Adelaide, Australia, USA
May 10, 2013

A technology that enhances salinity tolerance in plants has been secured by the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics (ACPFG) after field testing in Western Australia has shown significant improvement in barley yields. The technology, discovered at the University of Connecticut (UConn) by world-renowned scientist Dr. Roberto Gaxiola, will be used to improve Australian cereal varieties.

While ACPFG continues to develop its own technological breakthroughs for salinity tolerance, such as its patented CIPK16 technology, UConn's vacuolar pyrophosphates (AVP1) technology has been identified as a promising candidate in cultivating saline tolerant crops.

According to Michael Gilbert, ACPFG’s General Manager, “One of ACPFG’s objectives is to source technologies for the benefit of Australian growers. UConn’s AVP gene is looking very promising in our field trials that Stuart Roy’s team is conducting in very saline conditions at a farm in Corrigin, WA.”

Salinity affects crop plants worldwide. In Australia, the problem is growing with already 51% of Western Australian farms affected in some way by saline soils. Saline soils affect the growth of crop plants by reducing shoot growth and interfering with metabolic processes, such as enzyme activities and protein synthesis. Due to both of these stresses, crops grown on saline soils have significantly reduced yield.

“Essentially plants utilizing UConn’s AVP1 technology display larger root systems and other enhanced physiologic changes that improve growth characteristics and increase the tolerance of the plants to adverse conditions—in this case soils with high salinity and with restricted water availability,” says Greg Gallo, the director of life sciences for UConn’s Office of Economic Development. Gallo points to a future where genetically engineered drought- and salt-tolerant plants could provide an avenue to the reclamation of farmlands lost to agriculture because of salinity and a lack of rainfall.

“UConn’s goal is to see the AVP1 technology utilized as widely as possible and the addition of wheat and barley is a nice complement to the crops currently under license,” said Gallo.

About University of Connecticut
One of the United State’s leading public research universities, the University of Connecticut (UConn) is a Carnegie Foundation Research University, lauded for the breadth and range of research conducted on its campus. More than 100 research centers and institutes serve UConn’s teaching, research, and outreach missions. UConn’s Office of Economic Development (OED) manages the intellectual property created at the university and supports the commercialization of ideas, technology and research from the 13 colleges of the university, including colleges of agriculture, liberal arts and sciences, health sciences, medicine, pharmacy, education, law, engineering, nursing and others.

About Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics
ACPFG was established in 2003 by the South Australian Government and the Australian Federal Government through the Australian Research Council and the Grains Research and Development Corporation. ACPFG scientists improve cereal crops’ tolerance to environmental stresses such as drought, heat, salinity and nutrient toxicities; major causes of yield and quality loss throughout the world and significant problems for cereal growers. The future resilience of our food production systems in the face of a changing climate will depend upon the development and delivery of new technologies. For more information about ACPFG please visit www.acpfg.com.au.

Website: http://www.acpfg.com.au

Published: May 10, 2013