Source: Agence France Presse via Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology via The Meridian Institute's Food Security and Ag-Biotech News

David Dennis, president of the Canadian plant biotechnology firm Performance Plants, has reported the development of a "unique" new drought tolerance technology that relies on the introduction of a single transgene.Expression of the transgene "switches off" under non-drought conditions, so as to avoid negatively impacting plant yield during those times.

Dennis explained the technology last week in St. Paul, the U.S., at a symposium on the next generation of biotechnology, sponsored by the Canadian consulate, the Minnesota Agri-Growth Council, and the University of Minnesota.

He said his company's technology has proven successful in field tests with canola, petunias, and Arabidopsis, and it could increase crop yields by up to 25 percent under "tough" drought conditions.

The technology has gone through four years of field trials. Dennis said he expects it to become commercially available in genetically modified (GM) corn, lawn grass, and ornamental plants in three to four years. The technology should be incorporated into oil seed and other crops after that, he said. While effective, Dennis noted that the drought tolerance technology has its limits.

"If you get drought from the time you put seed in the ground, there's no way you can protect the plant. The plants need some water to grow. We are protecting them at the most sensitive time, when they are flowering," he said.

The article can be viewed online at http://pewagbiotech.org/newsroom/summaries/display.php3?NewsID=1025