Discovery of Plant 'Nourishing Gene' Brings Hope for Increased Crop Seed Yield and Food Security
Fakrudin B.
Dickinson, Jose F. Gutierrez-Marcos. Maternal Control of Nutrient
Allocation in Plant Seeds by Genomic Imprinting. Current Biology,
2012; DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2011.11.059
Discovery of Plant 'Nourishing Gene' Brings Hope for Increased Crop
Seed Yield and Food Security
University of Warwick scientists have discovered a "nourishing gene"
which controls the transfer of nutrients from plant to seed -- a
significant step which could help increase global food production.
The research, led by the University of Warwick in collaboration with
the University of Oxford and agricultural biotech research company
Biogemma, has identified for the first time a gene, named Meg1, which
regulates the optimum amount of nutrients flowing from mother to
offspring in maize plants.
Unlike the majority of genes that are expressed from both maternal and
paternal chromosomes, Meg1 is expressed only from the maternal
chromosomes.
This unusual form of uniparental gene expression, called imprinting,
is not restricted to plants, but also occurs in some human genes which
are known to regulate the development of the placenta to control the
supply of maternal nutrients during fetal growth.
While scientists have known for a while of the existence of such
imprinted genes in humans and other mammals, this is the first time a
parallel gene to regulate nutrient provisioning during seed
development has been identified in the plant world.
The findings mean that scientists can now focus on using the gene and
understanding the mechanism by which it is expressed to increase seed
size and productivity in major crop plants.
Dr Jose Gutierrez-Marcos, Associate Professor in the University of
Warwick's School of Life Sciences, said: "These findings have
significant implications for global agriculture and food security, as
scientists now have the molecular know-how to manipulate this gene by
traditional plant breeding or through other methods to improve seed
traits, such as increased seed biomass yield.
"This understanding of how maize seeds and other cereal grains develop
-- for example in rice and wheat -- is vital as the global population
relies on these staple products for sustenance."
"To meet the demands of the world's growing population in years to
come, scientists and breeders must work together to safeguard and
increase agricultural production."
Professor Hugh Dickinson of Oxford University's Department of Plant
Sciences added: "While the identification of MEG1 is an important
discovery in its own right, it also represents a real breakthrough in
unravelling the complex gene pathways that regulate the provisioning
and nutritional content of seeds."
The research, supported by the European Union, the Biotechnology and
Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Royal Society ,
is published in Current Biology under the title Maternal control of
nutrient allocation in plant seeds by genomic imprinting.
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B. Fakrudin, Ph.D.
Department of Biotechnology/IABT
University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad
Krishinagar, DHARWAD-580 005
Karnataka, INDIA
Phone: +91-836-2748624 (Direct); 2747627 (O); Mobile:919480369274
email:fak...@yahoo.com
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Padmabhushan Ugale
UGALE PADMABHUSHAN RAMESH