5th World Conference of Science Journalists

PRESENTED BY: Australian Centre of Plant Functional Genomics

SESSION REPORT: Tougher crops through science

By Raphaëlle Derome

Drought, soil salinity, frostbite: Australian crops face it all. To help farmers, scientists with the Australian Centre for Functional Plant Genomics (ACPFG) is working to make crops more tolerant to harsh conditions.

“Functional genomics studies the function of plant genes,” said Belinda Barr, communications and education manager for the ACPFG, speaking at an ACPFG-sponsored breakfast at the World Conference of Science Journalists on Tuesday morning. “Researchers look at a sequence of genes, and then try to work out which sequence codes for certain types of resistance.”

With Australia facing its worst drought ever, James Edwards gave up farming to start a PhD with the ACFPG in Adelaide. His research topic? You guessed it: drought tolerance.

It’s a complex subject, says Edwards: “While a human has only 27,000 genes, a wheat plant has about 100,000. During drought, over a thousand genes are activated.”

Edwards’ team is creating a gene library of all the genes involved in drought tolerance. Later, breeders will be able to introduce the tough genes into breeding lines, either with transgenic technologies or by conventional breeding programs, selecting the toughest offspring.

Another key area of research at the ACPFG is to understand what makes crops salt-tolerant. “In Australia, 67 percent of the grain growing area is affected by salinity. But too much salt damages plants,” points out Darren Plett, also a PhD student with the ACPFG in Adelaide.

This is not strictly an Australian problem. Globally, over one billion hectares of agricultural lands are affected by salinity. Using his understanding of salt genes, Plett created a rice variety that moves 20 percent less salt from root to shoot, preventing damage to the plant.

Other researchers at the Centre want to develop crops that are better-suited for certain markets. Rachel Burton studies a unique type of dietary fibre called beta glucan.

“Humans should eat more beta glucan: it helps digestion, reduces cholesterol and even has anti-cancer properties,” says Burton. On the contrary, oats and barley with lower levels of beta glucan are better for beer-making, or to feed chickens and pigs. Last year, in the journal Science, Burton announced having identified the gene family involved in making beta glucan. If she has her way, one day farmers will be able to choose between high- or low-beta glucan crops depending on their target market.