MadSci Network: Agricultural Sciences
Query:

Re: What is the importance of genetics to nurseries and farmers?

Date: Wed Mar 10 20:53:13 2004
Posted By: David Hershey, Faculty, Botany, NA
Area of science: Agricultural Sciences
ID: 1078865419.Ag
Message:

Whenever you are dealing with living organisms, genetics is of central 
importance. Farmers and nurserymen also need to be concerned about genetics of 
insect pests and disease organisms. Animal farmers have created problems by 
overuse of antibiotics, which leads to antibiotic resistant bacterial 
strains.  

Plant breeding has long been important to increases in crop yield and 
development of new and better cultivated varieties (cultivars) of food and 
ornamental plants. More recently, genetic engineering has become widespread in 
food crops and may become more important in farm animals. Cornell University 
estimates that about 60 to 70% of processed foods in U.S. supermarkets contain 
genetically engineered crops, mainly from genetically engineered corn, 
soybeans, canola and cotton. Canola and cottonseed oils are used in many 
products. Outside the U.S., use of genetic engineered crops have often been 
banned. 

Genetic engineering has a lot of potential to improve both food and ornamental 
plants. There is interest in trying to introduce apomixis and parthenocarpy 
genes into more crops. Apomixis is the production of asexual seeds. 
Parthenocarpy is production of fruits without pollination and fertiliation. 
Parthenocarpic fruits are seedless. Other improvements possible with genetic 
engineering include crops with resistance to diseases, insects and herbicides, 
crops with higher vitamin content and new flower colors such as blue 
carnations, blue roses and blue chrysanthemums.

More traditional breeding has resulted in many new cultivars. Seedless grapes 
have become much more available because of many new cultivars. Breeding of 
several of these new seedless grape cultivars used a tissue culture technique, 
known as embryo rescue.

Plant farmers have similar problems with pesticide use resulting in pesticide 
resistant insects and diseases. Grain and vegetable producers use new 
cultivars as one method to deal with diseases, insects and increase yield. 
Fruit tree growers often use cultivars that are a century or more old so 
depend less on breeding. For example, 'Granny Smith' apple is a relatively new 
cultivar in the U.S. but originated in the mid-1800s. 

A major problem in plant agriculture is lack of genetic diversity in crops 
grown. The second website indicates there are over 17,000 known apple 
cultivars but most supermarkets offer fewer than a dozen kinds.   

Animal farmers often use artificial insemination for farm animals including 
cattle, sheep, goats and horses. It is a breeding technique to select the male 
parent with the best genes. Embryo transfer is also used in breeding of some 
farm animals. It implants eggs from female animals with superior genes in the 
wombs of other animals.

Dolly the sheep brought a lot of attention to the possibility of cloning farm 
animals. However, there are technical problems that have to be overcome before 
cloning of farm animals becomes a commercial process. 

Cloning is very widely used in plant agriculture. Most fruit and nut crops are 
cloned by grafting. Most nursery plants are cloned by grafting or rooting of 
cuttings. Cuttings also used for many greenhouse flowers such as 
chrysanthemum, poinsettia and carnation. Tissue culture propagation is used to 
clone many greenhouse plants, such as many houseplants and orchids.  

References


GE Foods in the Market


“A” is for antique apples


Glimpses into sexual plant reproduction: the pursuit of apomixis


The quest to create the blue rose


New Summer Seedless Black Grape Developed


Animal Genetics


Artificial Insemination


Dolly the sheep clone dies young


Re: What are some good things and bad things about plant cloning?



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