Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
f
ruItS
The.ARC-Infruitec.has.requested.approval.for.a.CFT.of.fungal.resistant.grapes.to.see.
if.the.reporter.gene.works.well..Similarly,.transgenic.apples.have.undergone.CFTs.
for.the.last.5-7.years.to.see.if.the.novel.genes.are.expressed..The.irst.GM.straw-
berry.with.tolerance.to.glyphosate.was.developed.locally.and.tested.in.a.ield.trial.in.
the.early.1990s..The.RR.gene.worked.well,.but.the.project.did.not.go.commercial..
Meanwhile,.the.landscape.for.transgenic.horticultural.crops.might.still.change.given.
that.Monsanto.Company.acquired.Seminis.(a.seed.company),.a.year.ago.
EGYPT
S
QuaSh
, m
elon
, w
atermelon
,
and
c
ucumber
Egypt. produces. an. estimated. 46,000. hectares. (ha). of. watermelon,. 28,000.ha. of.
squash,.pumpkin.and.gourds,.20,000.ha.cantaloupes.and.other.melons,.and.18,000.ha.
of. cucumber. annually.. Production. constraints. are. due. to. both. biotic. (viruses). and.
abiotic. (drought. and. salinity). stresses.. The. most. economically. important. viruses.
being.zucchini.yellow.mosaic.virus.(ZYMV),.watermelon.mosaic.virus.(WMV),.the.
watermelon.strain.of.papaya.ringspot.virus.(PRSV-W),.and.cucumber.mosaic.virus.
(CMV)..The.ZYMV.coat.protein.gene.was.cloned.and.sequenced.at.Michigan.State.
University.and.used.to.develop.transgenic.cucurbits..In.collaboration.with.Egyptian.
scientists.at.the.Agricultural.Genetic.Engineering.Research.Institute.(AGERI),.trans-
genic.cucurbits/melon.and.squash.were.produced..The.transformation.technology.for.
melon.together.with.the.coat.protein.gene.were.transferred.to.AGERI.and.used.to.
produce.local.transgenic.melons.and.squash..The.technology.also.resulted.in.local.
scientists.developing.transformation.and.regeneration.protocols.for.local.varieties.of.
both.melon.and.watermelon.
11
While. all. these. efforts. have. worked. well,. the. actual. challenge. for. Egypt. is. the.
limited.biosafety.data.that.are.available.to.support.commercialization.of.these.prod-
ucts..Furthermore,.the.Egyptian.government.might.have.been.reluctant.to.tackle.the.
anti-GM.activism.that.surrounded.the.Bt.potato,.although.it.is.interesting.to.note.that.
in.2008,.Egypt.did.indeed.commercialize.Bt.maize,.a.food.crop.
1
KENYA
S
weet
p
otato
The.average.yield.of.sweet.potato.in.Kenya.is.6.ton/ha,.whereas.in.China.it.is.18.
ton/ha..While.sweet.potato.is.widely.grown.in.Kenya,.the.yields.continue.to.decline.
due. to. nematode. and. viral. diseases. with. the. sweet. potato. feathery. mottle. virus.
(SPFMV).being.the.major.virus..Transgenic.sweet.potato.carrying.the.coat.protein.
gene.from.SPFMV.was.developed.by.Kenyan.and.Monsanto.scientists.using.mate-
rials. from. Kenya.. When. technical. problems. developed. with. this. material,. the.
material.from.Papua.New.Guinea.was.used.instead..When.transgenic.sweet.potatoes.
were.ield.tested.in.Kenya,.the.resistance.broke.down.and.a.whole.negative.publicity.
ensued.
13
. The. development. of. virus-resistant. sweet. potato. still. continues. and. this.
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