A new fungal disease strain has appeared in Central Africa which is devastating

Question

A new fungal disease strain has appeared in Central Africa which is devastating a cereal staple food crop. A wild relative appears to be resistant to this fungal strain but does not have any good agronomic qualities. In addition, a bacterial strain is known that inhibits the growth of all of the known strains of this fungus. Write a short proposal outlining the two possible alternatives for developing a disease resistant strain: 1. Using marker assisted selection to introduce the fungal resistance from the wild relative into the commercial lines. 2. Using a transgenic approach to generate a genetically modified variety, which includes the bacterial fungal inhibitor. Indicate the resources needed, the steps to be taken and a time line of these steps necessary for the successful introduction of a resistant variety using the two approaches. Assume the following: The crop is normally planted as an inbred variety No molecular resources are available for this crop, but since it is a cereal there is a wealth of possible relevant data. It is an annual crop with a time from sowing to getting mature seeds of 100 days. The countries where it would be introduced do not have a legal framework to control the introduction of GMOs. The crop is an African staple but is not exported. How would any recommendations you might make for the approach to be taken be changed if the crop is exported to Europe?

Explanation / Answer

Various types of molecular markers are utilized to evaluate DNA polymorphism and are generally classified as hybridization-based markers and polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based markers.

In the former, DNA profiles are visualized by hybridizing the restriction enzyme-digested DNA, to a labelled probe, which is a DNA fragment of known origin or sequence.

PCR-based markers involve in vitro amplification of particular DNA sequences or loci, with the help of specifically or arbitrarily chosen oligonucleotide sequences (primers) and a thermostable DNA polymerase enzyme.

The amplified fragments are separated electrophoretically and banding patterns are detected by different methods such as staining and autoradiography.

The primer sequences are chosen to allow base-specific binding to the template in reverse orientation. PCR is extremely sensitive and operates at a very high speed. Its application for diverse purposes has opened up a multitude of new possibilities in the field of molecular biology.

For the crop in European market following points will be helpful for marketing:

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