What Is Genetic Improvement
What Is Genetic Improvement
What Is Genetic Improvement
• Increase performance:
• Improvement of productivity: increasing the potential productive capacity of
individuals.
• Resistance improvement: obtaining genotypes resistant to pests, diseases and adverse
environmental conditions.
• Improvement of agronomic characteristics: obtaining new genotypes that are better
adapted to the demands and application of the mechanization of agriculture.
• Increase the quality: improvement of the nutritive value of the vegetal products obtained.
• Extend the area of exploitation: adapting the varieties of the species already cultivated to
new geographical areas with climatic characteristics or extreme soil types.
• Taming new species: transforming wild species into crops with utility and profitability for
man.
1. First step: to find within the genetic variability of the collected species, or of the species
that can hybridize, individuals that have these characters.
2. Second step: these individuals hybridize with each other and with plants with good
general agronomic characteristics. The result will be a base population that will segregate
for a large character name, from which individuals will be selected that are closest to the
desired variety.
3. Third step: to verify that these individuals are better in one or more aspects than the
varieties that are in the market, a fact that normally forces to carry out comparative tests.
THE CORN
The maize plant (Zea Mays) has been domesticated by man for 10,000 years. At this time
it has become one of the three most grained cereals in the world and this increase of the
crop is linked to the development of varieties that are better adapted to the needs of each
place.
Maize is one of the most important staple foods since it makes many derived products
(flours, oils). As it has a great value in the industry, it is a much studied plant and
its genome has been sequenced.
A donor organism can be a bacterium, fungus or any other plant. In the case of Bt maize,
the donor organism is a naturally occurring soil bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis, and the
gene of interest produces a protein that kills lepidopteran larvae. This protein is called Bt
delta endotoxin.
The Bt delta endotoxin was selected for the fact that it is highly effective for controlling
larvae of caterpillars. It is during the larval stage when most of the damage occurs from
the European corn borer. The protein is very selective, in general, it does not harm the
insects in other orders (like beetles, flies, bees and wasps). Therefore, transgenics that
have the Bt gene are compatible with biological control programs, since they harm
predators and parasitoids less than insecticides with a broad spectrum of insects. Bt
endotoxin is considered safe for humans, other mammals, fish, birds and the environment
due to its selectivity.
REFERENCES
• Juan-Ramón Lacadena. Agricultura Transgénica
• Iowa State University – Department of Entomology
• Entomology at the University of Kentucky
• Maíz transgénico: riesgos y beneficios
• Foro en Defensa del Maíz
• Main picture: Informador.mx