Monday, 13 February 2012
Welcome
As a second year MSc student in the field of Plant Biotechnology I had the need for creating a platform for discussion and sharing of not only research-related ideas but also news feeds and recent development on this topic.
As a second year MSc student in the field of Plant Biotechnology I had the need for creating a platform for discussion and sharing of not only research-related ideas but also news feeds and recent development on this topic.
Biotechnology has already
proved invaluable in providing South-African crop producers with solutions to
insect – and weed damage. This crop technology not only holds great global
economic and sustainability benefits but also has a potentially crucial role in
ensuring food security. According to the report How to Feed the World in 2050 as
compiled by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), food production will
have to increase by 70% to feed a population expected to reach 9.1 billion by
2050.
One of the greatest threats to
food production is pests and diseases that severely decrease crop yield. Among
these is grey leaf spot (GLS) disease of maize which can cause as much as a
151Kg/ha
yield reduction on African maize farming systems. I am enthusiastic about the
potential role of biotechnology in providing a solution to this problem
and for this reason I am fortunate to be part of a multidisciplinary research
group focusing on creating an African maize variety with increased GLS
resistance. The
overall aim of the project is to identify genes conferring quantitative
resistance to African maize cultivars as well as molecular markers for these
genes. More information regarding this project can be found at: http://www.fabinet.up.ac.za/mppi/maize
This specific project is a
multidisciplinary collaboration between the Molecular Plant-Pathogen Interaction
group (Department of Plant Science, University of Pretoria) of which I'm part,
the African Centre for Crop Improvement (University of KwaZulu-Natal), the
Centre for Proteomic and Genomic Research (CPGR) as well as PANNAR SEED PTY
(LTD) in order to include many fields of expertise such as bioinformatics,
molecular breeding and molecular biology.
Running costs of the project is funded by the Technology Innovation
Agency (TIA).
My
MSc involves investigating defence gene regulation in maize in response to Cercospora zeina, the causal agent of
GLS in Southern Africa.
As an undergraduate student I
made an effort of acquiring work experience in my field of study. It was during
vacation work at the ARC that I was introduced to maize research and the next
year I applied for a Monsanto bursary which I was granted for 3 consecutive
years. I thoroughly enjoyed doing annual vacation work at Monsanto and I’ve
acquired invaluable work experience. I joined the maize project of the Molecular
Plant Pathogen Interaction group in the Department of Plant Science at
University of Pretoria as a part-time job during my final year and have been
involved in this group ever since. More information on the MPPI group can be
found at http://www.fabinet.up.ac.za/mppi
Monique
Heystek
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