July 7, 2009

expert reaction to research into genetically modified, salt-tolerant plants, as published in The Plant Cell journal

A collaboration between scientists in Adelaide and Cambridge has resulted in the production of genetically modified cereal crops that have a high salt tolerance and can grow in salty water, and could potentially be used to alleviate hunger in the world’s poorest countries.

Dr Giles Oldroyd, Research Group Leader at the John Innes Centre, Norwich, said:

“Large areas of land are not viable for crop production because of salinity levels in the soil. In some areas such as parts of Australia and India, high quality agricultural land has been lost as a result of irrigation causing an increase in soil salinity. A major target of plant research has been to develop crop plants that can grow in high salinity conditions and this research reveals a mechanism for engineering salt tolerant plants. The research has been undertaken in a model plant and it is important to show that this also works in crops. However, this is an exciting development that should lead the way in engineering crop plants that can grow on salt damaged soils.

“In 2008, Prince Charles accused genetically modified crops of causing the salinisation of Australian farmland. Far from causing the problem, genetic modification is leading the way in finding the solutions.”

Prof Les Firbank, Head of the North Wyke Research Institute, Devon, said:

“One of the threats to global food production is that large areas of land are becoming affected by excess accumulation of salt, reducing the yields of crop plants. This new research demonstrates that it is possible to stop the salt from getting into the shoots, where it does most damage, by genetically engineering how salt is transported across cells in the root. This is a great example of how fundamental plant science will be used to deliver increases in food supply, just as developments in fundamental human cell biology are leading to new treatments for diseases.”

Prof Ian Crute, Director of the Rothamsted Research Institute, said:

“Soil salinity is a substantial threat to sustainable crop production in many regions of the world, particularly where there is a dependency on irrigation; more than 300 million hectares of otherwise productive land are thought to be affected worldwide and the development of salt-tolerant crop varieties is a high priority if yields are to be maintained and saline land not abandoned.

“This new research convincingly demonstrates that the potential exists to genetically engineer plants such that when they are grown in saline soils, sodium ions do not accumulate in shoots where they cause damage. The effect has been achieved in a non-crop plant (Arabidopsis) by precise engineering of specific plant tissues in such a way as to enable them to remove sodium ions from the water-conducting vessels of the plant so that damaging levels do not accumulate in the shoot. It is hoped that the same technology will work when applied to crops and the techniques used also open up the prospect of other applications such as providing of health benefits by elevating the essential mineral content of the edible parts of crops.”