$1.7M to Foam Lake's Milligan Biotech

[parsley]

http://t.co/Y0enKDWQ

[parsley]

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).

[wd9]

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.

[charliep]

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?

[TOM4CWB]

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!

[ColevilleH2S]

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?

[charliep]

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

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

[charliep]

Rats.

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