GM Crop to Resist Aluminum
7 October 2008 Nearly 20% of the world’s arable soils contain aluminum – a component of clay – which stunts crops. In a study published in Current Biology, plant biologists at the University of California, Riverside, say they’ve made a discovery that could boost yields despite aluminum’s toxic effects.
Study leader and biochemistry professor Paul Larsen and his colleague Megan Rounds have uncovered a simple mutation to a single gene, called AtATR, which makes plants thrive in spite of normally toxic aluminum levels. AtATR is related to a family of proteins that help find and respond to DNA damage in nearly all multicellular organisms.
Larsen says that even after growing the mutant plants on aluminum-containing soils for several generations, there are "no obvious deleterious effects on growth, viability, [or] seed production."
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