Adelaide, Australia
12 August 2010
The Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Kazakhstan; a partnership that will produce improved varieties of wheat and barley more tolerant to drought, salinity and nutrient deficiencies and toxicities for both countries.
The collaborative program will allow ACPFG to access knowledge and intellectual property produced by research in Kazakhstan while also helping to accelerate Kazakhstan’s breeding programs by building the capacity of researchers in that country.
‘The partnership is an exciting venture for ACPFG and Australia. Our farmers will benefit from the research activities of scientists working on crop tolerance to environmental stresses’ said ACPFG CEO, Professor Peter Langridge.
ACPFG will provide Kazakhstan researchers with training in the development and application of molecular biology techniques to improve cereal varieties with a particular focus on stresses including salinity and drought which are major problems for growers in both countries.
In return the MoU will expand ACPFG’s base of knowledge and increase the number of scientists working on important environmental issues for wheat and barley growers.
‘Whilst the varieties grown in Kazakhstan and Australia are quite different, it’s likely that the advances in genetic studies will have a very positive effect on Kazakhstan varieties and the lessons we learn in working with this material will have direct application to Australian germplasm,’ Professor Serik Kenenbayev, President, JSC KazAgroInnovation said.
‘Outcomes of the MoU include support for Kazakhstan’s conventional breeding programs to accelerate the rate of improvement of Kazakh varieties,’ said Professor Langridge. ‘We will also use genetic modification techniques to improve wheat and barley using a cis-genic approach which involves the use of wheat and barley genes to improve stress tolerance in wheat and barley plants.’
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