Newsletter – Year I – Number III – December, 2022
New transgenic lines with resistance to citrus bacterial disease are taken for field evaluations.
As a result of a lot of scientific research work, researchers at the Citriculture Center found key genes, from the plant itself, that can confer “broad spectrum” resistance, that is, to various pathogens. These genes were transferred to commercial varieties of sweet orange, and trials in controlled environments proved that the genetically modified plants showed greater resistance to phytopathogens. The results of these studies were published in international scientific articles of high scientific impact (Pereira et al., 2020; Miter et al., 2022; Nascimento et al., 2022).
A total of 70 genetically engineered plants, considered “elite” events, that is, those that showed greater resistance to the pathogen, were, on December 2, 2022, taken for field experimentation. Field tests are being carried out in the experimental area of the Sylvio Moreira Citriculture Center, an area with planned release into the environment approved by the National Technical Commission on Biosafety.
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