Genetic Modification – Applications for Forage and Grassland Production Systems

Genetic modification has been extensively used in crops for 25 years but has rarely been a technology used to advance trait expression in forage and grassland species. The exceptions are the use of herbicide tolerance and low lignin traits in alfalfa which are currently commercially available. In crop species genetic modification has been a valuable option for delivering improved economic and environmental outcomes through providing solutions for many of the challenges facing mankind. There are a many beneficial characteristics that genetic modification has the potential to provide in forage and grassland species. Managing these in the environment and understanding consumer views on their use with ruminants and grazing animals is important for their success. Additionally, forage and grassland species provide some challenges for the use of genetic modification including their outcrossing and perennial nature, and often they are associated with or derived from species that can be categorised as weeds in some environments. However, with documented benefits of genetic modification use in crop plants providing increased crop yields, reduced pesticide and insecticide use, reduced carbon dioxide emissions, improved soil structure, improved crop nutritive quality/value, and decreased costs of production it would be remiss to not further examine the use of genetic modification in forage and pasture species

Adaptation of Forage Species to Drought

Variability in rainfall is the single greatest cause of variation in forage production for a given site. Current climate scenarios predict future annual rainfall to decrease at some geographic regions. The intensity of future rainfall is also predicted to increase at other regions, with the expectation of greater variability in soil moisture. The adaptation of forage species to drought is an issue that is likely to remain with us into the future. Precise definitions are critical to water relations work, and imprecise use of terms has complicated comparisons of some studies on plant response to drought. Drought is a purely relative term, being abnormally low rainfall. Its duration and intensity will vary between locations. The intensity of drought is measured as water potential (-MPa) (relatively difficult), or water deficit (mm) (well suited to modeling) or soil water content (g/g, cm3/cm3, %). None of these measurements has a linear effect on plants. Drought resistance is a virtually meaningless term. Plant water reserves are trivial compared to the demand from the environment, and plants are virtually incapable of resisting drought. Forage plants do vary in tolerance to the intensity and duration of water deficit. Definition is further complicated by the scale of reference; at the plant-scale the plant might tolerate a level of water deficit, however tissues such as primordial are protected and do not encounter stress. At the tissue-scale certain cell components might be protected by osmotic adjustment, which allows some water loss by the plant but maintains turgor and some plant function

The Future of Clovers in Forage Systems and as Cover Crops

Clovers (Trifolium spp.) are the most widely used genera of legumes in forage systems, although only a limited number of the hundreds of perennial and annual species are commercially available. The number of varieties available within each of the main commercial species can be high and demonstrates past breeding achievements. Success relates to any clover’s ability to persist in mixtures with other forage species, across a range of soil types, management systems, and climates, while providing animal nutrition and biologically fixed nitrogen benefits. Uses range from traditional pasture mixtures with grasses to inclusion in multi-species mixtures, and as cover crop mixes as part of annual cropping systems. Both conventional breeding and genetic modification will lead to better adapted and performing varieties as well as new traits that provide additional benefits for improved animal nutrition and environmental outcomes. The use of genotyping by sequencing (GBS) to determine genetic variation and population structure for clover improvement programs shows great promise. Selection for improved seed yields while maintaining good agronomic performance will ensure cost effective seed production of commercial varieties. Seed coating with effective rhizobia is paramount for nitrogen fixation benefits to be realised. Management systems research to increase the use and economics of clover varieties in future pasture, cover crop, and carbon farming sustainability systems is critical but challenging

Response to Drought of White Clover Lines Selected for Different Stolon Morphologies

White clover (Trifolium repens L.) lines were selected from within large and small-leaved cultivars of Grasslands Kopu and Grasslands Tahora, respectively, for long or short internodes, and for high or low branching frequency from plants grown in sun and shade (50% full sunlight). Lines were compared for drought tolerance in a perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) sward in boxes. Prior to imposing drought branching frequency selections did not differ in branching frequency, although the low branching frequency selection had a higher percentage of rooted nodes. After an imposed drought treatment sun-selected lines grew better than shade-selected lines relative to their non-stressed controls suggesting that white clover selected under full-sun may be more drought-tolerant than lines selected in shade. Selections for different stolon morphologies did not differ in stolon and root growth at the end of the drought

Intellectual Property Protection – Stimulating or Constraining Innovation and Technology Transfer?

Grassland farming is becoming more technically advanced leading to improvements in productivity, environmental outcomes and animal welfare. As a result, farmers have an increasing range of new innovations being made available to them. The question examined here is whether widespread uptake of new innovations by farmers is more effective when driven by marketing through dedicated paths to market where the intellectual property (IP) is controlled or through multiple paths to market where there is no IP control? The role of IP in stimulating the development, manufacture and sale of new technologies is hotly debated. For plant breeders and patent owners, strong IP protection offers an effective form of security; and more importantly brings returns on investment through licences and commercialisation arrangements. When launching new products IP protection not only provides legal security but is confirmation that the product is unique, distinctive and of value. Some view IP rights as a way to foster innovation and invention by encouraging individuals to develop/invent new ideas from which they can potentially gain a return. Without the ability to capitalise on their work innovators have little incentive, other than an altruistic motive, to produce any invention. However, there is an opposing view that patents and plant variety rights are “killing freedom to operate and crushing science with rules”, and in so doing are stifling innovation rather than encouraging it. Some believe that IP rights holders abuse the system to unfairly extend their monopoly on a technology and prevent others from using it to the benefit of the industry and the economy as a whole. We propose to examine the value and motivations for IP protection, and examine the different forms of IP protection available. Case studies will be used to show how IP protection may be a benefit or disadvantage to grassland farmers

Classical R-Matrices and the Feigin-Odesskii Algebra via Hamiltonian and Poisson Reductions

We present a formula for a classical $r$-matrix of an integrable system obtained by Hamiltonian reduction of some free field theories using pure gauge symmetries. The framework of the reduction is restricted only by the assumption that the respective gauge transformations are Lie group ones. Our formula is in terms of Dirac brackets, and some new observations on these brackets are made. We apply our method to derive a classical $r$-matrix for the elliptic Calogero-Moser system with spin starting from the Higgs bundle over an elliptic curve with marked points. In the paper we also derive a classical Feigin-Odesskii algebra by a Poisson reduction of some modification of the Higgs bundle over an elliptic curve. This allows us to include integrable lattice models in a Hitchin type construction.Comment: 27 pages LaTe

Response of rice cultivars to phosphorus supply on an oxisol.

Genotypic differences in absorption or utilization of P might be exploited to improve efficiency of fertilizer use or to obtain higher productivity on P-deficient soils. The objective of this study was to evaluate responses by 75 genotypes of upland rice (Oryza sativa L.) to two soil P levels in two field experiments. In the first experiment, soil P levels (Mehlich 1) were 1.5 mg kg-1 and 5 mg kg-1, and in the second experiment, 3 mg kg-1 and 4.7 mg kg-1 of soil, respectively. Rice cultivars differed significantly in shoot dry matter production at flowering, grain yield, and plant P status. Based on a grain yield efficiency index, cultivars were classified as P-efficient or P-inefficient. Shoot dry matter was more sensitive to P-deficiency but was not related to grain yield. Phosphorus use efficiency was higher under the low P treatment. Phosphorus uptake was significantly correlated with dry matter, P concentration and P-efficiency ratio. Results of this study indicate that genetic differences in P-use efficiency exist among upland rice cultivars and may be exploited in breeding programs

Epichloë Fungal Endophytes—From a Biological Curiosity in Wild Grasses to an Essential Component of Resilient High Performing Ryegrass and Fescue Pastures

The relationship between Epichloë endophytes found in a wide range of temperate grasses spans the continuum from antagonistic to mutualistic. The diversity of asexual mutualistic types can be characterised by the types of alkaloids they produce in planta. Some of these are responsible for detrimental health and welfare issues of ruminants when consumed, while others protect the host plant from insect pests and pathogens. In many temperate regions they are an essential component of high producing resilient tall fescue and ryegrass swards. This obligate mutualism between fungus and host is a seed-borne technology that has resulted in several commercial products being used with high uptake rates by end-user farmers, particularly in New Zealand and to a lesser extent Australia and USA. However, this has not happened by chance. It has been reliant on multi-disciplinary research teams undertaking excellent science to understand the taxonomic relationships of these endophytes, their life cycle, symbiosis regulation at both the cellular and molecular level, and the impact of secondary metabolites, including an understanding of their mammalian toxicity and bioactivity against insects and pathogens. Additionally, agronomic trials and seed biology studies of these microbes have all contributed to the delivery of robust and efficacious products. The supply chain from science, through seed companies and retailers to the end-user farmer needs to be well resourced providing convincing information on the efficacy and ensuring effective quality control to result in a strong uptake of these Epichloë endophyte technologies in pastoral agriculture