The crop carries a gene from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), and was developed by Mahyco-Monsanto Biotech, a joint venture between the Jalna-based Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Company and the US seed giant Monsanto,
Our national labs have all the genes for rice improvement, we do need not Monsanto, says Govindarajan Padmanabhan, a biochemist and former director of the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore.
which led to the development of gene silencing. The awards, each worth US$100, 000, will be presented at the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem on 13 may.
The genome of the black truffle (Tuber melanosporum) includes genes encoding flavour-related sulphur metabolites
Yet Martin and his team found two different sets of mating genes in the black truffle,
and four times larger than that of many fungi but it contains far fewer protein-coding genes.
Besides sharing a handful of genes with L bicolor that encode enzymes to degrade plant cell walls,
the truffle lacks most of the genes that are involved in L. bicolor's symbiotic relationship with plants.
Mycologist David Hibbett of Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, says that he is amazed to learn that the two species of fungi share any genes involved in symbiosis at all.
without specifying which genes may be modified, as well as a broad range of related laboratory research. The Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (HSNO) Act
that all cells in an embryo start off sexually indifferent and remain so until a sex-determining gene directs the development of gonads into either ovaries or testes.
During development, genetic factors trigger the formation of male or female gonads according to an animal's combination of sex chromosomes (XY for males and XX for females.
for the most part up of normal female cells with female chromosomes, whereas the cockerel side contained mostly normal male cells with male chromosomes.
Because both sides were exposed to exactly the same hormones the team realized that the cells must respond according to their own chromosomal complement rather than taking orders from the gonads.
To capitalize on this, the US National Science Foundation (NSF) soon afterwards dedicated US$200 million towards determining the function of every Arabidopsis gene by 2010.
But the project has fallen short of its original goal of determining the function of every gene.
Most Arabidopsis genes have been characterized in some fashion for instance by observing their expression in a high-throughput assay,
However, Huala estimates that direct experimental data about function are available for only a third of all Arabidopsis genes.
Arabidopsis has many large gene families whose constituent genes have overlapping functions a common phenomenon in plants.
Knocking out one gene in the family often did not affect the plant because other genes were able to compensate.
When the programme was designed, there was this idea that if we march through every gene and look at its phenotype with a knockout mutant,
that would give us great insight into the functional identity of every gene, says Philip Benfey, a plant biologist at Duke university in Durham, North carolina.
The reality was complicated much more. In 2008, the project team drafted a proposed Arabidopsis 2020 programme that would focus on systems biology,
an approach that would use the large data sets generated in the 2010 programme to develop models of plant function.
but it is often more difficult to characterize the function of genes in biofuel crops.
but because it contains marker genes that confer resistance to the antibiotics kanamycin and neomycin.
They attach the antibiotic-resistance gene onto the desired trait genes, and then treat the transgenic seedlings with antibiotics,
which kills those plants that haven't taken up the foreign genes. Environmental groups and some countries have had longstanding concerns about the risk of genes spreading from crops to bacteria and increasing bacterial antibiotic resistance.
What does the science say about that risk? The EFSA considered this in the context of the Amflora application in 2005,
They argued that the risk of gene transfer might be less than remote and that introducing genes that confer resistance to antibiotics that are used, for example,
to treat multiply drug-resistant tuberculosis simply isn't a good idea. The reason the problem arises at all is
and plants have been modified genetically with Bt genes since 1996 so crops such as corn and potato can produce the crystal proteins,
The two South african forms are able to overcome the effects of two resistance genes in wheat that normally prevent stem rust from taking hold.
The genes cause plant cells around the infection site to die, stopping the fungus from further infecting the plant.
They are two of the most important genes in wheat because they are selected for in crop-breeding programmes across the world.
making it able to overcome the Sr24 wheat gene that usually confers resistance to the pathogen.
and is able to overcome the effects of the resistance gene Sr31 as well as Sr24. The fungus and its variants are now able to overcome at least 32 of around 50 resistance genes, according to Ravi Singh, a plant geneticist and pathologist at the Mexico-based International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre.
An international project that is researching resistance to wheat rust led by Cornell University, is developing new tools to help defeat the pathogen.
Sarah Davidson, associate director of the project, says that it will have isolated eight new resistance genes by the end of the year.
which incorporates eight genes conferring herbicide tolerance and insect protection. If farmers don't switch to Roundup Ready 2,
Researchers at the University of the Free state in Bloemfontein found that the new variants can overcome the effects of two resistance genes in wheat that normally prevent stem rust from taking hold.
Mystery RNA spawns gene-activating peptides: Nature Newssome so-called'non-coding'pieces of RNA may actually encode short proteins that regulate genes,
researchers have found. Protein-coding MESSENGER RNA molecules serve as templates for the production of proteins in cells,
Some argue that the many RNAS observed to be transcribed from the vast stretches of non-coding DNA between known genes are merely artefacts of the high-throughput technology used to detect RNAS on a genome-wide scale (see'Existence of RNA dark
which have direct gene-regulatory functions. This might be something very big, says Claude Desplan,
This RNA is produced from a gene called polished rice, so-named because the embryos of flies with a mutation in the polished rice gene lack the hairs that characteristically decorate the surface of the fruitfly embryo
(which resembles a grain of rice to the naked eye). The team found that the polished rice peptides trigger the truncation of a protein called Shavenbaby,
This shorter form of the Shavenbaby protein activates the expression of genes needed for hair growth.
Sequence analysis suggests that DNA regions capable of encoding tiny peptides exist in front of many protein-coding genes,
which have long been thought to be defunct relics of protein-coding genes. Pseudogenes often contain many signals that would stop protein synthesis and,
Since 1996, Monsanto has held a European patent on genes that give soya beans resistance to the company's Roundup herbicide specifically the active ingredient glyphosate.
where soya-bean crops (known as Roundup Ready) expressing the glyphosate-resistance genes can be cultivated without a licensing agreement.
Pavlovsk Experimental Station, an 84-year-old gene bank outside St petersburg, houses more than 5, 000 crop varieties,
Research Student gene-testing dropped: The University of California, Berkeley, has been barred from providing incoming students with personal analyses of three common genetic variants.
Gene-sequencing IPO: Pacific Biosciences, a gene-sequencing technology company in Menlo Park, California, aims to raise US$200 million in an initial public offering.
In a US Securities and exchange commission filing dated 16 august, the company says that it would use the proceeds for further research and development relating to its sequencing technology,
indicating which genes are turned on and off, and to what extent. With ancient DNA you can see what an ancient organism might have looked like.
Increasingly, biologists are discovering that the differences between organisms are due not to mutations that change the sequence of protein-coding genes
but to the genes'activity. Important as RNA is to evolution, it isn't an obvious molecule to study in ancient specimens.
and that the mrna sequences correspond to known genes. To put the method to use
and epigenetic modification of genes, will explain this conundrum. His team next plans to compare these RNAS with those found in modern barley
and genes they target. Greger Larson, a geneticist at Durham University, UK, who was involved not in either project,
But instead of looking at genes, they used a recently created family tree2 of 400 languages in South East asia and the Pacific (also called Austronesia).
Cancer-gene testing ramps up: Nature Newsin an approach that many doctors and scientists hope will form the medical care of the future,
whether a drug is likely to work or not, the hospital tests patients for some 150 mutations in more than a dozen cancer-causing genes,
which will look for several dozen mutations in about a dozen genes linked to cancer, will be carried out on people with lung, breast, colorectal, prostate or ovarian cancers,
Because most existing clinical tests probe individual genes the NHS programme is working with the Technology Strategy Board, a government agency that supports technology development,
For example, its broad genetic test detects a mutation in a gene called BRAF that is already known to be mutated commonly in metastatic melanoma.
Finding such mutations in people with lung and colon cancer made it possible to put them in a trial of an experimental treatment targeting that gene,
These data could reveal how drugs targeting one molecular pathway are affected by mutations in another gene
The bananas have a gene from green pepper to protect against banana Xanthomonas wilt (BXW which costs farmers in Africa's Great lakes region an estimated half a billion dollars every year.
The sweet pepper gene produces a protein called HRAP that strengthens the plant's ability to seal off infected cells.
Six of the eight GM banana strains developed with the green pepper gene showed 100%resistance to BXW in the lab1.
This is the first time this gene has been used in Africa, and it is the first time the technology is going to be tested in the field,
000 rice strains to identify genes for desirable traits such as improved yield and climate tolerance.
Scientists identified the culprit gene some two decades ago (see'Human genetics: One gene, twenty years'.
'But the field is still struggling to understand how this glitch causes the disease's range of symptoms,
and growth problems are caused not directly by the cystic fibrosis gene, but rather are by-products of malnutrition and lung inflammation.
The cystic fibrosis gene CFTR codes for a protein called the cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator, which helps to move chloride ions across cell membranes.
Scientists don't know why damage to the gene leads to reduced IGF1 levels, but Stoltz and colleagues'study suggests that it is because of CFTR's action in the brain.
and their genes would be erased from the population. It was a risky approach. To test the plan,
The factory treated the moths with just enough radiation to damage the chromosomes in their reproductive cells without causing injuries that would prevent their survival in the wild.
because we are interested very in the genes involved in quality traits. Criollo is also extremely homozygous it has matching copies of most of its genes on each pair of chromosomes.
This is an important factor in producing a high quality genome sequence. Although fine cocoa commands a high price,
Lanaud's team found scores of genes potentially involved in the production of lipids flavonoids and terpenoids, responsible for much of the taste of chocolate.
T. cacao had some 84 candidate genes involved in lipid biosynthesis, compared with 71 in the well-studied but less flavoursome plant thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana),
The paper also highlights genes potentially involved in disease resistance. These may eventually allow breeders to improve the quality and yields of the cocoa varieties.
and should provide additional candidate genes for important traits, says Brian Scheffler, research leader of the Stoneville, Mississippi-based Genomics and Bioinformatics Research Unit at the US Department of agriculture's Agricultural research service,
the forest elephant gene pool would become diluted and displaced by that of the savanna elephants,
What we see is an ancient split with a bit of gene flow more recently, he says.
and found which genes we should focus on to tackle it, says study author Sophien Kamoun, a plant pathologist and head of the Sainsbury Laboratory, a not-for-profit plant science company in Norwich,
The researchers identified the key genes by comparing the genetic make-up of the potato blight pathogen and several of its sister species. To do so,
They discovered that the pathogens shared many'housekeeping'genes, including that for spore generation, but that they also had made numerous regions up of non-coding repeated DNA sequences.
Genes were sparser in these regions, but most were associated with pathogenicity, having roles such as suppressing host immunity
These genes varied between the species, either in their sequence or in the number of copies present.
the researchers say that the function of these genes and the variation between the sister species suggests that these regions are involved in the evolution and adaption of the pathogen to new hosts.
It seems that the genes for host adaptation are in the DNA-repeat-rich regions,
and his team found that B. graminis genes responsible for infection and pathogenicity are located also in areas of the genome that are enriched with non-coding DNA repeats.
but the genus Satsuma contains both dextral and sinistral species. In most land snails, the switch between dextrality and sinistrality is controlled by a single gene,
meaning that reversals are likely to occur frequently. However, sinistral Satsuma snails cannot mate with their dextral relatives,
We've found that a single gene can have major effects on speciation and adaptation simultaneously.
And a DNA-based family tree of the snail genus showed that sinistrality has arisen independently at least six times in Satsuma
Whereas resistance to a particular herbicide might be pinned down to one gene, the response to drought plays out across the genome.
The industry researchers identified thousands of genes associated with drought tolerance then incorporated them into their hybrids through conventional breeding.
incorporating a gene from the variety currently under development by Monsanto. Meanwhile, CIMMYT recently partnered with the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable agriculture,
which can be held in gene banks or on farms, is freely available to researchers, plant breeders and farmers.
and Bhatti had feared that some projects would not be funded (See Boost for conservation of plant gene assets).
or their genes, so that less nitrogen is lost from the soil. Preliminary results show that as nitrogen concentrations in the soil rise,
there is a change in copy-number of some microbial genes that encode enzymes key to nitrogen escaping from soils.
which microbial genes are present, the researchers found. The genes present are not necessarily the ones that are active,
says Goulding. Researchers are now looking to identify the activity of these genes, not merely their presence or copy-number.
In a related experiment, they also found that soils release more nitrous oxide if they are dry
The goal is to identify the genes that are crucial in helping bees thwart attack,
who is exploring the genes involved in the process. What we think we've found is a window into this new immune-response pathway.
The genes for the Shiga toxin are not actually bacterial genes, but phage genes being expressed by infected bacteria.
So when an E coli bacterium gets infected with a Shiga-toxin-producing phage, it becomes pathogenic to humans.
Our use of antibiotics may be helping those viral genes to spread. If bacteria are exposed to some types of antibiotics they undergo what is called the SOS response,
H4 is that it has resistance genes to multiple classes of antibiotics. This suggests that wherever the bacteria have come from there has been selective pressure to resist antibiotics.
Shiga toxins have been causing diarrhoeal disease in humans for centuries the bacterial genus Shigella and the Shiga toxins were named first for Kiyoshi Shiga,
According to Allison, Shiga-toxin producing phage probably picked up the genes encoding Shiga toxin from these bacteria,
and since the 1980s have been spreading these virulent genes to other bacteria, including many strains of E coli.
and it shares many genes with enteroaggerative E coli (EAEC) strains. EAEC strains are associated not typically with zoonotic infections,
In addition to the antibiotic-resistance genes, the bacteria contain a gene for resistance to the mineral tellurite (tellurium dioxide.
One telltale sign is that the strain does not contain the eae gene, which codes for a protein called intimin,
The bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens which can cause tumours on plants shuttled foreign genes into plant genomes.
Developers then used genetic control elements derived from pathogenic plant viruses such as the cauliflower mosaic virus to switch on the genes.
foreign genes can be fired into plant cells on metal particles shot from a'gene gun'.
Nevertheless, Agrobacterium is still industry's tool of choice for shuttling in foreign genes, says Johan Botterman, head of product research at Bayer Bioscience in Ghent, Belgium.
and particle bombardment is less predictable, often yielding multiple, fragmented insertions of the new gene.
Many companies are developing'mini-chromosomes'that can function in a plant cell without needing to be integrated into the plant's genome.
Switzerland, conducted the first field trials of maize (corn) containing engineered mini-chromosomes, and showed that the mini-chromosomes,
which carried multiple genes for insect and herbicide resistance, were stable in the field. I would expect that by the end of the decade,
this technology will be used well by many as a way to deliver large stacks of genes to plants,
says Roger Kemble, head of technology scouting for Syngenta. Other techniques under development insert foreign genes into designated sites in the genome,
unlike the near-random scattering generated by Agrobacterium. In 2009 researchers at Dow Agrosciences in Indianapolis, Indiana,
and Sangamo Biosciences in Richmond, California, announced that they had used enzymes called zinc-finger nucleases to insert a gene for herbicide resistance at a specific site in the maize genome (V. K. Shukla et al.
which has added genes from the Bacillus thuringiensis bacterium, making the plant produce toxins that confer resistance to some insect pests.
Its genome comprises more than 39,000 protein-coding genes, and it is a highly heterozygous autotetraploid this means that it has four copies of every chromosome,
and often considerable variation among the corresponding four copies of each gene. This is in contrast to the two copies in most human cells.
According Glenn Bryan of the Scottish Crop Research Institute in Dundee UK one of the 26 research institutes that came together from around the globe to form the Potato Genome Sequencing Consortium several factors made the sequencing possible.
meaning that it has a more manageable 2 copies of every gene. Using this potato,
geneticists selected one copy of each chromosome and duplicated these to produce a double-monoploid clone in
which the two genes that make up each pair are identical, or'homozygous'that they could sequence almost completely.
The most important finding of the consortium's initial analysis is the identification of more than 800 disease-resistance genes, each
Singling out these genes will make it easier to develop new varieties of potato because thanks to its complex genetics, the tuber has been notoriously difficult to improve through breeding.
In a paper published on 22 september in Plos ONE, the team reports finding antibodies against members of the Henipavirus genus in 5%of 97 pigs studied.
But M. giganteus is a headache in the lab. Its genome has few markers to help would-be breeders keep track of desirable genes,
and informatics to the field's grand, overarching goal of predicting how a plant with a given set of genes will fare in different environments.
which aimed to identify the function of every Arabidopsis gene by 2010. Stacey says that the need for broad planning is now even greater
because even molecular biologists are flocking to learn more about how the genes and processes they study function in natural environments.
the activity of genes that allow the native bacteria to break down carbohydrates did increase. One of the five yoghurt strains Bifidobacterium animalis lactis also showed a similar boost in its ability to metabolize carbohydrates.
with defined communities where all the actors and genes are known. The mouse models provide a foundation for critically evaluating the claims from manufacturers of functional foods and probiotics
or sequence their bacterial genes at enough depth. We should reserve the judgement on the effects of probiotics in humans until broader and deeper studies are carried out,
as well as the identity of thousands of microbial genes. Although wild and captive pandas have different diets
Wei's team found that samples from both groups contained previously unknown genes produced by Clostridium bacteria,
which resembled known genes for enzymes that break cellulose into simpler sugars. The microbial enzymes may help giant pandas to extract extra energy from the small amount of bamboo that they manage to process
It's very easy to transfer this gene to any other variety, says Arag £o.
and share it in international databases of genes and diseases. China is taking on about a quarter of the project's estimated 20
000 genes, and will set up a genetics institute in Beijing to coordinate activities and give training in genetic counselling and testing.
) Haemophilia B is caused by mutations in the gene that codes for the factor IX protein;
the treatment uses viruses to deliver a healthy version of the gene to patients'liver cells.
) The trial was conducted on women with advanced forms of breast cancer that involved mutations in the HER2 gene,
They inserted the genes responsible into a strain of E coli, which could then digest the alginate into simple sugars.
NASDAQTREND watch Companies in the gene-sequencing industry such as Illumina of San diego, California are suffering because of slack demand for their machines.
which means that they provide ample opportunity for gene swapping and, thereby, the emergence of pandemic strains such as the 2009 H1n1 pandemic virus. The world is home to some 1 billion domestic pigs, almost half
is unusual in that it contains the triple reassortant internal gene (TRIG) cassette, a highly conserved set of six genes that allows the virus to swap genes with flu viruses from other species much more freely than the seasonal H1n1 that circulated before 2009 (see Pandemic 2009 H1n1 virus gives wings to avian flu).
Seasonal H1n1 reassorted sparingly, but"we are noting lots of reassortment between the pandemic virus and endemic swine viruses, says Peiris.
"In the future we might know a few genes that affect behaviour and we could go back and look into the hunter gatherers
and see what variants of those genes are present, says Mattias Jakobsson, a population geneticist at the University of Uppsala and a co-author of the Science paper."
by sequencing just a portion of a gene. But much of the DNA recovered from environmental sources such as soil
Of the 6, 097 genes tested 987 showed significant changes in expression level, associated with rank.
Increased activity in immune-system genes, particularly those related to inflammation, was twice as common among low-ranking monkeys as would be expected by chance.
which genes get turned on and off in insects and fish, but this is the first study to look at nonhuman primates,
The link between genes and social status may be more difficult to tease out in humans than in monkeys,
and more than 90%of the genes within it identified, and refinements still taking place, the group hopes to make this a gold-standard reference sequence.
"Several of the genes born at that second triplication stayed in the genome for tens of millions of years,
a salmon with a gene prompting faster growth, and a hog engineered to excrete less-toxic manure.
and spread of the gene variants needed for the adult population to digest the lactose found in milk,
and people able to tolerate lactose may have stayed better hydrated than people without the gene.""From my point of view,
Gene patents redux A court ruling that allows companies to patent DNA was challenged again in a WASHINGTON DC appeals court hearing on 20 Â July.
A court decided last year that patents on genes are valid, as part of its ruling on patents held by Myriad Genetics of Salt lake city,
or so genes trigger the immune system. In principle researchers could engineer these genes into the genome of a harmless virus to create a vaccine.
Alternatively, identifying and switching off the disease-causing genes in the virus could lead to an attenuated vaccine.
In the longer term, these options offer the best chance of halting the march of the virus,
"What we need is protected for large areas to be surrounded by landscapes that allow for gene flows.
because it contains a gene from the H1n1 pandemic strain that may increase transmissibility among humans.
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