tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/plant-biotechnology-28626/articlesPlant biotechnology – The Conversation2024-02-21T13:18:35Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2199502024-02-21T13:18:35Z2024-02-21T13:18:35ZPotato plant radiation sensors could one day monitor radiation in areas surrounding power plants<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575459/original/file-20240213-24-b1fnxo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C16%2C3642%2C2714&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Fields of genetically modified potato plants could detect radiation. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/f4df32b6c6354b5389fd59adaae707aa?ext=true">AP Photo/John Miller</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>While expanding nuclear energy production would provide carbon-free power and can help countries around the world meet their <a href="https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement">climate goals</a>, nuclear energy could also come with some inherent risk. Radioactive pollution damages the environment, and it’s nearly impossible to detect without specialized equipment. But what if plants growing in the facility’s surrounding area could detect radiation pollution?</p>
<p>The mechanical radiation detectors currently used, <a href="https://remm.hhs.gov/civilian.htm">called dosimeters</a>, aren’t completely reliable – during previous nuclear <a href="https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/safety-and-security/safety-of-plants/chernobyl-accident.aspx">accidents such as Chernobyl</a>, they’ve failed or been <a href="https://www.spokesmanbooks.com/acatalog/Zhores_Medvedev.html">buried under rubble</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://utia.tennessee.edu/person/?id=11899">Our team</a> of <a href="https://plantsciences.tennessee.edu/racheff/">plant scientists</a> at the University of Tennessee wanted to figure out alternatives to these mechanical radiation sensors to help address their historic failures, so we decided to build a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/pbi.14072">plant-based sensor for gamma radiation</a>. The sensor, called a phytosensor, is a potato plant that glows fluorescent green when exposed to radiation.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MaaZjoHDvMo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Dosimeters sense how large a dose of radiation something in an area exposed to radiation would absorb.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Historic sensor problems</h2>
<p>Current nuclear energy production is <a href="https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/safety-and-security/safety-of-plants/safety-of-nuclear-power-reactors.aspx">considered safe by the World Nuclear Association</a>. But safety failures still happen, whether <a href="https://www.spokesmanbooks.com/acatalog/Zhores_Medvedev.html">from human error</a> or <a href="https://shop.elsevier.com/books/fukushima-accident/povinec/978-0-12-408132-1">natural disasters</a> such as earthquakes bringing the mechanical sensors offline – and that’s where our plant sensors could come in.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571529/original/file-20240125-19-dnnjtj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black and white photo showing a large explosion hole in a building, from an overhead view." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571529/original/file-20240125-19-dnnjtj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571529/original/file-20240125-19-dnnjtj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571529/original/file-20240125-19-dnnjtj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571529/original/file-20240125-19-dnnjtj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571529/original/file-20240125-19-dnnjtj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571529/original/file-20240125-19-dnnjtj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571529/original/file-20240125-19-dnnjtj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Radiation sensors can help inform responses to nuclear accidents. Pictured is damage from the 1986 Chernobyl accident.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Volodymyr Repik</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Mechanical radiation detection equipment needs electrical power and regular maintenance, both of which make them less reliable during emergencies. A plant-based sensor wouldn’t require either of these.</p>
<p>The kinds of disasters that take mechanical sensors offline might damage the potato sensors but most likely wouldn’t kill an entire planted field of potatoes. As long as some plant cells are still alive, the plant could function as a radiation sensor. </p>
<p>Though potato plants are tough, some disasters, like a wildfire, would damage plant sensors more than mechanical sensors. While our sensors could supplement mechanical sensors, they wouldn’t completely replace their use. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568097/original/file-20240106-22-l84j8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two small potato plants in green and two in gray, shown from overhead, in a square pot filled with soil" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568097/original/file-20240106-22-l84j8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568097/original/file-20240106-22-l84j8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568097/original/file-20240106-22-l84j8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568097/original/file-20240106-22-l84j8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568097/original/file-20240106-22-l84j8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568097/original/file-20240106-22-l84j8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568097/original/file-20240106-22-l84j8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Genetically modified potato plants acting as radiation sensors.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stewart lab</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Plants as sensors</h2>
<p>Unlike mammals, plants can tolerate a lot of radiation before they die.
Potato plants, for example, can survive <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/pbi.14072">10 times the amount of radiation</a> that would kill a human. </p>
<p>We chose potato as our sensor organism because potato plants can tolerate high levels of radiation, they’re easy to grow using tubers and they can survive in a <a href="https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QCL/visualize">variety of environments across the globe</a>. </p>
<p>Radiation exposure <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/tx000020e">damages DNA inside an organism’s cells</a>. When this happens in plants, they enter a “red alert” scenario and activate many DNA repair genes to fix the problem. </p>
<p>My colleagues and I co-opted the <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2015.00885">DNA damage response pathway</a> in potato plants so that when exposed to radiation, the potato leaves made a green fluorescent protein. This fluorescent protein causes the sensor plants to emit a unique green fluorescent glow when exposed to gamma radiation. </p>
<p>While the human eye can’t see the green signature, drones used for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2023.107737">agricultural and environmental monitoring</a> can. The more green fluorescence produced by the plant, the higher the radiation intensity. So the sensors can tell you “yes, there’s radiation,” as well as roughly how much radiation there is. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/pbi.14072">In our tests</a>, the plants reported radiation eight hours after exposure, but that was also the earliest our team was able to check them.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571530/original/file-20240125-17-ug1yul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A small drone flying over a crop field, with a house in the background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571530/original/file-20240125-17-ug1yul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571530/original/file-20240125-17-ug1yul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571530/original/file-20240125-17-ug1yul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571530/original/file-20240125-17-ug1yul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571530/original/file-20240125-17-ug1yul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571530/original/file-20240125-17-ug1yul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571530/original/file-20240125-17-ug1yul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Drones, like the kinds used for agricultural monitoring, would be able to see whether the plants are lighting up, keeping humans out of the irradiated area.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/DronesAgriculture/ab91c96f7c134734a9f0fc41c003e93b/photo?Query=agricultural%20drone&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=130&digitizationType=Digitized&currentItemNo=17&vs=true&vs=true">AP Photo/Alex Brandon</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>Based on our testing, the current radiation phytosensor can report a minimum total dose of <a href="https://remm.hhs.gov/gray_definition.htm">10 gray of radiation</a> – a very lethal dose for a human. The sensors reported radiation eight hours after exposure to it, and they continued to do so for 10 or more days, depending on dose. </p>
<p>Mechanical sensors can detect far lower radiation levels in real time, rather than as a cumulative dose like the phytosensors detect. This makes mechanical sensors ideal for everyday monitoring of dangerous radiation within a power plant, while phytosensors are better suited to monitor the larger areas of land around a power plant.</p>
<p>The current sensor could monitor radiation levels for the general public in an emergency scenario where radioactive material could be anywhere within a large disaster area. Chernobyl contaminated an area <a href="https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/focus/chernobyl/faqs">about the size of Nebraska</a>, while Fukushima contaminated an <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/2/1/39">area about the size of New Jersey</a>. Most of this area had low-level contamination, with some hot spots.</p>
<p>Compared with mechanical sensors, phytosensors are slower and less sensitive, so they wouldn’t save anyone working inside the power plant, even if they were grown indoors. The current sensor could tell first responders where the hottest areas are during a large-scale disaster. After a disaster, it could inform regulators where it is safe for workers, and eventually the public, to return to. </p>
<p>We tested the sensor using an in-lab laser and camera, which are low-power and low-resolution devices. Actual drones with specialized detection systems would likely be able to detect lower radiation thresholds.</p>
<p>In addition to functioning similarly to mechanical radiation sensors, the potato-based radiation phytosensor is a living and growing organism that gets its energy from sunlight. This means that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/pbi.14072">the phytosensor is</a> self-repairing, self-propagating and self-powering, unlike mechanical sensors. Since potatoes grow from tubers, they don’t need to be replanted every year.</p>
<p>One obvious downside of the current sensor is that potato plants die in the winter, so during that season you’d lose the sensor. Our sensor gene potentially could be put into an evergreen species like a pine tree, but this sensor would need to be retested to understand its detection minimums and performance over time.</p>
<h2>Potential applications</h2>
<p>When used in combination with more sensitive mechanical sensors, the current radiation phytosensor could act as a fail-safe if a disaster <a href="https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/safety-and-security/safety-of-plants/fukushima-daiichi-accident.aspx">similar to Fukushima Daiichi</a> were to occur. </p>
<p>While there are many possibilities for incorporating phytosensors into our current monitoring systems, our team still has hurdles to cross before the plants can be deployed in the field. </p>
<p>First, nuclear regulators would have to determine whether this technology is safe and useful, given their expectations for radiation monitoring equipment. Then, the plant sensor would undergo rigorous evaluation by the USDA to determine whether the phytosensors would negatively affect ecosystems if released. </p>
<p>Overcoming these hurdles will require more research, which could take months given the growth time for plants. Despite the work ahead, radiation phytosensors could help protect people and the environment in the future as countries continue producing nuclear energy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219950/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Neal Stewart receives funding from federal organizations. This work was funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Neal Stewart is an inventor in plant biotechnology, though none of the technologies described in the Conversation article are patented. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Sears does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>What if plants in the area surrounding a nuclear reactor could act as radiation detectors, with the help of a drone?Robert Sears, Graduate Research Assistant in Plant Science, University of TennesseeNeal Stewart, Professor of Plant Sciences, University of TennesseeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1254712019-10-31T12:54:51Z2019-10-31T12:54:51ZMonsanto wins $7.7b lawsuit in Brazil – but farmers’ fight to stop its ‘amoral’ royalty system will continue<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299291/original/file-20191029-183120-1tjkoln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C48%2C3589%2C1950&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Soybean farmers in Brazil sued Monsanto for a royalty collection system that they say violates their planting rights. A soybean harvest in Mato Grosso, Brazil, March 27, 2012. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Brazil-Economy/99a87b581a8b44d8b93c194b56cbd23d/13/0">AP Photo/Andre Penner, File)</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A Brazilian appeals court has <a href="https://ww2.stj.jus.br/websecstj/cgi/revista/REJ.cgi/ITA?seq=1838988&tipo=0&nreg=201601710999&SeqCgrmaSessao=&CodOrgaoJgdr=&dt=20191014&formato=PDF&salvar=false">decided</a> in favor of Monsanto, the global agribusiness conglomerate, in a landmark class-action lawsuit filed by Brazilian farmers’ unions.</p>
<p>The court’s nine justices unanimously ruled on Oct. 9 that farmers cannot save seeds for replanting if the seeds are harvested from Monsanto’s patented Roundup Ready soybeans, which are genetically engineered to withstand direct application of the company’s Roundup herbicide.</p>
<p>The Brazilian ruling aligns with <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/12pdf/11-796_c07d.pdf">similar decisions in the U.S.</a> and <a href="https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/2147/index.do">Canada</a>. Courts in all three countries determined that, as a product of genetic engineering, Roundup Ready soybeans are protected by domestic patent law.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://canalrural.uol.com.br/noticias/agricultura/soja/sindicatos-dizem-que-decisao-sobre-soja-transgenica-foi-injusta/">public statement</a>, Monsanto – which was <a href="https://theconversation.com/with-monsanto-bayer-will-need-more-aspirin-101667">acquired by Bayer</a> in 2018 – said the decision will strengthen “agricultural innovation in Brazil.” </p>
<p>How strict patenting of seeds affects innovation, however, is a <a href="http://www.srfood.org/images/stories/pdf/officialreports/20091021_report-ga64_seed-policies-and-the-right-to-food_en.pdf">matter of debate</a>. And the lawsuits challenging Monsanto’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/feb/12/monsanto-sues-farmers-seed-patents">aggressive pursuit of its patent rights</a> raise a vexed legal issue: When intellectual property laws that protect companies conflict with the rights of farmers to plant their fields, who should win? </p>
<h2>Monsanto ‘owns everything’</h2>
<p>The Brazilian lawsuit is a sign of <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02255189.2012.719826?journalCode=rcjd20">growing uneasiness</a> with the control Monsanto has over farmers, my <a href="https://graduateinstitute.ch/academic-departments/faculty/karine-peschard">research</a> on <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03066150.2019.1578752?journalCode=fjps20">biotechnology and seeds</a> finds.</p>
<p>Founded as a chemical manufacturer in 1901, Monsanto has invested heavily in agricultural biotechnology to become the <a href="https://www.accesstoseeds.org/app/uploads/2018/07/Top20GlobalSeed.pdf">world’s largest seller of seeds</a>. Its biotech seeds have proved attractive to farmers because they <a href="https://www.globalagriculture.org/fileadmin/files/weltagrarbericht/IAASTDBerichte/IAASTDExecutiveSummarySynthesisReport.pdf">simplify farm management</a>. Monsanto says its genetically modified seeds also <a href="https://allianceforscience.cornell.edu/blog/2018/02/gmo-crops-increasing-yield-20-years-progress-ahead/">increase crop yields</a>, and thus farmer income – but evidence on this subject is <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/failure-yield-evaluating-performance-genetically-engineered-crops">not probative</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
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<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Monsanto’s genetically modified corn seeds, sold under the brand DeKalb, are widely used in the U.S.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Earns-Monsanto/272c5fe829954ebc9a531a4b1acf0703/3/0">AP Photo/Seth Perlman</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the United States and Canada, Monsanto requires buyers of its genetically modified seeds to <a href="https://www.monsantoglobal.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/tug_sample.pdf">sign extensive licensing contracts</a> that prevent them from saving seeds. North American farmers who violate those agreements have been sued for <a href="http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/files/seed-giants_final_04424.pdf">patent infringement</a> and compelled to pay <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-monsanto-lawsuit/monsanto-wins-lawsuit-against-indiana-soybean-farmer-idUSTRE78K79O20110921">tens of thousands of dollars in damages</a>.</p>
<p>In Brazil, Monsanto charges 2% royalties on the sale of its patented soybeans, a <a href="https://www.plantvarietyrights.org/plant-variety-rights.html">conventional industry practice</a>. More unusually, the company charges an additional royalty – 3% of farmers’ sales – when soybeans are <a href="https://www.nature.com/news/monsanto-may-lose-gm-soya-royalties-throughout-brazil-1.10837">grown from saved Roundup Ready seeds</a>.</p>
<p>Soybeans are <a href="https://oec.world/en/profile/country/bra/">Brazil’s biggest export</a>. The royalties in dispute in the class action, which is likely to be <a href="https://canalrural.uol.com.br/noticias/agricultura/soja/sindicatos-dizem-que-decisao-sobre-soja-transgenica-foi-injusta/">appealed to the Brazilian Supreme Court</a>, are estimated at <a href="https://coad.jusbrasil.com.br/noticias/3148934/royalties-da-monsanto-acao-de-sojicultores-tem-alcance-nacional">US$7.7 billion</a>.</p>
<p>“I can’t stand it anymore – seeing those Monsanto people showing up at the grain elevator and behaving as if they own everything,” one grain cooperative manager told the Brazilian Congress during a special commission on agriculture I attended in December 2017.</p>
<h2>‘Amoral’ royalty collection</h2>
<p>The Brazilian appeals court’s Oct. 9 decision reverses a past ruling establishing the rights of small farmers in Brazil. </p>
<p>In their original petition, farmers’ unions in 2009 asserted that Monsanto’s royalty collection system is arbitrary, illegal and abusive. They argued that it extends Monsanto’s intellectual property rights to their own production and violates their right to freely save seeds for replanting, as guaranteed under <a href="http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/LEIS/L9456.htm">Brazil’s Plant Variety Protection Act</a>.</p>
<p>In April 2012, a <a href="http://www.ihu.unisinos.br/noticias/508274-justica-condena-monsanto-por-cobranca-indevida-de-royalties-">civil court agreed with the farmers</a>, affirming their rights to save seeds and sell their harvests as food or raw material <a href="https://www.nature.com/news/monsanto-may-lose-gm-soya-royalties-throughout-brazil-1.10837">without paying royalties</a>.</p>
<p>Monsanto got this ruling <a href="https://www.conjur.com.br/dl/tj-rs-permite-monsanto-cobrar-royalties.pdf">overturned</a> on appeal. The Brazilian farmers’ unions then appealed that decision, leading to the Oct. 9 ruling against them.</p>
<p>“Monsanto is amoral,” Luiz Fernando Benincá, a soybean producer and litigant in the class action suit told me in January 2017. “It will do anything for profits.”</p>
<h2>Controversial products and practices</h2>
<p>Monsanto is accustomed to litigation. Several of its other products - such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/agent-orange-exposed-how-u-s-chemical-warfare-in-vietnam-unleashed-a-slow-moving-disaster-84572">Agent Orange</a>, the synthetic chemicals <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41271-018-0146-8">PCBs</a> and, more recently, the glyphosate-based herbicide <a href="https://usrtk.org/monsanto-papers/">Roundup</a> - have been embroiled in <a href="https://phys.org/news/2018-07-monsanto-controversial-chemicals.html">legal controversies</a>.</p>
<p>For decades, the St. Louis-based company, valued at <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-07/bayer-closes-monsanto-deal-to-cap-63-billion-transformation">$63 billion last year</a>, used its deep pockets and large teams of lawyers to <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/Let-289-million-jury-award-stand-in-Monsanto-case-13303640.php">intimidate farmers and defeat opponents</a> in courts.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299305/original/file-20191029-183098-8sna6d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299305/original/file-20191029-183098-8sna6d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299305/original/file-20191029-183098-8sna6d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299305/original/file-20191029-183098-8sna6d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299305/original/file-20191029-183098-8sna6d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299305/original/file-20191029-183098-8sna6d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299305/original/file-20191029-183098-8sna6d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299305/original/file-20191029-183098-8sna6d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Due to concerns about its links with cancer, the Monsanto herbicide Roundup has been removed from many stores in the U.S. and Europe.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeepersmedia/16450976717">Jeepers Media/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>From 1997 to 2018 Monsanto won <a href="https://moncom.direct.parado.cz/company/media/statements/lawsuits-against-farmers/">every single intellectual property lawsuit that went to trial in the U.S. and Canada</a>.</p>
<p>It has had less success abroad. Courts in Argentina, the European Union and other countries with <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03066150.2016.1191471">stronger farmers’ rights</a> have <a href="http://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf;jsessionid=D6BF3A1F6F5F456F46D1F3E5AEF161F2?text=&docid=80491&pageIndex=0&doclang=en&mode=lst&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=6005413">checked</a> the company’s <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/business-and-human-rights-journal/article/monsantos-legal-strategy-in-argentina-from-a-human-rights-perspective/C0AC30A28DAAFCC3664D38D8B587911C">aggressive use of royalties</a> to <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/41806618?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">profit off the byproducts of patented products</a>. </p>
<p>Judges in these cases confront a tricky legal issue. </p>
<p>In theory, a genetically engineered DNA sequence like the one that confers herbicide resistance to Monsanto’s Roundup Ready soybeans can be protected under patent law. Yet the plant variety in which the genetic sequence is introduced may also be legally protected, as it is under Brazil’s Plant Variety Protection Act.</p>
<p>In practice, however, it is virtually impossible to separate genetically engineered DNA sequences from the rest of the physical plant. So the two laws – one recognizing the rights of farmers to save seeds for replanting in their fields, the other protecting Monsanto’s intellectual property – conflict with each other.</p>
<h2>Defend farmers or protect corporations?</h2>
<p>Faced with this conundrum, the <a href="http://www.ielrc.org/content/n0407.htm">Canadian</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/14/business/monsanto-victorious-in-genetic-seed-case.html">U.S. Supreme Courts</a> have ruled that the exclusive rights of a patent holder over plant genetic sequences extend to the plants themselves, thereby allowing companies like Monsanto to prohibit farmers from saving seeds. </p>
<p>Brazil has effectively agreed with this interpretation – for now. The lawyer for the Brazilian farmers unions, Néri Perin, says the ruling “disregards Brazil’s <a href="http://www.fao.org/plant-treaty/areas-of-work/farmers-rights/en/">international commitment</a> to guarantee farmers’ rights.” </p>
<p>But more troubles await Bayer-Monsanto. </p>
<p>In a separate lawsuit, Brazilian soybean farmers are challenging the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bayer-patent-litigation/germanys-bayer-dealt-new-legal-blow-as-more-brazil-farmers-challenge-soy-patent-idUSKCN1UO22N">validity of Monsanto’s patent on second-generation Roundup Ready soybeans</a>. In India, the <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/corporate-news/sc-lobs-monsanto-bt-cotton-patent-infringement-issue-back-to-delhi-hc/articleshow/67446910.cms">courts have been asked to rule</a> on the validity of Monsanto’s patent for a cotton variety genetically engineered to be insect resistant.</p>
<p>Monsanto has long had the upper hand over the farmers who use its products. But the momentum may be shifting.</p>
<p>[ <em>Like what you’ve read? Want more?</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=likethis">Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/125471/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karine Peschard has received funding from the Swiss National Science Foundation.</span></em></p>Farmers worldwide say Monsanto’s policy of charging for every use of its genetically modified seeds violates their planting rights. But judges in these patent law cases aren’t so sure.Karine Eliane Peschard, Anthropologist and Research Associate, Graduate Institute – Institut de hautes études internationales et du développement (IHEID)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1029962018-11-02T14:46:30Z2018-11-02T14:46:30ZThe spread of shothole borer beetles in South Africa is proving tough to control<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243643/original/file-20181102-83626-104s5yq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Shutterstock</span> </figcaption></figure><p>A tiny tree-killing beetle with the awkwardly long name of Polyphagous Shothole Borer was detected in South Africa for the first time <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-tiny-beetle-and-its-deadly-fungus-is-threatening-south-africas-trees-92050">last year</a>. It’s now attacking and inserting its deadly <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3852/13-066">fungal ally</a>, <em>Fusarium euwallaceae</em>, in a wider array of tree species across a much wider geographical area.</p>
<p>The beetle was initially discovered in a Botanical Garden on the country’s east coast. It has since been detected along the southern Cape coast line as well as in several inland urban areas. The number of tree species attacked in South Africa has also risen alarmingly. It currently stands at more than <a href="https://www.fabinet.up.ac.za/pshb">80</a>, 35 of which are native.</p>
<p>The shothole borer, which is native to Southeast Asia, has the potential to affect fruit, nut and wood production, but also to permanently change urban landscapes and natural forest ecosystems. This has happened on <a href="https://www.californiaavocadogrowers.com/growing/pshbkshb/pshbkshb-fact-sheets">farms</a>, in <a href="https://landscapearchitecturemagazine.org/2018/03/13/the-tiny-menace/">suburbs</a> and <a href="https://peerj.com/articles/2141/">in forests along river valleys</a> in California.</p>
<p>The South African government has started to take steps to manage the problem. The <a href="http://www.daff.gov.za/daffweb3/Branches/Agricultural-Production-Health-Food-Safety/Plant-Health/Pest-Surveillance">Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry</a> has set up a steering committee to guide national efforts. It’s made up of representatives from various government departments, the forestry and agriculture sectors, as well as academics, arborists, and nurserymen. </p>
<p>The major challenge with the beetle infestation is that the insect is crossing the boundaries between agriculture, commercial forestry, natural forests, and urban trees. Never in the country’s history has any insect attacked and killed trees in all these sectors. The protection of trees in the different sectors is typically dealt with by different government departments, namely Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, the <a href="https://www.environment.gov.za/">Department of Environmental Affairs</a>, and municipalities. But given the beetle’s unusual behaviour, routine action plans aren’t enough to curb the problem.</p>
<h2>The threat to South Africa’s trees</h2>
<p>Of the <a href="https://www.fabinet.up.ac.za/pshb">80 species</a> of trees under attack in South Africa, about 20 are reproductive hosts in which the beetle inoculates its fungus and then multiplies. These trees pose a serious risk to the environment around them as they become a source of infestation. </p>
<p>In the remaining 60 host species the beetle also inserts the fungus, but it doesn’t reproduce in them. Although some of these trees may eventually die, they don’t pose a threat to the other trees around them.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/236995/original/file-20180918-158234-1l5l28h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/236995/original/file-20180918-158234-1l5l28h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=322&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236995/original/file-20180918-158234-1l5l28h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=322&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236995/original/file-20180918-158234-1l5l28h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=322&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236995/original/file-20180918-158234-1l5l28h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236995/original/file-20180918-158234-1l5l28h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236995/original/file-20180918-158234-1l5l28h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A London plane tree in Johannesburg, infested by the Shothole Borer.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Supplied by author.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The species of ornamental and street trees most affected in South Africa’s cities are the London plane, Boxelder, Japanese maple, Chinese maple, English oak and Liquidamber. Several streets of maples and liquidamber have died in some cities, and large, old English oaks and plane trees have been severely affected in some areas.</p>
<p>During countrywide surveys conducted by our team at <a href="https://www.fabinet.up.ac.za">FABI</a>, we found several fruit trees (peach, olive, grapevine, guava, fig) infested in urban areas. However, the only commercial crop that’s affected at present are pecan nut trees on farms in the Northern Cape. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12600-012-0223-7">Israel</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-03-12-0276-PDN">California</a> the beetle caused substantial damage in avocado orchards, and although South African orchards are closely monitored by FABI team members, we have only detected it on a single backyard avocado tree in Johannesburg. Similarly, we found it on roadside wattle and eucalyptus trees, but so far the pest hasn’t been detected in commercial Eucalyptus, wattle or pine plantations.</p>
<p>In our opinion the most significant threat, but also the most difficult to predict and manage, is to South Africa’s <a href="https://www.fabinet.up.ac.za/pshb">native tree species</a> such as coral trees, wild olives, yellow woods and Natal figs.</p>
<h2>Managing the problem</h2>
<p>California has been battling the beetle problem for the last 10 years. A recent visit to the area helped us to establish what practical actions have been taken to bring the problem under control. </p>
<p>An effective public awareness campaign was launched, informing residents and local governments about the beetle and its impact. Municipalities removed reproductive host trees, most of which were going to die anyway. The state also introduced legislation preventing <a href="https://www.dontmovefirewood.org/pest_pathogen/polyphagous-shot-hole-borer-html/">infested wood from being moved</a> from one area to another. Although researchers there have shown that <a href="https://apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/10.1094/PDIS-10-17-1569-RE">chemical control</a> of the beetle and fungus on individual trees can protect them, this has not been applied widely, and is typically only used to protect high value individual trees. </p>
<p>The major challenge in South Africa is to connect different stakeholders and government bodies through effective communication. Roles and responsibilities (also financial) of all contingents, at national, regional and local levels, should be clearly defined to avoid a duplication of efforts, and to ensure appropriate management strategies are devolved to regional and local government. </p>
<p>Structures are in place at the national level to deal with pests like these. Most pest invasions affect agricultural or forestry crops, and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry then engages with relevant stakeholders with strategic guidelines for control. For its part, the Department of Environmental Affairs is responsible for protecting the country’s natural forests and ecosystems. But it’s focus is usually on things like climate change, pollution and alien invasive weeds or animals. </p>
<p>At the local level municipalities has never had to deal with a problem like this, are not equipped to deal with it, and need clear and practical guidance from the national departments.</p>
<p>A consolidated strategy and pragmatic action plan is urgently needed. Pest risk assessments and countrywide surveys need to be done for the different sectors. We can learn a lot from <a href="http://eskalenlab.ucr.edu/pshb.html">ongoing research efforts</a> in California, but local research is needed to determine the impact of the pest on different tree hosts, especially native trees, and to evaluate possible control measures in different South African climatic regions. </p>
<p>Research results need to be translated in management strategies that can be rolled out to stakeholders like farmers, commercial foresters, nurseries, arborists, municipalities, and quarantine authorities. This implies that people need to be trained to recognise the problem in order to appropriately deal with it. </p>
<p>Special policy might need to be formulated by the different levels of government, but legislation is only as good as its enforcement. For any of the above to succeed, efficient communication channels and a public awareness campaign is needed. All of this needs leadership, dedicated and competent human resources, and funds.</p>
<p>One thing is sure, the little shothole borer is here to stay. Protecting the country’s trees is everybody’s responsibility, but our government needs to lead the way.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/102996/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wilhelm de Beer receives funding from the National Research Foundation, the Tree Protection Co-operative Progamme, and the University of Pretoria. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Trudy Paap receives funding from the South African National Biodiversity Institute and the Tree Protection Cooperative Programme</span></em></p>A tree-killing beetle has invaded South Africa. This is what should be done.Wilhelm de Beer, Associate Professor, University of PretoriaTrudy Paap, Postdoctoral Fellow Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute, University of PretoriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/920502018-02-27T15:21:43Z2018-02-27T15:21:43ZA tiny beetle and its deadly fungus is threatening South Africa’s trees<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/207838/original/file-20180226-140217-1wdnfwt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The polyphagous shothole borer is tiny - but a fungus it's commonly associated with can be deadly for trees.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wilhelm de Beer</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Sandton is Johannesburg’s economic hub – home to numerous companies’ headquarters and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. And now it has a new, unwelcome resident: a tiny beetle that could lay waste to several tree species found in the suburb and potentially the wider Johannesburg area. This is particularly concerning, as Johannesburg is considered one of the world’s largest urban forests, with <a href="http://www.jhbcityparks.com/index.php/street-trees-contents-29">more than 10 million trees</a>. </p>
<p>The polyphagous shothole borer, or <em>Euwallacea fornicatus</em>, seems to be a newcomer to South Africa. It was discovered in the country <a href="https://www.fabinet.up.ac.za/index.php/research/7">for the first time in 2017</a> by <a href="https://www.fabinet.up.ac.za/index.php/people-profile?profile=1230">Dr Trudy Paap</a>, a postdoctoral fellow at a <a href="https://www.fabinet.up.ac.za/">biotechnology institute</a> at the University of Pretoria. </p>
<p>During a survey for diseases in the KwaZulu-Natal Botanical Gardens in Pietermaritzburg, Paap found a lane of infested plane trees. The identity of the beetle was subsequently confirmed and the tiny beetle – they are each about 2mm long – has been found at work in gardens and roadsides in Johannesburg, about 500 km from Pietermaritzburg. </p>
<p>The beetle isn’t alone. It carries several fungal species with it when it infests living trees. One of these, <em>Fusarium euwallacea</em>, seems to be a permanent associate of the beetle. This fungus can eventually kill a beetle-infested tree. </p>
<p>The beetle and the fungus have devastated trees in California in the US as well as in Israel. Insecticides aren’t effective because the beetles bore deep into the wood. The only known method of managing the spread is to cut down infested trees and burn them. But research is underway to find more effective methods.</p>
<h2>A threat to native forests and fruit trees</h2>
<p>In late January my colleagues and I at the Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute were contacted by Niel Hill, an urban forestry consultant in Johannesburg. He was concerned about several dying trees in the Sandton area. Symptoms varied on different tree species from patches of white powdered wood (called <a href="https://www.amentsoc.org/insects/glossary/terms/frass">frass</a>), to blotches of oozing resin, on the bark surrounding the beetles’ entrance holes. On some trees he had also spotted small, elevated lesions on the bark resembling shotgun wounds. </p>
<p>Hill said that trees had already started dying with these symptoms in 2015, but the cause was unknown. Microscopic and DNA tests in the the institute’s laboratories confirmed that the polyphagous shothole borer and its fungus had arrived in Sandton.</p>
<p>The tree species affected in the Sandton area include non-native ornamental trees such as Japanese and Chinese maple, London plane, kapok, and liquid amber. Several paper bark trees, native to South Africa, were also heavily infested and dying. </p>
<p>The polyphagous shothole borer doesn’t appear to have done much damage to trees in <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/afe.12215/full">Southeast Asia, its place of origin</a>. That’s probably because tree species evolved with the beetle and the fungus and have developed resistance towards them. It might also be because there are natural enemies controlling populations of the beetle in its native habitat. </p>
<p>But it’s a different story in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-03-12-0276-PDN">California</a> in the US and in <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12600-012-0223-7">Israel</a>. The beetle and its fungus were introduced in these countries during the past 15 years and have caused serious damage, especially on avocado trees. </p>
<p>Paap’s work has confirmed that the South African beetle and fungus are the same genotypes as those found in Israel and California.</p>
<h2>An extremely wide range of host tree species</h2>
<p>Astonishingly, <a href="https://apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/10.1094/PDIS-11-12-1026-RE">surveys</a> in two botanical gardens in Los Angeles have shown that the beetle-fungus complex can infest more than 200 tree species from 58 plant families. This is quite unusual; forest pests usually affect trees of the same genus or family. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/10.1094/PDIS-11-12-1026-RE">lists of infested trees from California</a> include important crop trees like avocado, macadamia, pecan, peach, orange and grapevine. Some of the susceptible trees are South African species that have been planted in the Los Angeles botanical gardens . These included the cabbage tree, common calpurnia, monkey plum, dwarf and common coral trees, and the honey flower, also sometimes called kruidjie-roer-my-nie.</p>
<p>The fact that native South African tree species are susceptible is particularly worrying. Although the California study provided some clues about the range of tree species susceptible, scientists simply don’t know and cannot predict what the beetle and fungus will do in South Africa – on crops like avocado or on native trees. </p>
<p>This has prompted the institute to start several research projects that range from developing fast DNA-based diagnostic tools for the fungus and beetle, to possible control measures. </p>
<p>During the past week scientists and government officials, representing the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo met with our team to discuss next steps. A <a href="https://www.fabinet.up.ac.za/index.php/news-item?id=639">working group</a> has been set up to co-ordinate monitoring the spread of the beetle and managing research efforts. It will also advise government agencies, municipalities, industry and private tree growers.</p>
<h2>Next steps</h2>
<p>The public can help, too. We’ve made an appeal to gardeners to watch out for the beetles. Details including photographs of the symptoms, GPS coordinates or a street address, the host tree species and the reporter’s contact details can be sent to diagnostic.clinic@fabi.up.ac.za.</p>
<p>We’re also appealing to people not to spread the problem by moving plant material with signs of beetle infestation. Instead, infested branches should be cut into small pieces and put into refuse bags, sealed and kept in direct sunlight. The heat from the sun will kill the insect and its larvae. Alternatively, wood should be burnt on site.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/92050/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wilhelm de Beer receives funding from National Research Foundation, Tree Protection Co-operative Programme, and the DST-NRF Centre Of Excellence In Tree Health Biotechnology. </span></em></p>The beetle and the fungus have devastated trees in California in the US as well as in Israel. Now they’re in South Africa.Wilhelm de Beer, Associate Professor, University of PretoriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/858692017-10-18T17:25:27Z2017-10-18T17:25:27ZFlowers’ secret signal to bees and other amazing nanotechnologies hidden in plants<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190682/original/file-20171017-30422-7wqfti.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Flowers have a secret signal that’s specially tailored <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19119235">for bees</a> so they know where to collect nectar. And new research has just given us a greater insight into how this signal works. Nanoscale patterns on the petals reflect light in a way that effectively creates a “blue halo” around the flower that helps attract the bees and encourages pollination.</p>
<p>This fascinating phenomenon shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise to scientists. Plants are actually full of this kind of “nanotechnology”, that enables them to do all kinds of amazing things, from cleaning themselves to generating energy. And, what’s more, by studying these systems we might be able to put them to use in our own technologies.</p>
<p>Most flowers appear colourful because they contain light-absorbing pigments that reflect only certain wavelengths of light. But some flowers also use iridescence, a different type of colour produced when light reflects from microscopically spaced structures or surfaces.</p>
<p>The shifting rainbow colours you can see on a CD are an example of iridescence. It’s caused by <a href="http://www.yalescientific.org/2013/05/qa-what-causes-iridescence/">interactions between light waves</a> bouncing off the closely spaced microscopic indentations in its surface, which means some colours become more intense at the expense of others. As your viewing angle shifts, the amplified colours change to give the shimmering, morphing colour effect that you see.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190685/original/file-20171017-30410-j3jncf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190685/original/file-20171017-30410-j3jncf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190685/original/file-20171017-30410-j3jncf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190685/original/file-20171017-30410-j3jncf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190685/original/file-20171017-30410-j3jncf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190685/original/file-20171017-30410-j3jncf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190685/original/file-20171017-30410-j3jncf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bees can see a blue halo around the purple region.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Edwige Moyroud</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many flowers use grooves between one and two thousandths of a millimetre apart in the wax coating on their surface to produce iridescence in a similar way. But researchers investigating the way that some flowers use iridescence to attract bees to pollinate have <a href="http://nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/nature24285">noticed something odd</a>. The spacing and alignment of the grooves weren’t quite as perfect as expected. And they weren’t quite perfect in very similar ways in all of the types of flowers that they looked at.</p>
<p>These imperfections meant that instead of giving a rainbow as a CD does, the patterns worked much better for blue and ultra-violet light than other colours, creating what the researchers called a “blue halo”. There was good reason to suspect that this wasn’t a coincidence.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.beeculture.com/bees-see-matters/">colour perception of bees</a> is shifted towards the blue end of the spectrum compared to ours. The question was whether the flaws in the wax patterns were “designed” to generate the intense blues, violets and ultra-violets that bees see most strongly. Humans can occasionally see these patterns but they are usually invisible to us against red or yellow pigmented backgrounds that look much darker to bees.</p>
<p>The researchers tested this by training bees to associate sugar with two types of artificial flower. One had petals made using perfectly aligned gratings that gave normal iridescence. The other had flawed arrangements replicating the blue halos from different real flowers.</p>
<p>They found that although the bees learned to associate the iridescent fake flowers with sugar, they learnt better and quicker with the blue halos. Fascinatingly, it seems that many different types of flowering plant may have evolved this structure separately, each using nanostructures that give slightly off-kilter iridescence to strengthen their signals to bees.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190683/original/file-20171017-30410-wps2h3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190683/original/file-20171017-30410-wps2h3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190683/original/file-20171017-30410-wps2h3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190683/original/file-20171017-30410-wps2h3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190683/original/file-20171017-30410-wps2h3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190683/original/file-20171017-30410-wps2h3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190683/original/file-20171017-30410-wps2h3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Wait a minute! This isn’t a flower.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Edwige Moyroud</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The lotus effect</h2>
<p>Plants have evolved many ways to use these kind of structures, effectively making them nature’s first nanotechnologists. For example, the waxes that protect the petals and leaves of all plants repel water, a property known as “hydrophobicity”. But in some plants, such as the lotus, this property is enhanced by the shape of the wax coating in a way that effectively makes it self-cleaning.</p>
<p>The wax is arranged in an array of cone-like structures about five thousandths of a millimetre in height. These are in turn coated with fractal patterns of wax at even smaller scales. When water lands on this surface, it can’t stick to it at all and so it forms spherical drops that roll across the leaf picking up dirt along the way until they fall off the edge. This is called “<a href="https://www.teachengineering.org/lessons/view/duk_surfacetensionunit_less4">superhydrophobicity</a>” or the “lotus effect”.</p>
<h2>Smart plants</h2>
<p>Inside plants there is another type of nanostructure. As plants take up water from their roots into their cells, the pressure builds inside the cells until it is like being between 50 metres and 100 metres under the sea. In order to contain these pressures, the cells are surrounded by a wall based on bundles of cellulose chains between five and 50 millionths of a millimetre across called <a href="http://www.plantphysiol.org/content/161/1/465">microfibrils</a>.</p>
<p>The individual chains are not that strong but once they are formed into microfibrils they become as strong as steel. The microfibrils are then embedded in a matrix of other sugars to form a natural “smart polymer”, a special substance that can alter its properties in order to make the plant to grow.</p>
<p>Humans have always used cellulose as a natural polymer, for example in paper or cotton, but scientists are now developing ways to release individual microfibrils to create new technologies. Because of its strength and lightness, this “nanocellulose” could have a huge range of applications. These include <a href="https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/pressroom/newsreleases/2011/march/green-cars-could-be-made-from-pineapples-and-bananas.html">lighter car parts</a>, <a href="http://bluegoosebiorefineries.com/food-additive/">low calorie food additives</a>, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0958166916000045#bib1295">scaffolds for tissue engineering</a>, and perhaps even <a href="http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2016/nr/c6nr03054h">electronic devices that could be as thin as a sheet of paper</a>.</p>
<p>Perhaps the most astonishing plant nanostructures are the light-harvesting systems that capture light energy for photosynthesis and transfer it to the sites where it can be used. Plants are able to move this energy with an incredible 90% efficiency.</p>
<p>We now have evidence that this is because the exact arrangement of the components of the light-harvesting systems allow them to use quantum physics to test many different ways to move the energy simultaneously and <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/when-it-comes-to-photosynthesis-plants-perform-quantum-computation/">find the most effective</a>. This adds weight to the idea that quantum technology could help provide <a href="http://spie.org/newsroom/6386-quantum-techniques-to-enhance-solar-cell-efficiency?SSO=1">more efficient solar cells</a>. So when it comes to developing new nanotechnology, it’s worth remembering that plants may have got there first.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/85869/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stuart Thompson has received funding from MAFF and the Nuffield Foundation. He consults to the University of Copenhagen. </span></em></p>New research shows bees see a blue halo around flowers thanks to nanostructures on its petals.Stuart Thompson, Senior Lecturer in Plant Biochemistry, University of WestminsterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/737112017-02-27T20:07:33Z2017-02-27T20:07:33ZScientists create electric circuits inside plants<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/158563/original/image-20170227-26322-nl8u98.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Plants power life on Earth. They are the original food source supplying energy to almost all living organisms and the basis of the fossil fuels that feed the power demands of the modern world. But burning the remnants of long-dead forests is changing the world in dangerous ways. Can we better harness the power of living plants today?</p>
<p>One way might be to turn plants into natural solar power stations that could convert sunlight into energy far more efficiently. To do this, we’d need a way of getting the energy out in the form of electricity. <a href="http://www.plant-e.com/en/plant-e-technology/">One company</a> has found a way to harvest electrons deposited by plants into the soil beneath them. But <a href="http://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1616456114">new research</a> from Finland looks at tapping plants’ energy directly by turning their internal structures into electric circuits.</p>
<p>Plants contain water-filled tubes called “xylem elements” that carry water from their roots to their leaves. The water flow also carries and distributes dissolved nutrients and other things such as chemical signals. The Finnish researchers, whose work is published in PNAS, developed a chemical that was fed into a rose cutting to form a solid material that could carry and store electricity.</p>
<p><a href="http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/1/10/e1501136/tab-pdf">Previous experiments</a> have used a chemical called PEDOT to form conducting wires in the xylem, but it didn’t penetrate further into the plant. For the new research, they designed a molecule called ETE-S that forms similar electrical conductors but can also be carried wherever the stream of water travelling though the xylem goes. </p>
<p>This flow is driven by the attraction between water molecules. When water in a leaf evaporates, it pulls on the chain of molecules left behind, dragging water up through the plant all the way from the roots. You can see this for yourself by placing a plant cutting in food colouring and watching the colour move up through the xylem. The researchers’ method was so similar to the food colouring experiment that they could see where in the plant their electrical conductor had travelled to from its colour.</p>
<p>The result was a complex electronic network permeating the leaves and petals, surrounding their cells and replicating their pattern. The wires that formed conducted electricity up to a hundred times better than those made from PEDOT and could also store electrical energy in the same way as an electronic component called a capacitor.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/158569/original/image-20170227-25959-36m31e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/158569/original/image-20170227-25959-36m31e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158569/original/image-20170227-25959-36m31e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158569/original/image-20170227-25959-36m31e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158569/original/image-20170227-25959-36m31e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158569/original/image-20170227-25959-36m31e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158569/original/image-20170227-25959-36m31e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Power plants.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pixabay</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>E-plants</h2>
<p>How well these electrical networks formed surprised even their developers. This seems to be because when the roses were treated with ETE-S, they produced the same reactive chemicals that they use to kill invading microorganisms. These chemicals made the formation of the solid electrical conductor work much better inside the plant than when it was tested in the lab.</p>
<p>There are still challenges before this discovery can achieve its full potential. Perhaps most importantly, they need to find a way of getting ETE-S (or some further improved chemical) into intact, living plants. But the creation of “e-plants”, that is plants with integrated electronic circuits, now looks much closer.</p>
<p>So how could e-plants be used? The most exciting possibility will be if we can combine e-plant electrical storage and circuitry with some way to directly tap photosynthetic energy, creating a literally green energy source. </p>
<p>But the technology could also help us better understand regular plants. Plants do not have a nervous system as animals do, but they do use <a href="http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-arplant-043015-112130">electrical signals</a> both to control individual cells and two carry messages between different parts of the plant. Perhaps the most spectacular example of this is in the Venus flytrap, in which the snapping mechanism is <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.4161/psb.2.3.4217">activated by an electrical impulse</a>.</p>
<p>Building electrical circuits into plants will allow us to listen into these messages more easily. Perhaps when we understand their “language” better, we will then be able to send instructions to the plant. For example turning on its defence systems if we know that it is at risk of disease.</p>
<p>Perhaps we could create electronic plants that function like machines. If a crop could tell us if it has too little water or fertiliser, or is being attacked by insects, we could move resources to where they are most needed, improving farming efficiency. Maybe one day you could even use the technology to adjust a flower’s fragrance to match your mood.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/73711/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stuart Thompson has received funding from MAFF and the Nuffield Foundation. </span></em></p>Do androids smell electric roses?Stuart Thompson, Senior Lecturer in Plant Biochemistry, University of WestminsterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/604682016-06-23T14:47:29Z2016-06-23T14:47:29ZHow science can genetically strengthen endangered plants and agriculture<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/127707/original/image-20160622-7175-1w2bhnq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Somatic embryogenesis is only used in selected agroforestry industries like sugarcane.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the human population swells – and in the face of a changing and unpredictable climate – the demand for natural resources increases. This leads to distressing rates of deforestation to prepare land for agriculture, medicinal and forestry products. Related to this is an alarming reduction in species worldwide.</p>
<p>This can only be ameliorated through urgent, intensive and sustainable agroforestry and conservation initiatives. This involves the conservation of natural forests as well as renewable plantation efforts. But to date only a scattering of such projects are in place worldwide. </p>
<p>Conservation and renewable plantation efforts are trailing behind the rate of resource exploitation and species disappearance. The problem is worsened by the vast number of endangered plant species. Once disturbed from their natural habitat, they can’t easily be reintroduced. This is because many of them do not readily produce seeds, or their seeds cannot be stored to ensure longevity of the species. The result is a decreasing gene pool. </p>
<p>This poses further risks, as vulnerable species become marginalised. They are only suitable to shrinking ranges and more susceptible to disease. To intensify conservation while enhancing agroforestry, smarter plant breeding practices are required.</p>
<p>Traditional breeding has allowed for the identification, selection and propagation of plants with a superior genetic makeup, or genotype, from a given plant population. But traditional methods often fail to isolate the required superior characteristics of a species. They can also take more than five or six breeding cycles before a valuable trait is established and maintained in a plant population. The process can take decades for perennial plants, like trees. </p>
<p>Plant biotechnology is increasingly being used to complement traditional screening and <a href="https://agricultureandfoodsecurity.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/2048-7010-1-7">breeding practices</a>. Plants can be grown in test tubes under controlled laboratory conditions. Advances in biochemistry and genetics have also ushered in an understanding of the factors that influence plant growth. </p>
<p>Together these developments have created the opportunity to precisely identify and mass propagate superior plant varieties within a fraction of the time of traditional methods. On top of this, if required, the precise altering of the genetic makeup of plants is now also possible. This enables plant genomes to be radically enhanced so that superior genotypes can be created, maintained and propagated. </p>
<h2>Preserving valuable genes</h2>
<p>Maintaining superior genetics for valuable traits is fundamental in agroforestry. But to maintain superior genetics, seed production is rarely an option. In producing a seed, the sexual cross between genetically different male and female parent plants results in the dilution of valuable genes. This often leads to offspring with unpredictable genetics. </p>
<p>For the agroforestry industry to succeed, genotypes with predictably fast growth rates, high yields, and disease and drought resistance are needed. This will ensure land-use efficiency is maximised, which in turn will decrease ecological disturbance and protect indigenous plant species and sensitive natural forests. </p>
<p>One method that holds promise for preserving valuable genes is somatic embryogenesis. This is the ability to produce viable embryos from virtually any plant organ, while avoiding sexual crossing. Such embryos, when encased in alginate gel, constitute a synthetic seed. They retain all the valuable properties of the cloned parent plant. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/127715/original/image-20160622-7175-1ufxsyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/127715/original/image-20160622-7175-1ufxsyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/127715/original/image-20160622-7175-1ufxsyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127715/original/image-20160622-7175-1ufxsyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127715/original/image-20160622-7175-1ufxsyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127715/original/image-20160622-7175-1ufxsyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127715/original/image-20160622-7175-1ufxsyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127715/original/image-20160622-7175-1ufxsyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Somatic embryogenesis is the ability to produce viable embryos from virtually any plant organ, while avoiding sexual crossing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Creating synthetic seeds</h2>
<p>Somatic embryos may form naturally in certain plants, but can potentially be induced in any plant species and from any plant organ outside its normal biological context. This is done by altering the balance of plant hormones – the language signal in plants that controls all developmental processes. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/294106816_Using_synergistic_exogenous_phytohormones_to_enhance_somatic_embryogenesis_from_leaf_explants_of_a_Eucalyptus_grandis_clone">research</a> investigated the potential of inducing somatic embryos from leaves of the commercially important Eucalyptus tree. These are an important source of global timber products. Intensive efforts are under way to screen and select preferred genotypes to support environmental sustainability. </p>
<p>Somatic embryos mimic seeds without the lengthy breeding cycle. The germinated products are essentially clones of the parent plant from which the embryos were induced. So somatic embryogenesis allows for superior genotypes to be preserved. It also allows for the propagation of plant species that were previously excluded from standard propagation practices like traditional plant breeding or plant tissue culture. </p>
<p>There are other benefits too. The easily transported embryos constitute known genetics and growth properties. They could also potentially be cryopreserved, that is frozen to ultra-low temperatures indefinitely in liquid nitrogen. Importantly, because of the conditions under which they are induced, they are disease-free.</p>
<p>Despite its many uses somatic embryogenesis is only being used in selected agroforestry industries like sugarcane, certain conifer and forestry plantations and in a <a href="http://www.academia.edu/1615682/Somatic_embryogenesis_for_crop_improvement">few ornamental plants</a>. But its potential as a medium for genetic enhancement cannot be ignored, especially given recent advances in gene editing.</p>
<h2>Gene editing</h2>
<p>With the drive to sequence whole genomes of commercially important, rare or valuable plant species, scientists are presented with an opportunity to identify, understand the functions of and edit specific gene sequences to enhance plant properties. </p>
<p>To date, one hurdle to the success of the process has been the choice of organ when genetically editing plants. </p>
<p>This is why somatic embryos could be very useful for gene editing. As embryos they contain both root and shoot meristems – the precursors to a complete plant. If genes are edited at this embryonic stage, then as the embryo divides to form the complete plant all cells of the entire plant will carry the edited genome. </p>
<p>The advent of highly accurate gene editing methods has provided scientists with the opportunity to improve forestry, agricultural and threatened plant species. This can be done in a precise, targeted and reproducible manner. One such example is the <a href="https://www.neb.com/tools-and-resources/feature-articles/crispr-cas9-and-targeted-genome-editing-a-new-era-in-molecular-biology">Crispr/Cas9 system</a>. This is a highly specific gene editing method that can be used to precisely replace whole gene sequences.</p>
<p>The potential exists to genetically insert tolerance to pests, disease, drought, floods and other pressures of a changing climate. Such precise gene editing will greatly benefit from readily available, disease-free embryos. In the near future, gene editing of synthetic seeds will allow extensive improvement of agricultural and forestry crops.</p>
<h2>Planning for the future</h2>
<p>The only historical limitation of somatic embryogenesis lay in the possibility of unplanned mutations arising from the embryo induction process. But advanced molecular screening techniques have mitigated this. </p>
<p>In time, we should expect to see greater use of enhanced, tolerant plant genotypes through specific gene editing of somatic embryos and synthetic seeds. What remains to be done is fervent research into the underlying mechanisms of somatic embryogenesis, their efficient conversion into synthetic seeds and successful cryopreservation. This should be done using a greater number of plant species for more efficient, productive, tolerant and sustainable agroforestry plantations, and in conservation programmes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/60468/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Muhammad Nakhooda receives funding from National Research Foundation and Cape Peninsula University of Technology Research Fund. </span></em></p>Smarter plant breeding practices are crucial in a world where climate change, deforestation and species reduction are an increasing problem.Muhammad Nakhooda, Senior Lecturer in Biotechnology, Cape Peninsula University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.