Biotechnology
DE KALB, 11. Any new in
novation is only as successful as it
is practical. And while
achievements of the past decade
have produced a dramatic,
biological research revolution, the
results ultimately will be
measured only by practical
product improvements.
“With a goal of practical, usable
plant varieties and hybrids,
Dekalb-Pfizer Genetics is teaming
biotechnology with innovative
breeding programs,” says Dr.
Thomas B. Rice, director of plant
genetics research, Pfizer Central
Research Laboratories.
“Our laboratory research ob
jectives have been established in
two primary areas. First, we must
develop a better understanding of
traits that determine crop per
formance. Second, we must
develop more efficient techniques
to speed genetic progress for those
traits.”
Rice says these objectives in
corporate many diverse
specialities, including molecular
biology, biochemistry, cell biology,
tissue culture, cellular genetics
and physiology.
"Progress in plant biology is
often slowed because the problems
do not fit neatly into a single
academic specialty,” he says.
“Now, by creating a joint group
of biotechnical researchers and
plant breeders, we have the
capability of studying the ex
pression of a trait in the field. We
may also examine the contribution
of molecular, cellular and
physiological factors, and
ultimately isolate and manipulate
the critical genes,” he adds.
Rice says Dekalb-Pfizer
Genetics has developed the
capability of initiating corn tissue
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cultures. These can be propagated
for several years while main
taining their ability to regenerate
whole plants.
“This is a critical step for
practical use of the tissue culture
process to produce or introduce
new traits, such as herbicide
resistance,” he explains.
Studies have recently shown
as investigators have discovered
with other species corn plants
regenerated from tissue cultures
exhibit a high rate of new genetic
variability.
“This phenomenon should be
interpreted cautiously until its
cause is understood and its
usefulness evaluated,” Rice
warns.
Other new sources of variability
are also being explored.
Researchers, including those at
Dekalb-Pfizer Genetics, are
developing tools that may soon
permit foreign genes to be tran
sferred into and function in new
crop hosts.
Rice says development of new
laboratory screening methods will
speed evaluation and development
of new varieties. An example of
this approach has been a
procedure designed to evaluate the
performance of soybean lines
under conditions that induce iron
chlorosis (a yellowing of plant
foliage due to iron deficiency).
This new test accurately
predicts the field performance of
soybean lines faced with iron
chlorosis. It was used, for
example, to speed development of
a new Dekalb-Pfizer Genetics
experimental variety known as
CXI74. As an experimental
variety, this soybean line has
consistently exhibited a high
tolerance to iron chlorosis.
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is key to future plant development
“We are now locusmg on other
traits, such as drought tolerance,”
Rice says. “We seek to identify
‘new handles’ for such traits that
would permit more effective
manipulation and more rapid
breeding progress. ’ ’
Com, sorghum and soybean
materials generated by these
programs are being grown and
evaluated in nurseries. And since
these lines are like those from
more traditional programs, they
are affected by their environment.
A new variety that does well in one
location may do poorly in another
location.
“Farmers demand varieties that
do well in many locations over
many years,” says Kent Schulze,
vice president, sales and
marketing. “The answer is to test,
test and test again.”
Each year the research
department at Dekalb-Pfizer
Genetics tests thousands of new
hybrids and varieties derived from
traditional breeding programs and
complemented by new basic
research methods. These new lines
are tested at 23 research stations
and at additional sites surrounding
each station, Schulze states.
Each year hybrids are exposed
to more than 100 different en
vironments in which they interact
with natural factors just like they
would in farmer fields. Schulze
says this process helps the com
pany select products that will
perform well and consistently over
a wide area.
Field Analysis Comparison
Trials (FACT) are used to
determine which hybrids or
varieties merit introduction into
the company’s commercial line.
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FACT incorporates the use of
tester hybrids or varieties to help
correct field variability within the
plot, the sales and marketing vice
president explains. A consistently
yielding, top-of-the-line tester, he
says, is planted between each of
the experimental hybrids or
varieties selected for evaluation.
The overall performance of the
experimental hybrid or variety is
adjusted according to the per
formance of the tester throughout
the FACT plot.
Selection of new commercial
hybrid by Dekalb-Pfizer Genetics
is based on consistent,
reproducible, statistically
significant performance in both
experimental research tests and
New Zealand farmer
. (Continued from Page Dl9)
around as far as necessary to
finish her milking cycle.
When the teat cups are removed,
they’re hung up on the bales and
pass through a very powerful
spray jet to keep them clean,
which cuts down on the washing up
at the end of the milking.
In the two years, Scott pointed
out, “the teat cups have never been
scrubbed on the outside. They’ve
always just been hosed very
severely.”
Scott uses the MOC teat cups,
which Nu Pulse distributes in New
Zealand. Scott rated the
polypropylene plastic cups as
“extremely g00d... remarkably
good” for resisting soiling and
washing cleanly
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on-farm FACT tests, Schulze says
The result is a comprehensive
program that combines the
systematic approach of marketing
with original and inventive
research.
Rice says Dekalb-Pfuer
Genetics emphasizes a com
bination of three principles to
njaximize its plant breeding
programs. They are new biology
traditional plant breeding and field
testing.
Schulze and Rice agree that all
three principles are needed to
assure the company it is producing
new hybrids and varieties that
farmers will find practical, useful
and high-performing in their
fields.
An important benefit the Scotts
see is a social one. If the miin n g
can be completed while the wife is
doing her early morning
housework (if she doesn’t actually
help with the milking), then the
whole family joins together at one
time and has the morning meal
together. It must make a family
unit welded together the way a
family unit should be! ”
Stilfit was Mrs. Scott, a dairy
farmer’s daughter and wife of a
third generation dairyman, who
put it all in perspective: “Milking
is a bit like doing the dishes. It’s
got to be done. If you make an
enjoyable experience out of it for
both yourself and the animal, that
makes a big difference.”
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