An Interdisciplinary Approach to Study the Performance of Second-generation Genetically Modified Crops in Field Trials: A Case Study With Soybean and Wheat Carrying the Sunflower HaHB4 Transcription Factor.

Research, production, and use of genetically modified (GM) crops have split the world between supporters and opponents. Up to now, this technology has been limited to the control of weeds and pests, whereas the second generation of GM crops is expected to assist farmers in abiotic stress tolerance or improved nutritional features. Aiming to analyze this subject holistically, in this presentation we address an advanced technology for drought-tolerant GM crops, upscaling from molecular details obtained in the laboratory to an extensive network of field trials as well as the impact of the introduction of this innovation into the market.

Successful field performance in warm and dry environments of soybean expressing the sunflower transcription factor HB4.

Soybean yield is limited primarily by abiotic constraints. No transgenic soybean with improved abiotic stress tolerance is commercially available. We transformed soybean plants with genetic constructs able to express the sunflower transcription factor HaHB4, which confers drought tolerance to Arabidopsis and wheat.

Out of the swamp: unidirectional hybridization with weedy species may explain the prevalence of Amaranthus tuberculatus as a weed.

*Amaranthus tuberculatus represents one of the most dramatic cases of weed invasion documented in the midwestern USA. The species is infamous for evolving resistance to multiple herbicides, and predicting whether these resistances may be transferred to widespread weeds of the Amaranthus hybridus aggregate is a matter of epidemiological concern. Here, we explore the patterns of genetic exchange between Amaranthus tuberculatus and A.

Acetolactate synthase mutation conferring imidazolinone-specific herbicide resistance in Amaranthus hybridus.

Acetolactate synthase (ALS) catalyzes the first common step in the biosynthesis of branched-chain amino acids in plants and is the target of several herbicides. ALS inhibitors have enjoyed popularity as herbicides due to numerous attributes, although their current adequacy in weed control programs is hampered by herbicide resistance. Most cases of ALS-inhibitor resistance have resulted from selection of an altered target site.