice in one year, which is almost double of what has been possible in current breeding programs.
SpeedFlower focuses on optimizing light spectrum, intensity, photoperiod, temperature, humidity, nutrient levels, and hormonal regulation to expedite growth, flowering, and maturity in rice. It has demonstrated flowering within just 60 days for tested rice varieties and achieved a 50% reduction in seed maturity time, irrespective of their natural flowering durations. The protocol is suitable for the vast majority of rice grown globally, including for indica and japonica.
A subset of 198 genotypes from 12 diverse sub-groups of Oryza sativa L. from the 3,000 Rice Genomes Project (3K RGP) was selected to validate SpeedFlower in the speed breeding facility at the IRRI South Asia Regional Centre (ISARC) in Varanasi, India. In field conditions, the flowering time of these genotypes ranged from 58 to 127 days. However, when grown under the optimized SpeedFlower, all 198 genotypes successfully flowered within 58 days.
“SpeedFlower demonstrates a remarkable impact of speed breeding on crop research. With this protocol, we can expedite crossing and inbreeding activities, completing them within 1.5–2 years instead of the usual 6–7 years required in the field,” said ISARC Director Dr. Sudhanshu Singh.
For more details, read the article in IRRI News and Events.
BẢN TIN SỐ 2
First-ever Engineered Plant Microbiome Protects Crops Against Diseases
Researchers from the University of Southampton have successfully engineered the microbiome of plants for the first time to boost crop health by increasing the presence of good bacteria in plants. The findings of the paper published in Nature Communications could reduce the need and reliance on pesticides that are usually harmful to the environment.
Microbiomes in the human gut influence the immune system, which will fight against disease-causing organisms. In plants, microbiomes such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, and other microorganisms present in roots, stems, and leaves affect the vulnerability of plants to various diseases.
The research team discovered that overexpressing a specific gene found in the lignin biosynthesis cluster of the rice plant increased the beneficial bacteria in the plant microbiome. The results showed that the engineered plants are more resistant to bacterial blight in rice crops, a common cause of yield losses in Asian countries.
"For the first time, we've been able to change the makeup of a plant's microbiome in a targeted way, boosting the numbers of beneficial bacteria that can protect the plant from other harmful bacteria," said Dr. Tomislav Cernava, a co-author of the paper and an Associate Professor at the University of Southampton. Currently, the researchers are exploring the presence of other beneficial microbes to improve plant health further.
For more information, read the article from the University of Southampton.
See https://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=20591
BẢN TIN SỐ 3
Assessing the potential of genetic resource introduction into elite germplasm: a collaborative multiparental population for fint maize
Theoretical and Applied Genetics; January 2024; vol. 137; Article 19
Key message
Implementing a collaborative pre-breeding multi-parental population efciently identifes promising donor x elite pairs to enrich the fint maize elite germplasm.
Abstract
Genetic diversity is crucial for maintaining genetic gains and ensuring breeding programs’ long-term success. In a closed breeding program, selection inevitably leads to a loss of genetic diversity. While managing diversity can delay this loss, introducing external sources of diversity is necessary to bring back favorable genetic variation. Genetic resources exhibit greater diversity than elite materials, but their lower performance levels hinder their use. This is the case for European fint maize, for which elite germplasm has incorporated only a limited portion of the diversity available in landraces. To enrich the diversity of this elite genetic pool, we established an original cooperative maize bridging population that involves crosses between private elite materials and diversity donors to create improved genotypes that will facilitate the incorporation of original favorable variations. Twenty donor × elite BC1S2 families were created and phenotyped for hybrid value for yield related traits. Crosses showed contrasted means and variances and therefore contrasted potential in terms of selection as measured by their usefulness criterion (UC). Average expected mean performance gain over the initial elite material was 5%. The most promising donor for each elite line was identifed. Results also suggest that one more generation, i.e., 3 in total, of crossing to the elite is required to fully exploit the potential of a donor. Altogether, our results support the usefulness of incorporating genetic resources into elite fint
See https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00122-023-04509-5
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