NEW TECHNOLOGIES FOR SUSTAINED PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH: PLANT BREEDING

Crop Production/Industries,

Systemwide Review of Plant Breeding Methodologies in the CGIAR

Report of the systemwide review of plant breeding methodologies in the CGIAR conducted in 2000 by a panel chaired by Donald N. Duvick. The document includes an excerpt from the summary of CGIAR International Centers Week 2000, a transmittal letter from TAC Chair Emil Javier, TAC's commentary, and a transmittal letter from the panel chair.The study was based on sub-reports for nine centers, which were made available through the CGIAR website. There were six main findings:1. centers are using traditional techniques effectively and efficiently;2. new tools are used effectively, but will not replace traditional methods in the short term;3. biotechnology will increase efficiency and effectiveness but cost more;4. centers are outsourcing biotechnology effectively but should do it more;5. more financial support is needed for germplasm research and mechanisms that hinder intercenter collaboration should be changed;6. better intercenter collaboration, consolidation, and even centralization could increase effectiveness.The Group endorsed these recommendations.There are nine annexes covering among other things: breeding methods for CGIAR commodities, biotechnology methods used at centers, resource commitments, and CGIAR-NARS interactions in plant breeding and biotechnology

The New Biology: A Union of Ecology and Molecular Biology

The new biology of the 1990s will integrate ecology and molecular biology in the service of agriculture. This new biology will surprise us. It will not present us with a cornucopia of genetically engineered chimeras. Nor will it present a plethora of chemically dependent cultivars, fragile in absence of expensive support systems. Instead, the new biology of the 1990s, grounded in ecological principles and deepened with new genetic insights, will make it possible to develop an agricultural production system that is more sustaining than it is today

NEW TECHNOLOGIES FOR SUSTAINED PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH: PLANT BREEDING

Speech and PowerPoint Presentatio

A Mitochondrial Mutator System in Maize

The P2 line of maize (Zea mays) is characterized by mitochondrial genome destabilization, initiated by recessive nuclear mutations. These alleles alter copy number control of mitochondrial subgenomes and disrupt normal transfer of mitochondrial genomic components to progeny, resulting in differences in mitochondrial DNA profiles among sibling plants and between parents and progeny. The mitochondrial DNA changes are often associated with variably defective phenotypes, reflecting depletion of essential mitochondrial genes. The P2 nuclear genotype can be considered a natural mutagenesis system for maize mitochondria. It dramatically accelerates mitochondrial genomic divergence by increasing low copy-number subgenomes, by rapidly amplifying aberrant recombination products, and by causing the random loss of normal components of the mitochondrial genomes