08/08/05  WSU discovery could boost plant defenses

08/08/05 WSU discovery could boost plant defenses

Farm and Ranch August 8, 2005 Scientists at Washington State University have discovered a molecule and its gene that plays a role in plants defending themselves against fungal pathogens. The finding could lead to the development of plant varieties with greater disease resistance and a reduced need for fungicide treatment. In an unsolicited interview Professor Clarence A. "Bud" Ryan said: Ryan: "The exciting thing about it is we found this gene now in several very important crop plants, potato, tomato, soybeans, rice, canola and so on. It is probably everyplace." Researchers are now working with crop plants to have this protection against pathogens turned on all the time and in advance of a pathogen attack. Ryan says such manipulated plants would be classified as GMO's but he emphasizes no foreign genes are involved. Ryan: "Down the road we hope that we can use the plant's own genes, get those genes out and modify them in a way that they are turned on all the time and then put them back in the plant. So that there are no foreign genes at all involved in the system. That is kind of the dream in the future so that it would be no different than years and years of breeding to select out a similar plant." The WSU discovery was presented at the recent American Society of Plant Biologists meeting in Seattle. I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.
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