Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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cies and genus barriers using sophisticated crossing and embryo rescue methods.
Notable successes, for instance, were the introduction of rust resistance from
Aegilops and Agropyon species into bread wheat Triticum aestiuum and bacterial
and nematode resistances from wild tomato species (Lycopersicon hirsutum,
L . peruuianurn) into the cultivated form, L . esculentum. Essentially the transgenic
approach allows complete access to genes from other organisms to be used without
regard to sexual barriers in order to provide plants with appropriate resistances.
The products of these gene transfers can then be seen as complementing or
substituting the existing genetic or chemical capacities. The earliest examples of
the technology are virus, insect, and herbicide resistances discussed elsewhere
in this volume. For the purposes of this paper, the environmental impacts come
in three forms. Firstly, by increasing the genetic component of the crop package
the potential to use less chemicals can be realized. This is a specific goal of
agricultural policy in some countries such as Denmark (government policy, however, does not always equate with environmental benefit). Secondly, by giving
additional routes to crop protection the successful maintenance of useful chemical
and genetic resistances against the development of resistances in the pest or
disease is made more feasible. l6 Finally, by increasing yields or productivity the
total environmental load from agriculture may be reduced. This may also be seen
in a capacity to tolerate stressful or marginal environments.
At Zeneca we have a program to examine the use of plant-derived antifungal
proteins in transgenic crops. Many plant seeds were screened in collaboration
with W. Broekaert's laboratory in Leuven for the presence of antifungal proteins.
Several classes of protein were identified and their amino acid and DNA sequences
determined (TABLEl).17-2n These proteins are small (25-60 amino acids) with
several disulfide bridges. Tertiary structure of a protein from radish has been
determined.2n-21
Antifungal activity of these proteins has been assessed in uitro. On a molar
basis they can be as effective as a chemical fungicide, having I,, values of 80-400
nM in uitro (TABLE1). They are effective as sprays and look promising when
expressed in transgenic plant leaves.22
Antifungal Proteins"
Source Species
AFP
Class
Size (kDa)
IC,, (nM)
Mirabilis jalapa
Amaranthus cauduzus
Raphanus sativus
Dahlia merckii
Allium cepa
Impatiens balsamina
Mj-AMP2
Ac-AMP2
Rs-AFP2
Dm-AMP1
Ace-AMP1
Ib-AMP2
Mirabilis type
Hevein type
Plant defensin
Plant defensin
nsLTP typeh
Impatiens type
4
3
5
5
9
2.5
400
250
3 00
<I50
<80
<300
102
genes controlling the raw material quality of the major agricultural commodities
as both foods and industrial feedstocks. This is already heralded in the work
described elsewhere in this volume on the genes determining the chain length and
desaturation of fatty acids and those determining the quantity and quality of starch.
From this work it can be seen that three clear environmental benefits are within
sight. Firstly, improvements in harvested yield and productivity will relieve the
agricultural load on land and resources. Secondly, plants as renewable resources
will provide tailor-made products for bulk and specialty needs of industry (the
financial case, on the other hand, is less clear depending on the cost of competing
technological solutions, the price of oil, and other political considerations). Finally,
the end products can be made in a way that reduces processing costs and environmental load.
As an example of this latter application, Zeneca has been working on the
modification of lignin with a group of European laboratories coordinated by Professor Boudet in Toulouse. Lignin is a complex and heterogeneous polymer with
structural and waterproofing functions. It is made from the polymerization of
monomer components derived from the phenylpropanoid pathway.23Genes specifying two enzymes in this pathway, cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD) and
cinnamyl-o-rnethyl transferase (COMT), have been cloned from a number of spec i e ~ . ~ ,In ~tobacco plants in which CAD or COMT was reduced to less than 5%
of control values by introduced transgenes, the lignin structure was altered.26v27
For the low-CAD plants, this was shown to translate into an improvement in the
chemical extractability of the lignin. This produces better quality pulp and is
estimated to require less chlorine to bleach the final pulp.26 We are currently
examining the effect of reducing the expression of these genes in transgenic poplar
in the field.
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CONCLUSIONS
From an environmental point of view, the first dozen years of research with
transgenic plants has focused mostly on the environmental risks that might be
incurred. During this time the base of understanding has moved forward so that
the hazards of particular products rather than transgenic plants in general are the
focus of regulatory review and scientific discussion. In addition, as the first products come to the market, attention has also shifted to the positive environmental
benefits to be gained in both agronomics and downstream of the farm gate. Although the commercialization of transgenic plants is in its infancy, it is clear
that great opportunities exist to have a positive environmental impact from plant
biotechnology throughout the world.
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