News & Updates

Tune in to our podcasts − 'Radio GCP' for you!

2012-12-20T23:31:41-06:00

Our newest production on 'Radio GCP' is a conversation with Matthias Wissuwa, where he tells us about his work on PSTOL1 – the gene on the Pup1 locus that does wonders for enhancing phosphorus (P) intake by rice plants (hence the moniker, Pup1 for 'phosphorus uptake'). Please tune in to hear directly from Matthias in the short podcasts titled Episode 3.1 and Episode 3.2. Alternatively, you can read all about it on this blogpost.

But coming back to the podcasts, that's not all we have for you. You'll also find several podcasts from earlier on in the year, on our hands-on efforts to improve research site infrastructure for our developing-world partners. These podcasts capture conversations with Xavier Delannay, GCP's Director of Research, and with Hannibal Muhtar, the specialist GCP contracted for this task.

For your listening pleasure, we offer you the choice of either tuning in to the full interview in a single podcast, or to home in to your particular area of interest through the 'mini-podcasts' which are extracts from the full interview.

Xavier − Episode 1: full interview | Scroll to mini-podcasts Episodes 1.1 to 1.14 here
Hannibal − Episode 2: trailer -- full interview | Scroll to mini-podcasts Episodes 2.1 to 2.7c. here

And just as for the Pup1, we also have it all in writing here, should that be your preferred medium.

Bursaries for InterDrought−IV Conference

2012-12-17T17:07:06-06:00

Calling developing-world researchers − funding to attend a world conference on increasing crop yield and stability despite drought.

The InterDrought−IV Conference brings together leading drought researchers and the latest in drought research. Pre-conference sessions include the newest techniques for practical selection for drought tolerance, and in drought management.

Application deadline: 1 March 2013. More details, including eligibility for bursaries, via CIMMYT here.

Hot off the press! New publications on crop genomics and bioinformatics

2012-12-10T19:30:05-06:00

This week opens with two brand-new publications, co-authored by members of our Management Team.

Can genomics boost productivity of orphan crops? A crucial question! Read all about it in this open-access opinion piece published in Nature Biotechnology. The lead author is Rajeev Varshney, our Theme Leader for Comparative and applied genomics, with Jean-Marcel Ribaut, GCP Director, as second author.

Our bioinformatics folks are up next, with a paper entitled Towards a reference plant trait ontology for modeling knowledge of plant traits and phenotypes published in the proceedings of the International Conference on Knowledge Engineering and Ontology Development (KEOD 2012). Graham McLaren, Leader of our Crop Information Theme, is a contributing author, while the paper's lead author, Elizabeth Arnaud (Bioversity), is a longstanding GCP Principal Investigator in crop information and bioinformatics.

A couple more related articles by our Management Team:

Molecular breeding in developing countries: Challenges and perspectives. Abstract DOI: 10.1016/j.pbi.2009.12.011
More genomic resources for less studied crops Abstract DOI: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2010.06.007

GCP’s Director discusses his ‘passion for the mission of science’ as the Programme yields ravishing results with productive partnerships and novel networks for R&D

2012-11-27T20:23:07-06:00

A first course of appetising alphabet soup was served to readers in a nourishing news item whose main ingredient – an initial interview with GCP’s Director, Jean-Marcel Ribaut, and the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture (SFSA) – highlighted public-private partnerships in research for development.

The GCP Communications kitchen is now proud to present our ravenous readers with a mouth-watering main course courtesy of SFSA and Jean-Marcel Ribaut, with an in-depth interview mingling a mélange of GCP’s real partnerships, modern breeding technologies, and positive product delivery.

This curious collation, brimming with tasty tales of plant science, spiced with GCP’s well-seasoned help and advice, is all ultimately geared to improving a smallholder’s daily diet by helping them to haul in healthier harvests.

Complementary culinary characteristics include GCP’s imminent ending and possible new beginnings, while further flirtatious flavours focus on connecting the dots in the development of GCP’s Integrated Breeding Platform.

Technical restraints do not faze GCP’s ‘Chief Chef’, who hints at a key ingredient in the recipe to combat climate change. He goes on to share some secrets of success, again mentioning the importance of authentic ingredients such as real partnerships and improved project coordination. He explains the need for kneading in a strong business model at the moment of mixing in the private sector, and finally adds a soupçon of enriched communication to bring out the true flavours of plant science and agricultural technologies.

Savour a full helping of the complete conversation from the SFSA website (253.6 kB), whilst remembering a recent repast at the selfsame website, complementing both with the fine vintage blogpost at your regular local, 'A chat with the Chief’.

All that glitters… is sometimes gold – GSS contributes to a winning PhD

2012-11-26T20:38:40-06:00

AbduRahman (middle) flanked by winners of the BSc Hons and MSc categories.

We are delighted to announce that one of our grantees in the Genotyping Support Service (GSS) scheme, who is also a CIMMYT PhD fellow, was honoured at the recently held annual postgraduate symposium of Botany and Plant Biotechnology at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), South Africa.

AbduRahman Beshir bagged the Gold Medal, PhD category, for the best PhD project presentation for 2012 entitled ‘Quality protein maize: Towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals through better nutrition and stable yields’. The standards for selection were – among others – the significance of the project, the quality of the content, and delivery.

The UJ symposium is an annual platform at which selected postgraduate students (BSc Honours, MSc and PhD) from different universities present their research findings.

AbduRahman is a grantee in our 3rd GSS call.

See similar but slightly expanded story on our sister IBP website
More on our Genotyping Support Service

Delicious helping of alphabet soup served up as GCP’s Director is interviewed about the ABCs of PPPs in R4D by SFSA

2012-11-14T18:56:20-06:00

This tongue-twisting title is sure to tantalise your taste buds, but we shall dispel the myths and spell out the acronyms to leave you with nothing else but a sweeter aftertaste!

GCP’s Director and ‘head Chef’, Jean-Marcel Ribaut, was interviewed by the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture (SFSA), on the tasty topic of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in research for development (R4D).

Tune in to this tête-à-tête where he details how the right ingredients of this type of collaboration can result in ‘true partnership’. He adds a healthy mix of the advantages of PPPs, a flourish of personal PPP-planning expertise, and finishes with a garnish of optimism for the future of PPPs.

But, the proof of these partnerships is in the reading! Enjoy the whole delectable discussion on the SFSA website, coming back for seconds with the palatable post ‘A chat with the Chief’ in our blog.

FAO opens the case: current competition calls for studies on non-GMO ‘Use of Agricultural Biotechnologies in Developing Countries’

2012-10-18T22:32:01-05:00

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has opened a competition to identify five case studies on the use of agricultural biotechnologies in developing countries. Authors selected will receive a moderate honorarium and their case studies will be compiled into an FAO publication documenting instances where non-GMO agricultural biotechnologies have been used to serve the needs of smallholder farmers in developing countries.

Interested? Then send a title and 300-word abstract describing your case study by 10^th November 2012. More details in the IBP portal.

An ode to the ‘accomplished muse’, Musa acuminata OR ‘B’ is for banana…

2012-09-25T15:34:49-05:00

Brand-new blog post buzzes brightly over brilliant bananas

The GCP blog is in a musical mood, with a fresh post singing the praises of a trio of GCP scientists who have been instrumental in orchestrating an original overture for banana genetics.

The principal conductors of this concerto, Jean Christophe Glaszmann (CIRAD), Hei Leung (IRRI) and Angélique d’Hont (CIRAD), form a close harmony as they trill to the tune of their scientific accomplishment: by harking back to the banana family tree, they have revealed new research routes for incorporating disease resistance genes in banana. This revelation is of great importance for the golden fruit, whose sweet flesh of burnished butter ensures food security in the tropics for 400 million people, proving to be much more than a ‘banana split’.

The post publicises how the dawn of this new age in banana genetics is heralded by an article published in Nature entitled The banana (Musa acuminata) genome and the evolution of monocotyledonous plants. Angélique d’Hont, the article’s lead author, evokes gladiatorial glory in genetics, remarking how GCP collaboration has given them “a leg-up in the intense competition that typifies the genome sequencing arena”.

This achievement marks a milestone on the road to accomplishing GCP’s mission by helping to unlock genetic diversity in banana for the resource-poor; so sounds the finale to this scientific symphony.

Choose your favourite medium! Besides the blogpost, you can also follow shorter versions of the story in pictures on Flickr or Facebook.

Gurus and godfathers of genius gene roll out the three ‘r’s of rice: rooting, rocking and…reproducing!

2012-09-11T21:31:25-05:00

Three proves to be the magic number as this series of new blog posts will testify!

These perky posts boast the bravado of a rice project which has well and truly been in the limelight of late – and profile the main scientists behind the scenes.

We are of course talking about the big-time personality and soon-to-be household name PSTOL1 – the phosphorous uptake gene discovered by a group of international scientists working on what has come to be regarded as something of a ‘celebrity project’ in the scientific community, to quote one of them. The posts profile Joko Prasetiyono (ICABIOGRAD, Indonesia), Matthias Wissuwa (JIRCAS) and Sigrid Heuer (IRRI).

The ‘R’ for ‘reproducing’ blogpost regenerates the senses, giving us the benefits for Indonesia where the self-confessed rice-loving smart breeder, Joko Prasetiyono, recounts his rise from GCP-funded PhD student back in 2005, to part of the internationally-recognised triumphant team responsible for the discovery of PSTOL1.
The rocking ‘R’ blogpost celebrates GCP’s very own rolling stone, Matthias Wissuwa, who has ceaselessly and seamlessly laboured on this project on a 15-year gruelling world tour across several employers!
The ‘R’ for rooting blogpost takes a worm’s eye view of things, zooming in on the ‘miracle organ’ that soaks up nutrients from below the ground. The post maps out the project’s key Gene Trackers, with the spotlight on the Principal Investigator, Sigrid Heuer.

This trinity of posts about our triplet rice researchers also illustrates GCP’s capacity- and community- building efforts over the years, and points to a bright future, where better rice with less fertiliser may soon be growing in farmers’ fields!

‘Superstar’ scientist, Matthias Wissuwa, is so thrilled about the outcome of the Pup1 project that he’s hoping to bring out the next instalment in the not-too-distant future: Pup2: the sequel. Watch this space!

(Psst!...Prefer a shorter version in pictures? We've got it! See it in either Flickr or Facebook. Also a short video clip from BBC World News)

Landmark achievement in rice breeding to unlock nutrient ‘treasure chest’ buried in the soil – PSTOL1 marks the spot!

2012-08-23T22:45:15-05:00

Years of determined searching down phosphorous pathways has resulted in the triumphant discovery of a gene which enhances root growth and enables phosphorous uptake in rice, improving plant growth and ultimately increasing crop production.

Sigrid Heuer, Principal Investigator of the GCP-funded project, and her intrepid international IRRI-led team, tracked down the hidden gene by following clues beginning with the Indian rice variety Kasalath, first discovered 10 years previously by JIRCAS researcher Matthias Wissuwa (then at Japan’s National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences [NIAS]) as having a gene which helps it to thrive in phosphorous-poor soils.

On this quest, PSTOL1 marked the much sought-after spot: this is the name given to the major gene responsible for improved phosphorous uptake, unearthed along with a treasure trove of understanding on the mechanism of phosphorous-uptake efficiency, and will lead to faster, easier and smarter breeding methods, mapped out by molecular markers along the way.

An extended account of this adventure in plant science can be found in the full press release, whilst a Nature article, entitled The protein kinase PSTOL1 from traditional rice confers tolerance of phosphorus deficiency narrates the journey undertaken by the team. There is also a supplementary Nature commentary on the work, written by Leon Kochian.

Shorter versions are a short video clip from BBC World News, and photo-stories on Flickr or Facebook.