b'INDUSTRY NEWSTAILORED TO SEED PROFESSIONALS, INDUSTRY NEWS DELIVERS THE PEOPLE, RESEARCH, BUSINESS AND PRODUCT NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW. SUBMISSIONS ARE WELCOME. EMAIL US AT NEWS@ISSUESINK.COM.INDUSTRY NEWS cotton and cassava, which currently require regular spraying FAO recently acknowledged the International Treaty on Plantagainst whitefly, the main disseminator of geminiviruses.Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture as one of the Organizations top 10 achievements. The International Treaty is one of the fastest growing treaties, now boasting a membershipNew research suggests that global trends in farming practices are of 146 Contracting Parties, including the European Union, and isundermining the pollinators crops depend on and putting agricul-turning 15.tural productivity and stability at risk, particularly in some Asian and South American nations. A multinational team of researchers has identified countries where agricultures increasing dependence Researchers at the University of California, Davis, have part- on pollination, coupled with a lack of crop diversity, may threaten nered with a federally compliant pharmaceutical company to ana- food security and economic stability. The study, which was pub-lyze the chemical and biological profiles of cannabis for thelished in the journal Global Change Biology on July 11, 2019, is the benefit of law enforcement, health care providers and scientificfirst global assessment of the relationship between trends in crop professionals. The agreement with Biopharmaceutical Researchdiversity and agricultural dependence on pollinators.Company, which is registered with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, is among the first of its kind. UC Davis and BRC researchers will analyze legally acquired cannabis materials inA team of Clemson University scientists has achieved a break-BRCs labs to understand the chemical composition of tetrahydro- through in the genetics of senescence in cereal crops with the cannabinol or THC, cannabidiol or CBD, and other cannabinoids.potential to dramatically impact the future of food security in the era of climate change. The collaborative research, which explores the genetic architecture of the little understood process Statisticians at the Wageningen University & Research insti- of senescence in maize (a.k.a. corn) and other cereal crops, was tute Biometris have developed a model that can predict the yieldpublished in The Plant Cell.of many maize varieties in different climate zones quite accu-rately. With this tool, plant breeders can incorporate climate change in their breeding programme. Biometris has collaboratedThe Public Strawberry Breeding Program at the University with the French research institute INRA and other Europeanof California, Davis, has released five new varieties that will research partners in a consortium for phenotyping of crops. Theirhelp farmers manage diseases, control costs and produce plenty aim was to measure the impact of environmental conditions onof large, robust berries using less water, fertilizer and pesticides. maize yield. Two of the new varieties could increase yields by almost 30%. Since its inception in the 1930s, the UC Davis Public Strawberry Breeding Program has developed more than 60 patented varie-Working in a partnership with leading vegetable breedingties, turned strawberries into a year-round crop and increased companies, scientists from KeyGene have discovered sweetstrawberry yield from about 6 tons per acre in the 1950s to more pepper plants which show a new type of insensitivity to athan 30 tons per acre today. group of harmful pathogens: geminiviruses. The new find is also described as a loss of susceptibility. This type of insensitivity to virus infections is expected to last longer than the commonlyResearchers in Japan have edited plant mitochondrial DNA used resistance approach. The scientists presented their find- for the first time, which could lead to a more secure food supply. ings at an international scientific conference in Glasgow on JulyNuclear DNA was first edited in the early 1970s, chloroplast DNA 14. KeyGene aims to use this breakthrough to contribute to thewas first edited in 1988, and animal mitochondrial DNA was sustainable cultivation of crops such as sweet and hot pepper,edited in 2008. However, no tool previously successfully edited 68IEUROPEAN SEEDIEUROPEAN-SEED.COM'