The role of biotechnology in agricultural research
This paper outlines the progress made by new biotechnologies in agriculture. There are many applications for biotechnology in micropropagation for commercial uses and in overcoming interspecific barriers. In vitro production of haploids is now performed routinely in many laboratories and several crop varieties have already been bred in this way. Somaclonal variation, gametoclonal variation, and direct selection in vitro have also been used to produce new cultivars. Somatic embryogenesis has been used in several crops, opening the way to the development of so-called artificial seeds. Meiotic mutants that form unreduced gametes have revolutionized the breeding of potato and other crops, allowing crosses between species with different levels of ploidy. Selection techniques have made considerable progress using restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). Transformation and regeneration systems are now available for about 20 crops, making them amenable to genetic engineering. In several species, transformed germplasm derived from somatic fusion or gene transfer is already being used in field trials. New inmunological techniques are being used for diagnostic assays in agriculture. This paper identifies the priorities for biotechnology research in the near future
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Texto biblioteca |
| Language: | eng |
| Published: |
Ibadan (Nigeria) IITA
1992
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