Partenaires
- BARP , Bureau of Agricultural Research of Philippines
- CATAS , Chinese Academy for Tropical Agricultural Science
- CNRA , Centre national de recherche agronomique, Ivory Coast
- IRD , Institut de recherche pour le développement
- IRRI , Indonesian Rubber Research Institute
- IBRIEC , Indonesian Biotechnology Research Institute for Estate Crops
- MRB , Malaysian Rubber Board
- RICAM , Rubber Research Institute of Cambodia
- RRII , Rubber Research Institute of India
- RRIN , Rubber Research Institute of Nigeria
- RRIT , Rubber Research Institute of Thailand
- RRISL , Rubber Research Institute of Sri Lanka
- RRIV , Rubber Research Institute of Vietnam
- Michelin , France
- TARRC , Tun Abdul Rajak Research Centre, London, UK
- University of Southern Mindanao , Philippines
- Santa Cruz State University , Brazil
Research units
Genetic Improvement and Adaptation of Mediterranean and Tropical PlantsHevea workshop: towards sequencing...
26/05/2009 - Press release
It is CIRAD that will be hosting the workshop on the Hevea genome and transcriptome, from 3 to 5 June. The workshop is the third to be organized within the framework of the International Rubber Research and Development Board (IRRDB) Biotechnology Specialist Group. Pascal Montoro, a CIRAD researcher*, is the coordinator.
The workshop is being sponsored by CIRAD, the IFC (Institut français du caoutchouc) and the IRRDB, and is intended to bring together researchers from rubber research organizations, but also universities and the private sector. As Pascal Montoro explains, "we have decided jointly to work in three stages: taking stock of knowledge, assessing the tools available, and compiling the technical file for a Hevea genome sequencing project
".
On days one and two, the scientists will be exchanging their latest results in terms of molecular genetics and
transcriptomics studies of rubber biosynthesis or rubber tree responses to tapping and stimulation using ethephon, a plant growth regulator, and to various types of biotic and abiotic stress. Contributors from CIRAD,
IRD, the
Genoscope and
INRA will be presenting the latest sequencing techniques and the existing projects aimed at sequencing a whole genome, that of poplar, and a part of the banana genome that includes disease resistance genes.
The IRRDB Biotechnology Specialist Group will then be meeting on 5 June to draw up an international proposal to sequence the Hevea
genome. Hevea
growing is a renewable source of both rubber and wood, and helps to reduce fossil fuel consumption. Applying biotechnologies to Hevea
improvement is thus a major priority, in both economic and ecological terms.
"A revolution in our research"
Twenty researchers from Europe, Asia and Africa will be studying the feasibility of the Hevea genome sequencing project. "The latest genome sequencing and bioinformatics techniques are a godsend for Hevea. We will be able to make the most of high-throughput, low-cost technologies ", Pascal Montoro points out.
At CIRAD, it is UMR DAP* that is leading the field. However, the Hevea
genome is five times the size of those of rice or poplar. The aim will also be to sequence the genes that code for proteins. Each project partner will be working alongside the others, with a view to identifying the functions and regulation mechanisms of the various genes, with the aim of enabling early genetic selection of rubber plants and the identification of individuals that may be genetically superior to their parents. Until now, traditional selection based on identity has been both partial and longwinded (20 to 25 years)..
Two agronomic characterization projects are currently under way in Brazil and Thailand to make the best possible use of tolerance of SALB (South American Leaf Blight) and the high rubber yields of certain genotypes. As Pascal Montoro ends by saying, "this will be a revolution in breeding operations
".
* Joint Research Unit on Plant Development and Genetic Improvement (UMR DAP)
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