A long-sought genetic engineering breakthrough will allow farmers in the developing world to produce high-yield and disease-resistant rice more cheaply, the scientists said.
The researchers were able to create clones of high-performance hybrid varieties that eliminate the need for farmers to buy expensive new seeds each year.
The resulting rice plants maintain buffer yields for at least three generations, a progression after decades of trials.
First-generation hybrids of crop plants often yield and perform better than their parent strains – a phenomenon called hybrid vigor.
But the effects are lost when hybrids are combined for the second generation, so farmers who want to continue getting the best harvest must buy new seeds each season. The extra cost means the benefits of rice hybrids have yet to reach many farmers around the world.
An international research team from institutions such as the French Agricultural Research Center for International Development and the University of California has now found a way to reproduce hybrid vigor from generation to generation.
‘Anyone can access’ hybrid seeds
Scientists are trying to get high-yielding hybrids to reproduce as clones that stay the same without further breeding.
Many wild plants can produce seeds that are clones of themselves in a process called apomixis.
“Once you get the hybrid, if you can cause apomixis, then you can plant it every year,” said Gurdev Khush of the University of California’s Department of Plant Sciences.
The researchers were able to create clones by altering the genes that control the cell division cycle, so that the cells divide into two complete copies. The cloning process was 95 percent efficient.
“Apomixis in crop plants has been the target of worldwide research for over 30 years, because it can make hybrid seed production accessible to everyone,” said Professor Venkatesan Sundaresan of the University of California.
“The resulting increase in yield can help meet the global needs of a growing population without having to increase land, water and fertilizer use to unsustainable levels.”
Rice is the staple product of half the world’s population. The results can now be extended to other agricultural staples, such as wheat or maize, the researchers said.
The pressures of climate change and the challenges of feeding rapidly growing populations mean that scientists predict a growing demand for genetically modified crops in the developing world.
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