Common wheat diseases caused by viruses such as wheat streak mosaic, triticum mosaic, soil-borne mosaic and barley yellow dwarf lower the average wheat yield about 5-10% a year. John Fellers, a molecular biologist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service, and Harold Trick, a plant geneticist for Kansas State University, have investigated the genetic modification of wheat to build resistance to the viruses. However, due to the popular demand for non-genetically modified foods, they have created a new way to protect their wheat from viruses. By "vaccinating" the plant, or adding a piece of an inactive virus, the plant is able to keep a copy of the of the virus and can then recognize it when confronted with the real thing. This method is called pathogen-derived resistance, or RNA-mediated resistance because the piece of virus is actually a piece of RNA. Furthermore, Fuller and Trick say that their work is a proof of concept, and can be applied to many other plants and viruses. Their lack of the use of genetic modification makes it a great concept that can both support the needs of the public and the producers.
This article is connected to the class curriculum because it talks about the ever-important debate that is GMOs. GMOs are genetically modified organisms who's genome has been altered through genetic engineering. In class, we had a discussion on the topic of GMOs and their effects on the environment and people. Furthermore, we discussed how genes could be inserted into an organism's genome. Specifically, plasmids, or small rings of DNA from bacteria, could have their DNA changed into different sequences and injected into an organism. The GMO controversy has spiked over the last few decades, but today, GMOs make up much of what we eat.
Kansas State University Research and Extension. "Helping wheat defend itself against damaging viruses." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 18 November 2014.<www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141118104845.htm>.
Would it be possible for scientists to create a form resistance for the plants that could be passed down from one generation to the next. If so how?
ReplyDeleteIt probably is not possible to create an inherited resistance for a plant because it would require changing its genome, and therefore it would become genetically modified. Since the goal of the project was to avoid genetic modification, the resistance to a pathogen would not be passed down.
DeleteHow does vaccinating a plant work? You said they "can then recognize [the virus] when confronted with the real thing," but how does recognizing it aid whatever form of immune system they have in fighting virus-caused diseases?
ReplyDeleteMost pathogens go unnoticed by any normal plant's immune system. However, once it starts doing damage to any cells, the immune system destroys the pathogen and catalogs it as a dangerous pathogen. Then, the next time any pathogen like it enters the plant, the immune system can recognize it and destroy without causing any damage.
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