Biotechnologists Using Frog Genes to Protect Crops
Biotechnologists are relying on an unusual source to create genetically modified (GM) potatoes and to protect these and other crops from a variety of diseases - frogs.
What? Did I say frogs?
Sounds bizarre or even impossible, right? I thought the same thing when I first read about this work. But researchers in Canada are making the use of this unique source possible.
Researchers at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada have inserted a modified frog gene into potato plants in order to make them produce a chemical identical to the one that South American frogs excrete from their skin. The chemical works to protect these potato plants and other crops from a wide range of diseases (GM Potato uses Frog Gene to resist Pathogens, Science and Development Network, 7/28/05). These genetically modified (GM) potatoes showed resistance to infection by a broad range of disease-causing fungi and bacteria, including bacteria responsible for diseases such as dry rot, late blight, and pink rot, according to the researchers’ findings published in the June 2005 edition of the journal Theoretical and Applied Genetics.
Different species of frog produce different sets of chemicals, including some called dermaseptins, from their skin depending on the environment the frog inhabits. The chemicals the frogs produce help protect them from bacteria and other “pathogens”. The most potent dermaseptin, known as B1, has been isolated from the skin of tree frogs that inhabit the rainforests in South America, where hot and humid conditions provide the ideal environment for fungi and bacteria to thrive.
According to their research, the University of Victoria team showed that a synthetic version of dermaseptin B1 inhibited the growth of an unusual “broad range” of fungi that cause plant diseases, as well as a certain type of bacteria that causes blackleg in potato plants in the field and soft rut of tubers in storage. The researchers genetically modified the potatoes to produce the chemical and exposed the genetically modified (GM) plants to the same organisms. The inserted gene gave an “unusually broad spectrum and powerful resistance to infection”, according to the biotechnologists’ findings in Theoretical and Applied Genetics.
Bacterial infections can cause heavy losses to potato crops, according to researchers. In recent years, the standard approach to protect these crops has been to spray the crops with pesticides. However, spraying crops with pesticides can be damaging to the environment and to the farmers’ health, as well as encourages the bacteria to develop pesticide resistance. The researchers said that because their GM potatoes could resist so many types of disease-causing organisms, the same gene could be used to protect other crops, including wheat, barley, and sugar.
The researchers said that preliminary results of studies to show the safety of dermaseptin B1 were positive and that the GM plants showed no negative effects of having been genetically modified. Researchers are currently working to test if B1 is toxic to people and animals, as well as study whether the chemical gets broken down or builds up in the body.
The use of frogs to develop this chemical to create GM potatoes that are resistant to bacteria and diseases, as strange as it may sound, may be a good thing. To be able to create crops that will rely less on pesticides could help the environment, which may appease some of those who oppose the use of biotechnology. As the researchers continue to study the chemical uses, it will be interesting to see how this all progresses. The possibilities this technology could bring are endless.
