Genetically Engineering Plants for Crop Improvement

Engineering Cold Stress Tolerance in Crop Plants

Plants respond with changes in their pattern of gene expression and protein products when exposed to low temperatures. Thus ability to adapt has an impact on the distribution and survival of the plant, and on crop yields. Many species of tropical or subtropical origin are injured or killed by non-freezing low temperatures, and exhibit various symptoms of chilling injury such as chlorosis, necro...

The outlook for protein engineering in crop improvement.

In the early 1800s the population of the world was estimated to be around 1 billion. It grew to 2 billion in the 1920s and to 6 billion at the close of the last millennium. We are currently adding approximately 80 million more per year and, at this rate, the global population will increase from the current 6 billion to .10 billion people by the mid-2020s (Pimentel and Pimentel, 2000). Simultane...

Genetics and genetic improvement of drought resistance in crop plants

Drought limits the agricultural production by preventing the crop plants from expressing their full genetic potential. Three mechanisms, namely drought escape, drought avoidance and drought tolerance are involved in drought resistance. Various morphological, physiological and biochemical characters confer drought resistance. Morphological and physiological characters show different types of inh...

GENETIC RESOURCES, CHROMOSOME ENGINEERING, AND CROP IMPROVEMENT Grain Legumes

Engineering crop plants: getting a handle on phosphate.

In plant seeds, most of the phosphate is in the form of phytic acid. Phytic acid is largely indigestible by monogastric animals and is the single most important factor hindering the uptake of a range of minerals. Engineering crop plants to produce a heterologous phytase improves phosphate bioavailability and reduces phytic acid excretion. This reduces the phosphate load on agricultural ecosyste...