BIOTECH-ROOM3-L Archives

Moderated conference on Genomics in Food and Agriculture

Biotech-Room3-L@LISTSERV.FAO.ORG

Options: Use Forum View

Use Monospaced Font
Show HTML Part by Default
Condense Mail Headers

Message: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Topic: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Author: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]

Print Reply
Content-Type:
text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Date:
Wed, 13 Mar 2013 10:11:22 +0100
Reply-To:
Biotech-Mod3 <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:
Content-Transfer-Encoding:
quoted-printable
Message-ID:
MIME-Version:
1.0
Sender:
Moderated conference on Genomics in Food and Agriculture <[log in to unmask]>
From:
Biotech-Mod3 <[log in to unmask]>
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (44 lines)
My name is Beatrix Tappeser from the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation. I am a biologist and the head of the division GMO regulation and biosafety at the Agency. 

We were interested in the use of plant genetic resources together with marker assisted breeding (instead or in addition to GMO development) and commissioned a project to researchers of the University of Kassel, Germany (Sarah Brumlop MA, Prof. Maria Finckh) to explore the potentials of marker assisted selection (MAS) in supporting agricultural biodiversity. 

While historically, domestication and breeding have greatly increased agricultural biodiversity, this diversity is eroding for the past half century with increasing speed. It has been argued that some modern breeding methods, the industrialization of agriculture and especially the current legal seed regulation framework are the main causes of this erosion. 

Besides their usefulness in breeding, molecular markers are potent tools for the identification and study of biodiversity. Therefore, the questions arise, if and how marker technology is or could be useful in the conservation and use of biodiversity within the current legal framework. These questions were followed up in the report "Applications and potentials of marker 
assisted selection (MAS) in plant breeding" (Brumlop, S and M.R. Finckh, 2011,  http://www.bfn.de/fileadmin/MDB/documents/service/Skript_298.pdf (860 KB)). The report is based on a literature survey complemented with expert interviews. It focuses on the situation in developed countries but there may be some interesting aspects also for developing countries as asked for by Richard Osei-Amponsah (Message 22).

In the interviews, all breeders consistently pointed out the big differences regarding the crop species. While MAS is not at all applied in some breeding programs, it is an important part of the breeding process in other programs. Up to now, MAS is predominantly used in hybrid breeding, especially for maize, sugar beets, canola and hybrid rye. For the other (self-pollinating) cereal crops and other minor crops, MAS is applied considerably less frequently. The main reason for this is that the decision for or against MAS is solely based on economic considerations. This growing distance between the main cash crops and minor crops like, e.g., peas or faba beans is seen as a very critical aspect. 

The application of markers is seen as especially important where it can accelerate the breeding process (e.g. perennial crops) or where it allows to reach certain breeding aims which normally are very difficult or impossible to achieve (e.g. pyramiding resistance genes). It was endorsed that markers have mainly led to improvements in resistance breeding yet, with barley yellow mosaic virus (BaYMV) being the prime example. The importance of markers in resistance breeding is caused by difficulties with assessments in the field. 

The respondents pointed out that MAS is still predominantly used to select for monogenic traits because markers can be developed and applied much easier for mono- or oligogenic traits with high heritability than for quantitative traits. However, in many cases (e.g. breeding for resistance) it would be far more important to have markers available for quantitative trait loci (QTLs). Research on this is mainly done in public research institutes and universities. 

Another aspect of marker application is the valorization of plant genetic resources (PGR). The value of genetic resources being stored in gene banks could possibly rise through the application of markers as markers can help to reveal the presence of traits in PGR and may permit their efficient use in the improvement of crop varieties. However, some respondents pointed out that until now an increase in variability in agricultural crops through the utilization of MAS cannot be observed. 

Although markers facilitate the introduction of fragments from wild species, which can be especially important in resistance breeding, molecular markers are currently hardly used to exploit PGR and/or crop wild relatives. Breeding companies investing in the exploitation of PGR normally work together with public research institutes. The participants of the interviews and of the workshop assured that pre breeding activities cannot be carried out in small and medium-sized companies. Such activities belong into the hands of public research institutes. The use of PGR poses higher risks to breeders and must therefore be carried out in public institutes - at least for the self-pollinating crops and minor crops with low economic value. Also in variety development, PGR are currently used very little. This might change, however, as backcrossing programs are becoming easier through the application of markers.

While genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are facing several legislative constraints due to biosafety concerns and bioethics questions, the introduction of varieties obtained through MAS is not meeting the same restrictions. Also the lack of public acceptance which GMOs frequently encounter is not observed with MAS. In several publications the hope is expressed that by means of MAS, products of modern biotechnology can be introduced into the market without experiencing the skepticism transgenic crops are facing worldwide. However, there are also positions claiming that MAS, as a modern biotechnology method, has to be assessed for its biosafety in exactly the same way as GMOs. The opinion that MAS could be able to replace genetic engineering completely is strongly questioned, because gene transfer across species cannot be achieved solely with MAS. Breeders clearly refuse to separate the two strategies of MAS and GMO approaches, as the decision for or against genetic engineering is often made as the case arises. 

Further literature research on the topic of the loss of agricultural biodiversity showed that one of the main reasons for the loss of agricultural biodiversity lies in the legal requirement that variety registration is only possible if the variety is genetically as uniform as possible, distinguishable from others and - with the exception of hybrids - reproducible (distinctness, uniformity and stability (DUS) criteria). However, genetic uniformity within varieties makes these vulnerable to biotic and abiotic stress. In addition, in genetically uniform populations, evolutionary changes which are the basis of biodiversity development and maintenance are impossible. Evolutionary and participatory breeding approaches could help solve such problems by breeding for diversity. However, current European legislation does not allow the release of crops bred for diversity and thus hinders the maintenance of agricultural biodiversity on-farm and also participatory breeding approaches. With the help of molecular markers, it might be possible to find methods for the definition and distinction of diversified varieties, e.g. based on frequencies rather than uniformity. In addition, issues about intellectual property rights might be tackled with some innovative schemes based on open-source biology.

Dr. Beatrix Tappeser
Bundesamt für Naturschutz
Fachgebietsleitung II 3.3 - Bewertung GVO, Vollzug GenTG
Federal Agency for Nature Conservation
Head of Division II 3.3
GMO-Regulation, Biosafety
Konstantinstr. 110
D - 53179 Bonn
Germany
Tel: 0049-228-8491 1860
Fax 0049-228-8491 1869
email: Beatrix.Tappeser (at) bfn.de
url: www.bfn.de

[To contribute to this conference, send your message to [log in to unmask] For further information on this FAO Biotechnology Forum, see http://www.fao.org/biotech/biotech-forum/]

########################################################################

To unsubscribe from the Biotech-Room3-L list, click the following link:
https://listserv.fao.org/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=Biotech-Room3-L&A=1

ATOM RSS1 RSS2