(Eurekalert) The end of the reproductive period, when flowers and fruits are produced, is a crucial moment in the life cycle of plants. However, the factors that control this process still need to be better understood. A research team led by the Research Institute for Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology (IBMCP), a joint centre of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (Spanish National Research Council) (CSIC) and the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), has found that a gene called FUL controls the duration of the reproductive phase in crops such as peas. This gene would be used as a biotechnological tool to prolong this phase, thus increasing the production of fruits and seeds in peas and other legumes such as chickpeas, lentils or beans. The work has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Annual plants have only one reproductive season, producing flowers and fruits. Scientists are looking for genetic factors that cause plants to stop flowering to control the length of their reproductive phase. A few years ago, the group led by Cristina Ferrándiz, a CSIC research professor at the IBMCP, identified a gene called FUL (FRUITFULL) as a very important regulator of the flowering stops.
Additional Extract:
"We have seen that mutations that lead to a loss of function of the FUL genes in peas cause the plants to produce flowers, and consequently fruits, for much longer. This tells us that FUL controls the duration of the reproductive phase not only in the laboratory plant Arabidopsis but also in other species, including crop plants," explains Ferrándiz. "The prolonged flower and fruit production means that in certain pea varieties, mutations in the FUL genes can double the seed production, with identical nutritional characteristics to non-mutant plants, both in the greenhouse and the field," he says.
Mutants generated by classical methods
..,"the method for obtaining new plant varieties can be based on traditional mutagenesis, as used today and in this study, or on gene editing using CRISPR, the most promising and powerful tool for precision agriculture in the near future," says Francisco Madueño.
Or is precision fermentation going to be used instead? I read that it got 97% cheaper in the last 10 years.
Global economy doubles in product every 15-20 years. Computer performance at a constant price doubles nowadays every 4 years on average. Livestock-as-food will globally stop being a thing by ~2050 (precision fermentation and more). Human stupidity, pride and depravity are the biggest problems of our world.
Looks like surf clams may be a component of the diet of the future despite suffering a die off:
Surf Clams Off the Coast of Virginia Reappear – and Rebound April 19, 2024
Introduction:
(Eurekalert) The Atlantic surfclam, an economically valuable species that is the main ingredient in clam chowder and fried clam strips, has returned to Virginia waters in a big way, reversing a die-off that started more than two decades ago.
In a comprehensive study of surfclams collected from an area about 45 miles due east from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, Rutgers scientists found the population to be thriving and growing. A likely reason could be that environmental conditions improved, and another possibility is that the clams adapted, the scientists said. The report, published in the science journal Estuaries and Coasts, details the characteristics of a population of healthy-size surfclams of different ages living just under the surface of the sandy ocean bottom.
And it’s all a bit of a surprise.
“It’s unexpected and it’s good news,” said Daphne Munroe, an associate professor in the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences in the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, and an author of the study. “They disappeared some time ago – we thought they were gone. But we found there were more clams there than we thought we were going to see. And they are flourishing.”
Surfclams started disappearing from waters off the coast of Virginia in the late 1990s, affected by warming water, Munroe said. By the turn of the 21st century, there were too few present to justify fishing in those waters.
One day in 2021, Munroe received a phone call from one of her fishing partners with whom she often collaborates.
Taiwan-Swiss Collaboration Develops High Vitamin B1 Rice by Michael Nakhiengchanh
April 19, 2024
Introduction:
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A Taiwan-Swiss team has developed a new strain of rice that contains three to four times the vitamin B1 compared to normal rice.
The team included researchers from National Chung Hsing University (NCHU), University of Geneva, and ETH Zurich, per CNA. The findings were published in the Plant Biotechnology Journal on March 27.
Department of Plant Sciences Professor Teresa Fitzpatrick from the University of Geneva specializes in the biosynthesis and degradation pathways of vitamins in plants. Fitzpatrick, who led the team, said the research focused on increasing the vitamin B1 content in rice embryos through a process called biofortification.
As most vitamins cannot be produced by the body, they must be supplied by the diet, per myScience. Rice, as a staple crop for half the world’s population, loses up to 90% of its vitamin B1 through polishing.
After undergoing biofortification, the seeds were planted in an experimental field at NCHU’s Agriculture Experimental Station, where the team conducted multiple field trials on the rice varieties.
Towards Sustainable Food Systems: Global Initiatives and Innovations April 23, 2024
Introduction:
(Eurekalert) Contemporary food systems were originally developed to tackle challenges of the mid-20th century, aiming to supply abundant, efficient, non-perishable starchy calories to accommodate the expanding global population. Although substantial progress has been made in global food security over the past several decades, there still exist large populations experiencing hunger worldwide. Currently, global hunger primarily refers to insufficient calorie intake. Hidden hunger is the presence of multiple micronutrient in the absence of an energy-deficit diet. Hidden hunger, particularly the inadequate consumption of high-quality protein, has resulted in significant but often unnoticed health consequences. Resolving the hidden hunger for people is the central to meeting the UN SDGs, especially for SDG2. The global food system is at a critical juncture, facing a confluence of challenges and opportunities that demand a profound transformation. Transforming the food system can improve access to nutritious and affordable food for vulnerable populations and enhance global food security.
Prof. Lin Ma from Nanjing University and his team proposed a three-step approach to transform the food system by integrating various novel technologies. The primary task at the current global stage is to address the issue of hunger. The first step should focus on addressing people’s calorie needs, which are essential for achieving the SDG Zero Hunger goal. While addressing calorie requirements, efforts should couple crop and livestock cycles to reduce environmental pollution caused during the food production process. The second step should consider people’s demand for high-quality protein, enabling the transition from simply eating enough to eating well. At this stage, emission reduction technologies should be introduced to reduce environmental pollution during the food production process. The third step is to enhance global food production efficiency and environmental sustainability, ensuring that natural resource consumption and environmental emissions associated with food production remain within planetary boundaries.
Green Intelligent Fertilizers Promote Green and Sustainable Development of Fertilizer Industry and Agriculture April 23, 2024
Introduction:
(Eurekalert) Fertilizers are an important strategic material for ensuring food security at the national and personal levels. China has emerged as a pivotal contributor to this development, now being the largest producer and consumer of synthetic fertilizers. However, long-term extensive and unevenness fertilizer use has resulted in macronutrient surpluses and micronutrient lacks in many regions. For a long time, the development of China’s fertilizer industry is dominated by industrial production, and whether fertilizer products match agricultural demands has been overlooked. Fertilizer production has always pursued high concentration, purity, and solubility, which not only fails to improve nutrient utilization but also easily leads to plant nutritional imbalance. The existing fertilizer products are increasingly disconnected from agricultural demands. In addition, the fertilizer industry has high resource consumption, energy consumption, and industrial waste discharge, making it a key guiding industry for the country to implement dual carbon emission reduction. To align with the principles of green and sustainability, it is imperative to bridge the gap between fertilizer industry and agriculture, promote ecofriendly green chemical technology practices throughout the fertilizer industry chain and foster innovation in the development of novel fertilizers.
Prof. Fusuo Zhang from China Agricultural University and his team, based on the requirements of green and sustainable development, have innovatively proposed the concept of green intelligent fertilizer and its innovative strategies and pathways from the integration of industry and agriculture and interdisciplinary collaboration, in response to the current production status and existing problems in the fertilizer industry. Green intelligent fertilizers are new types of high-quality fertilizers produced based on the principles of optimized plant nutrition that matches crops, soils and the environment, using the big-data intelligent algorithms for targeted supply-demand matching, activating root-fertilizer synergy or feedback by intensifying crop biological potential, developing advanced green manufacturing technology to stimulate crop rhizosphere effects and fully exploiting mineral resources contained in raw materials. Such fertilizers have the characteristics of high nutrient efficiency, low-carbon production and use footprint, and maximized utilization of nutrient resources in the whole industry chain.
Superfood protein pulled out of thin air massively scales up production
By Bronwyn Thompson
April 24, 2024
The world's first commercial-scale factory for making nutrient-rich and versatile protein from air and sustainable energy has opened its doors in Finland, and the startup behind it aims to have its microbe-made food out in the US later this year. Solar Foods is just one of a handful vying for pole position in a burgeoning 'air-protein' market that's expected to be worth US$100 million by 2032.
The protein, called Solein (no, not soylent green; solar-protein), is the brainchild of Pasi Vainikka and bioprocesses scientist Juha-Pekka Pitkänen, who started Solar Foods on the back of this creation. Pitkänen knew of single-cell soil-dwelling microbes that oxidize hydrogen for energy, and he was certain they could be harvested and harnessed to produce cellular food.
While the pair remains secretive of the exact microbial species and origin – not surprising, there's a whole lot of money to be made in this burgeoning industry of alternative food production – they have revealed they're found close to the shore in the Baltic Sea.
