Application of Biotechnologies to Improve the Quality of Rice and Wheat

Melissa Fitzgerald and Dara DaygonSchool of Agriculture and Food Science

University of Queensland

Cluster of Trends• Population growth• Feeding the world• Urbanisation• Competition for land• Resource Scarcity• Climate Change • Ecosystems in decline• Water Scarce World• Growing Middle Class

1940 1960 1980 2000 2020 2040 20600

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6000000 Africa

Asia

Europe

Latin America and the Caribbean

Northern America

Oceania

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Increased Middle Class - $$

Population Growth Climate Change Middle Classes

Confluence of Trend Clusters

BIOTECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS

BiotechnologyApplies scientific and engineering principles to living organisms to produce products of value to society.

– Compounds– Pathways– Proteins– Complex traits

understood– Genes identified

Successful application of

knowledge

High yielding plant than maintains yield under stress, with nutritious

and delicious grains

If the gene is within the species• Cross• Use genotyping to maintain

background.• Select progeny with most

background of desired parent, and with gene.

• Backcross to ensure recapturing genetic background as well as introgressed gene.

chrHNN85266280269148TSN1

Equipping the plant with a foreign gene

Transformation Genome Editing

Insertion of the gene into a host genome

Golden Rice

• Equipped with a gene to activate the synthesis of beta carotene.

• Biofortify the grain to provide Vitamin A, prevent blindness and assist in cognitive function.

Foreign genes not yet welcome

Greenpeace

Examples of biotech projects

Rice• Submergence tolerance• Drought resistance• Disease resistance• Herbicide tolerance• Beta Carotene in grains• High iron grains• Folate in grains• Low GI grains• High RS in grains

Wheat• Salinity tolerance• Disease resistance• Herbicide tolerance• High iron grains• Low GI in grains• High RS in grains• Gluten quality

Foreign genes

Identifying a major quality trait in rice

Objectives

• With a sensory panel, determine the descriptors for quality jasmine rice

• Using metabolomics techniques, determine the volatile compounds that associate with those descriptors

• Using a panel of 400 diverse rices,ranging in fragrance from weak to strong, identify QTLs for the amount of 2AP and for the other compounds of jasmine aroma.

Sensory profiling

• Sensory panel trained and assessed aroma of many rices – jasmine and non-jasmine

• Used 10 descriptors • Used standards to

determine strength of each descriptor.

Volatile compounds from rice measured by GCGCTOFMS

heat

flour

Cryogrind rice Volatilise compounds by heating and

agitating

Separate compounds on 2 columns, mass

and charge

Genotyping done by sequencing

Sensory descriptors clustered

Compounds associating with unpleasant aroma

Compounds associating with pleasant aroma

Important compounds

Good jasmine fragrance• 2 acetyl 1 pyrroline• 2 acetyl 1 pyrrole• Pyrrole• Analyte 4 – isomer 2AP

(5M6O234THP)• Analyte 5- 1-pyrroline• Limonene• Acetoin• Acetophenone

Nasty fragrance• Indole• Furans• Ketones• Thiols• Sulphoxide

Delivering to Breeders

• Identified parents carrying the QTLs for high fragrance

• A panel of markers converted to SNPs enabling tracking of the QTLs using new SNP technology.

Remembering eating quality

Acknowledgements