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$1.7M to Foam Lake's Milligan Biotech

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    $1.7M to Foam Lake's Milligan Biotech

    http://t.co/Y0enKDWQ

    #2
    Now if they can just stack a lemon-salt gene or a
    barbq salt gene into this new variety , Canada
    can import a salty wheat grown on salty soil in
    some of the worst uninhabitale, marginal areas of
    Seirra Leone, and subsidize each imported
    shipment with Canadian taxpayers $$ ( no sense
    racing for the bottom) as well as pay a buyers
    global warming carbon tax for using a product
    grown on saline soil. Pars


    Media Release

    World breakthrough on salt-tolerant wheat


    Salt-tolerant durum wheat grown in northern New
    South Wales as part of a field trial.

    Monday, 12 March 2012
    A team of Australian scientists involving the
    University of Adelaide has bred salt tolerance into
    a variety of durum wheat that shows improved
    grain yield by 25% on salty soils.

    Using 'non-GM' crop breeding techniques,
    scientists from CSIRO Plant Industry have
    introduced a salt-tolerant gene into a commercial
    durum wheat, with spectacular results shown in
    field tests. Researchers at the University of
    Adelaide's Waite Research Institute have led the
    effort to understand how the gene delivers salinity
    tolerance to the plants.

    The research is the first of its kind in the world to
    fully describe the improvement in salt tolerance of
    an agricultural crop - from understanding the
    function of the salt-tolerant genes in the lab, to
    demonstrating increased grain yields in the field.

    The results are published today in the journal
    Nature Biotechnology. The paper's senior author
    is Dr Matthew Gilliham from the University's Waite
    Research Institute and the ARC Centre of
    Excellence in Plant Energy Biology. Lead authors
    are CSIRO Plant Industry scientists Dr Rana
    Munns and Dr Richard James and University of
    Adelaide student Bo Xu.

    "This work is significant as salinity already affects
    over 20% of the world's agricultural soils, and
    salinity poses an increasing threat to food
    production due to climate change," Dr Munns
    says.

    Dr Gilliham says: "Salinity is a particular issue in
    the prime wheat-growing areas of Australia, the
    world's second-largest wheat exporter after the
    United States. With global population estimated to
    reach nine billion by 2050, and the demand for
    food expected to rise by 100% in this time, salt-
    tolerant crops will be an important tool to ensure
    future food security."

    Domestication and breeding has narrowed the
    gene pool of modern wheat, leaving it susceptible
    to environmental stress. Durum wheat, used for
    making such food products as pasta and
    couscous, is particularly susceptible to soil
    salinity.

    However, the authors of this study realised that
    wild relatives of modern-day wheat remain a
    significant source of genes for a range of traits,
    including salinity tolerance. They discovered the
    new salt-tolerant gene in an ancestral cousin of
    modern-day wheat, Triticum monococcum.

    "Salty soils are a major problem because if
    sodium starts to build up in the leaves it will affect
    important processes such as photosynthesis,
    which is critical to the plant's success," Dr
    Gilliham says.

    "The salt-tolerant gene (known as TmHKT1;5-A)
    works by excluding sodium from the leaves. It
    produces a protein that removes the sodium from
    the cells lining the xylem, which are the 'pipes'
    plants use to move water from their roots to their
    leaves," he says.

    Dr James, who led the field trials, says: "While
    most studies only look at performance under
    controlled conditions in a laboratory or
    greenhouse, this is the first study to confirm that
    the salt-tolerant gene increases yields on a farm
    with saline soils.

    Field trials were conducted at a variety of sites
    across Australia, including a commercial farm in
    northern New South Wales.

    "Importantly, there was no yield penalty with this
    gene," Dr James says.

    "Under standard conditions, the wheat containing
    the salt-tolerance gene performed the same in the
    field as durum that did not have the gene. But
    under salty conditions, it outperformed its durum
    wheat parent, with increased yields of up to 25%.

    "This is very important for farmers, because it
    means they would only need to plant one type of
    seed in a paddock that may have some salty
    sections," Dr James says.

    "The salt-tolerant wheat will now be used by the
    Australian Durum Wheat Improvement Program
    (ADWIP) to assess its impact by incorporating this
    into recently developed varieties as a breeding
    line."

    Dr Munns says new varieties of salt-tolerant
    durum wheat could be a commercial reality in the
    near future.

    "Although we have used molecular techniques to
    characterise and understand the salt-tolerant
    gene, the gene was introduced into the durum
    wheat through 'non-GM' breeding processes. This
    means we have produced a novel durum wheat
    that is not classified as transgenic, or 'GM', and
    can therefore be planted without restriction," she
    says.

    The researchers are taking their work a step
    further and have now crossed the salt-tolerance
    gene into bread wheat. This is currently being
    assessed under field conditions.

    This research is a collaborative project between
    CSIRO, NSW Department of Primary Industries,
    University of Adelaide, the Australian Centre for
    Plant Functional Genomics and the ARC Centre
    of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology. It is
    supported by the Grains Research and
    Development Corporation (GRDC) and Australian
    Research Council (ARC).

    Comment


      #3
      Can someone explain the math, going from 7 to 9 billion requires 100% more food. Is this assuming that all 9 billion will be actually eating? Like we're gonna solve all the hunger in the world by 2050?

      Today, 2 billion eat very little. 1 billion make less than 2 bucks a day.

      Saw this article elsewhere and it said 70% more food required.

      Comment


        #4
        parsley

        Just curious what your issue is with this new durum
        variety. Non transgenic - no outside genetic material
        was introduced. A form of enhanced nature selection
        based on improved knowledge about functions of
        specific genes and using this information to solve
        everyday agronomic problems.

        What is salt tolerance were replaced with UG99/a
        virilant rust that threatened world wheat supplies?

        Comment


          #5
          Dear Charlie,

          We grow 'Triticum monococcum' or einkorn wheat.

          The salt tolerant gene is an interesting result of studing ancient grains like einkorn... no doubt.

          Great to see that these heritage grains are being called upon to help feed a hungry world!

          Cheers!

          Comment


            #6
            Pars; Why is it that when I cut and paste your gobbily-gook link address into my browser it opens up a gov.sk.ca/ site?

            That's just weird?!


            But to the article. Is this a repayable low/no interest loan to Milligan, or a grant?

            Comment


              #7
              Milligan Biotech is a very innovative and creative company. Here is the website.

              [URL="http://www.milliganbiotech.com/>"]"Milligan Biotech[/URL]

              Comment


                #8
                Rats.

                [URL="http://www.milliganbiotech.com/"]Milligan biotech[/URL]

                Comment

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