Science: A protein could reduce the use of fertilizers in crops

23/08/2018

The discussion on water pollution is a topic that has been debated for years in different forums. One of them, perhaps the most outstanding, has been the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

From this organization, emphasis has been placed on the damage that soil and groundwater have suffered in the world through the use of agrochemicals, including fertilizers, which are immediately absorbed by the earth.

However, science is already advancing some works in the benefit of agricultural production. In this context, a group of researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing say they have discovered a gene that allows plants to fix nitrogen more efficiently.

The preliminary information of the study suggests that it is a molecule that would be ideal to create, in the first instance, high-yielding varieties of crops such as rice and wheat, although they expect it to be extended for the production of any food that needs soil. grow.

According to the magazine Nature, to implement this plan, it would have positive economic implications in the entire world agricultural industry, since the costs would be lower, in addition to the environmental impact would be significantly reduced.

Voice of specialists

The publication emphasizes some alarming figures. For example, they point out that in 2015 the world's farmers used about 104 millions of tons of fertilizers with high concentrations of nitrogen, much of which went to rivers and oceans.

Kathryn Barton, a scientist at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Stanford, Calif., Says she's very hopeful about the new study. He assures that his biggest concern is anchored in the weakness of the new crops.

"They can not absorb nitrogen as well as traditional crops, so they need a lot of fertilizer to grow. That's why such large amounts of fertilizers are used, "Barton replies.

Meanwhile, Xiangdong Fu, co-author of the Chinese study, emphasizes the need to create new alternatives away from nitrogen. "When nitrogen from agricultural fields reaches rivers, lakes and oceans, it feeds massive blooms of algae that consume oxygen and suffocate aquatic organisms."

The plant geneticist at the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing adds that "that is why we have to look for new varieties, which can produce high yields, but with less fertilizers."

The protagonist

Xiangdong Fu states that he and his colleagues were reviewing the behavior of the molecules of a protein called "DELLA". This, apparently, is the reason why plants do not absorb nitrogen properly, while restricting their growth capacity.

"In conventional crops, these proteins are destroyed by hormones that stimulate the growth of plants. But DELLA proteins flourish in conventional crops because the plants are immune to the influence of hormones, or produce less of them, "says the Asian scientist.

It was then that experts began the "crusade" against the accumulation of DELLA proteins. To do this, they compared the DNA in 36 varieties of dwarf rice, and there they observed how each one was capable of absorbing nitrogen.

In the midst of the tests, the Chinese team identified two genes that are responsible for nitrogen consumption. One of them encodes the DELLA proteins, while the other has influence on a second protein called "4 factor" or GRF4.

The scientists found that GRF4 not only increases grain size and yield, but is able to counteract the effects of DELLA proteins by encouraging plants to absorb and metabolize nitrogen and carbon to promote growth.

Source

La Vanguardia