Record Details

Recent developments in transgenics for abiotic stress in legumes of the semi-arid tropics

OAR@ICRISAT

View Archive Info
 
 
Field Value
 
Relation http://oar.icrisat.org/3611/
L3163A
 
Title Recent developments in transgenics for abiotic stress in legumes of the semi-arid tropics
 
Creator Sharma, K K
Lavanya, M
 
Subject Food legumes
 
Description The semi-arid tropics (SAT) are characterized by unpredictable weather, limited and erratic rainfall and nutrient poor soils and suffer
from a host of agricultural constraints. Several biotic and abiotic stresses affect crop productivity. Mandated crops of ICRISAT that
include groundnut, pigeonpea, chickpea, sorghum, and pearl millet are the main staple foods for nearly one billion people in the SAT.
Judicious application of biotechnological tools holds great potential in alleviating some of the major constraints to productivity of these
crops. Gains in crop productivity through research advances in genetic enhancement will help to achieve sustainable food security,
poverty alleviation, and environmental protection in the SAT. ICRISAT has a commitment to transfer the benefits of plant biotechnology
to the developing world, as genes relevant to their crops and environment become available. Genetic transformation provides a
complimentary means for the genetic betterment of the genome of these crops. Therefore, the research in transgenic crops offers a new
means to achieve ICRISAT's mission, i.e., applying science to improve agriculture in areas of the world where sub-optimal rainfall and
biotic stresses are the major constraints for crop productivity. In this pursuit, efficient protocols for the genetic transformation of the
important legumes of the SAT including groundnut, pigeonpea and chickpea have recently been developed at ICRISAT. More recently,
in collaboration with our partners, we have initiated work on the development of transgenic plants for major abiotic stresses that include
drought, salinity and low temperatures. Several gene transfer approaches have been shown to improve the stress tolerance of crop plants.
The transferred genes include those encoding for enzymes required for the biosynthesis of various osmoprotectants, or those encoding
enzymes for modifying membrane lipids, LEA proteins, detoxification enzyme, and stress-inducible transcription factors have been
demonstrated to have great potential. This paper reviews the current status of transformation technology for the genetic improvement of
legumes of the SAT and it's possible application for developing transgenic plants with enhanced tolerance/resistance to abiotic stresses.
 
Publisher JIRCAS, Japan
 
Date 2002
 
Type Article
PeerReviewed
 
Format application/pdf
 
Language en
 
Rights —
 
Identifier http://oar.icrisat.org/3611/1/Recent_developments_in_transgenics_for_abiotic_stress_in_legumes_of_the_semi-arid_tropics.pdf
Sharma, K K and Lavanya, M (2002) Recent developments in transgenics for abiotic stress in legumes of the semi-arid tropics. JIRCAS Working Report No. 23, 23. pp. 61-73. ISSN 1341-710X