70 I EUROPEAN SEED I EUROPEAN-SEED.COM EXTRAS CANCER-FIGHTING DRUGS ALSO HELP PLANTS FIGHT DISEASE Cancer-fighting drugs used on humans can help plants fight dis- ease as well. That discovery, by two Washington State University plant pathologists, could help scientists develop new pathways for plants to battle infection, as revealed in a paper in the journal Frontiers in Plant Science. Lee Hadwiger and Kiwamu Tanaka from the WSU Department of Plant Pathology used anticancer drugs that change the DNA of cancer cells to slow or stop their growth when used in high levels on humans. But when the drugs are used in low levels in plants, they affect a cell's DNA by activating genes used to defend against pathogens. The researchers applied a wide array of DNA-specific drugs, including actinomycin D, also known as dactinomycin, to pea tissue. There generally were two different results from those applications, with differing mechanisms of action. First, the plants started producing higher levels of an anti- microbial substance called pisatin, a known marker that shows a plant's defense system is turning on. Then, the scientists exposed the treated plants to fungal infections. The exposed plants stopped the infection within hours. Hadwiger and Tanaka don't foresee using anticancer medi- cations on crops, but this discovery helps build a deeper under- standing of how the chemicals interact with plant DNA. Plant and animal genes are activated in similar ways, so the scientists assumed the drug would work the same on the plants as in humans. But DNA doesn't recognize a drug as anti- cancer medication, it's just something new altering its makeup. The plants recognize the chemistry of whatever compound it interacts with. That's why the same compounds act in both plants and animals. EXTENDING PALM OIL PRODUCTION IN AFRICA THREATENS PRIMATE CONSERVATION Future expansion of the palm oil industry could have a dra- matic impact on African primates, according to the findings of a new study led by the Joint Research Centre, the European Commission's science and knowledge service. The study has been published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Scientists found only a few small 'areas of compromise' in Africa with a high suitability for oil palm cultivation and a low potential impact on the primate species living there. These areas totalled 0.13 million hectares (Mha), which is less than 0.005 % of the total land mass of the African continent. Even when taking into account all areas with at least minimum suitability to grow the plants from which palm oil is extracted, just 3.3 Mha of land is available to produce the oil without endangering primate populations. This amounts to only 6.2% of the 53Mha that would be required to cope with rising palm oil demand by 2050. With the demand for palm oil steadily increasing, and the industry looking for new possibilities for expansion beyond Southeast Asia and South America, the study shows how it will be extremely challenging to reconcile conservation targets with future conversion of land to oil palm crops. Palm oil can be found in about half of all packaged products in the supermarket, from food to makeup and cleaning products. It is also used in some biofuels. Production is steadily rising, and expected to accelerate as the world's population continues to grow and demand for these products increases. Most oil palms - the plants from which palm oil is derived - are currently grown in Southeast Asia and, to a lesser extent, in South and Central America. Africa is considered as a likely destination for new plantations, thanks to the abundant low-ly- ing tropical ecosystems that are highly suitable for profitable oil palm cropping. Lessons learned from the catastrophic impact of industrial oil palm plantations on wildlife in Southeast Asia prompted the international team of researchers, from the JRC, CIRAD, Stellenbosch University, Liverpool John Moores University and ETH Zurich, to produce a broad assessment of the expected effects of oil palm expansion on African primate diversity, high- lighting the challenges that lie ahead. The researchers chose to focus on primates for multiple reasons. The most obvious one is that primates are a priority for conservation. Populations of many primate species are already in steep decline as large parts of their natural habitat are exploited for agriculture, logging and mining. Indeed, 37% of primate spe- cies in mainland Africa and 87% of species in Madagascar are threatened with extinction. THE WHEAT CODE IS FINALLY CRACKED The International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium (IWGSC) published in the international journal Science a detailed description of the genome of bread wheat, the world's most widely cultivated crop. This work will pave the way for the production of wheat varieties better adapted to climate challenges, with higher yields, enhanced nutritional quality and improved sustainability. The research article - authored by more than 200 scientists from 73 research institutions in 20 countries - presents the ref- erence genome of the bread wheat variety Chinese Spring. The DNA sequence ordered along the 21 wheat chromosomes is the highest quality genome sequence produced to date for wheat. It is the result of 13 years of collaborative international research. A key crop for food security, wheat is the staple food of more than a third of the global human population and accounts for almost 20% of the total calories and protein consumed by humans worldwide, more than any other single food source. To meet future demands of a projected world population of 9.6 billion by 2050, wheat productivity needs to increase by 1.6 per cent each year. In order to preserve biodiversity, water, and nutrient resources, the majority of this increase has to be achieved via crop and trait improvement on land currently cultivated rather than committing new land to cultivation. With the reference genome sequence now completed, breeders have at their disposal new tools to address these chal- lenges. They will be able to identify more rapidly genes and regulatory elements underlying complex agronomic traits such as yield, grain quality, resistance to fungal diseases, and tol- erance to abiotic stress - and produce hardier wheat varieties. It is expected that the availability of a high-quality ref- erence genome sequence will boost wheat improvement over the next decades, with benefits similar to those observed with maize and rice after their reference sequences were produced.