Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108 Page 109 Page 110 Page 111 Page 112 Page 113 Page 114 Page 115 Page 11675 Advancing Seed in Alberta | fall.2016 PotentialApplications ofNBTs •Potatoeswithreducedamylasecontentandwithlate blightresistance. •Appleswithscabresistanceandwithdecreased allergenicity. •Ricewithbacterialleafblightresistance. •Oilseedrapewithherbicidetolerance. •Wheatwithpowderymildewresistance. •Maizewithdroughttoleranceandherbicidetolerance. •Soybeanwithimprovedoilquality. Advantages of NBTs: •Increasedprecisionandefficiencyoftheplantbreeding process. •Arrivequickeratthedesiredplantcharacteristics. •Fasterwaystoincreaseplants’resistancetopestsand diseases.This,inturn,leadstoareductionintheuseof pesticides. •Fasterwaystoincreaseplants’tolerancetoabiotic stresses,suchasdrought,leadingtobetteruseofwater andotherresources.Withthat,newplantvarieties provideforagreaterharvestsecurityandhigherfood security. •Overall,NBTsprovidebenefitstoEUconsumers,and haveapositiveimpactontheenvironment.Foodis producedinamoresustainablemanner. •Morehigh-qualityplantvarietiesareavailableforEU farmers,givingthemthepossibilitytoproducefood andfeedinamoreefficientandsustainableway.Italso providesfarmerswiththenecessarymeanstogenerate somemuch-neededeconomicbenefits. •ThetechniqueswillbecomeamajordriverofEurope’s economyandensurethatEUplantbreedersremain competitiveonaglobalscale. for the crop. This means considerable efforts have to be spent, especially on crops with low transformation efficiencies, to produce high numbers of modified plants. The disadvantages described above for intragenesis and cisgen- esis are greatly compensated by their potential to overcome some of the limitations of conventional plant breeding. Both cisgenesis and intragenesis confer a faster and more precise tool for the transfer of genetic constructs between related species than clas- sical backcross breeding. At the same time, the linkage drag often seen in conventional backcross programs is avoided. The intra-/cisgenic techniques can also overcome limitations of classical breeding when it comes to improving traits with lim- ited natural allelic variation. A higher expression level of a trait can be obtained through cisgenesis by inserting an additional gene copy of the trait, or through intragenesis by introducing a hybrid gene containing an advantageous promoter and termi- nator isolated from the sexually compatible gene pool. Lower expression levels can be obtained through intragenesis by the introduction of different silencing constructs. Valuable New Tools New plant breeding techniques significantly reduce the time and effort needed to produce new plant varieties, and allow more precision. It would seem that considering the immense challenges ahead, the NBTs provide valuable new tools to EU plant breeders that are much needed in light of both the EU’s agricultural sector constraints and the global challenges con- cerning population increase, climate change, food security, and the sustainable use of resources. Marcel Bruins One of the limitations shared by both cisgenesis and intragenesis is traits outside the sexually compatible gene pool cannot be introduced.