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Rice 'fingerprints' provide valuable info to rice breeders

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Manila, The Philippines
May 18, 2009

Source: PhilRice

They say that a human’s fingerprint has a lot to say about a person. Recent discoveries show that inferences on personality can be derived from the fingerprint.

Fingerprinting, however, is not solely done on humans. Genetic fingerprinting is now a major technique in crop biology research such as in rice.

In the paper, Genetic fingerprinting: Advancing the frontiers of crop biology research , Dr. Gabriel O. Romero, Cheryl Adeva, and Zosimo Battad II documented how Filipino scientists seize the benefits of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) fingerprinting in crop research.

Fingerprinting is used to characterize a DNA. DNA contains the traits of an organism. Through fingerprinting, these traits are revealed helping the breeders select the traits that they can use in their plant breeding activities.

Years ago, DNA fingerprinting was a tedious process. The discovery of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has paved the way for a more convenient analysis of DNA variation. PCR magnifies a section of a DNA making it possible for scientists to study and/or characterize that area. Scientists are now using markers, which make assaying a lot more convenient. Markers are specific DNA sequences attached to a trait. Hence, the presence of a marker signifies that a trait is present.

Application

Taxa identification and phylogeny, diversity analysis, hybridity testing, gene mapping, marker-aided introgression, somaclonal variation, and patenting are some of the areas where genetic fingerprinting is useful.

Through genetic fingerprinting, scientists can tell sequence of events involved in the development of a rice plant. This information can give inferences on traits of a variety. For example, through genetic fingerprinting, it can be learned that PSB Rc28 is one of the parents of PSB Rc82.

Varieties always interest farmers. While seeds may thrive in different conditions, there are just a few that can deliver the highest yield given challenging environments. Varietal recommendation, therefore, is crucial. Genetic fingerprinting is useful in diversity analysis measuring the level of genetic similarities or differences among materials. Decoded traits of a variety are good inputs in rice breeding. This will guide the breeders in selecting the traits that they can transfer to another variety.

Moreover, genetic information provides good input in conservation. There are germplasms requiring stringent measures for conservation. Gene-banking is very important to maintain a repository of varieties so that at the advent of environmental woes such as pests and diseases, there would be ready substitutes for farmers.

In making hybrid rice varieties where 50:50 parental contribution is crucial, genetic fingerprinting is also very useful. Scientists say that proper identification and selection is crucial for “proper identification and varietal protection, genetic identity stability, complete characterization and measurement of crop genetic diversity, and for uniformity of appear-ance and agronomic performance of produced variety that will meet the demand of the farmers and consumers”. Genetic fingerprinting gives precise results minimizing mistakes in the breeding process. 

Rice outputs

In plants, as in humans, there are recessive and dominant traits. Recessive traits are characteristics not commonly expressed by plants that show a uniform trait. Hence, if the physical appearance will be the sole basis for some traits possessed by a rice plant, that will not be very accurate. Through the use of markers, the recessive genes are identified easily making it possible for scientists to select properly the traits that they want to incorporate into another variety. Tubigan 7 (NSIC Rc142) and Tubigan 11 (NSIC Rc154) are the first two products of marker-aided selection. They have resistance genes Xa4 and Xa21 against bacterial leaf blight.

Somaclonal variation refers to the variations seen in plants via plant tissue culture. The variations may be in the form of mutation such as alteration of cell’s ability to repair damaged and mutated DNA.

The team led by Dr. Nenita V. Desamero uses somaclonal variation to breed varieties that can live in drought-prone areas. IVC-2 and IVC-21 are the first two products of somaclonal variation in rice breeding that qualified in the National Cooperative Trial.  

Prospects

Genetic fingerprinting can strengthen the claims for patenting rice varieties. The physical appearance of varieties cannot exactly express the distinction between two almost similar varieties. Through genetic fingerprinting, the traits within the variety can be seen, and hence, strengthen the claim of plant breeders.

There’s no way back from here. Genetic fingerprinting solely used before on humans has found its way to hasten breeding process, having immense impact on crop biology research in general.
 

 

 

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