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Production of drought tolerant and disease
resistant South African crops by bio-engineering
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UCT
(University of Cape Town) |
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Proposal number: |
41233 |
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Focal area: |
Biotechnology |
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Total funding: |
R 6,034,000 |
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Funding year 1: |
R 1,678,000 |
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Funding year 2: |
R 1,678,000 |
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Funding year 3: |
R 2,678,000 |
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In the new millenium we face the challenge of maintaining a
fragile environment whilst meeting demands for food and quality of
life from a growing population. The goal of this project is to
develop South African crops with increased drought tolerance and
disease resistance through the introduction of genes from other
plants. Drought tolerance will increase the length of the growing
season and the areas where crops can be grown. Disease resistant
crops will suffer lower yield losses and spare farmers, and the
environment, the cost of chemical spraying.
Candidate genes will be rapidly tested in the
model plant Arabidopsis thaliana (thale cress) to determine
whether they confer beneficial characteristics. Successful genes
will be transformed into crops, such as maize and sweet cherry.
The approach of first screening in Arabidopsis allows us to
quickly identify promising genes to concentrate on.
Candidate genes are already available from South
African resurrection plants with high drought tolerance. Further
genes will be identified through the cloning of mutants with
altered disease sensitivity, and analysis of global gene
expression in desiccated and diseased plants. The creation of a
DNA micro-array facility will enable thousands of genes to be
analysed simultaneously and will be available to researchers
throughout South Africa. |
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Project Coordinator: |
Dr JM (Jill) Farrant
Phone: +27 (0)21 650 3712
Email: Farrant@botzoo.uct.ac.za |
Public reports / Newsletters:
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