School of life Sciences (SlS), JNU has recently discovered a gene in tomato seed which has the potential to reduce the number of farmers’ suicides across the country. GroEl, Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) gene, in the tomato seed can help save the crop from fungal and other insects’ infection, and can also help protect the crop from adverse weather conditions, one of the major causes for crop failure leading to farmer suicides.
GroEl has been discovered by the researchers in the laboratory and it can save the plant from abiotic, biotic, salinity stress and other stresses which occur in plants due to climate changes. GroEl gene in tomato plants is also beneficial for human by acting as an excellent source of antioxidants.
“We conducted our experiment first on tobacco, and the outcomes were good. We are experimenting on tomato by the process of developing GroEl gene through ‘tissue culture’ technique,” said Neera Bhalla Sarin, former Dean, SlS.
The production of tomato in India is 7.1 million tonnes per year. And 10,800 millions of tomatoes are exported from India to other countries every year while 22.38 per cent tomato crop is damaged due to insects. The major portion of crop damage due to insect is becoming the reason of farmers suicide in the country.
Gene GroEl is developed from the insect Helicoverpa armigera, which is processed in the laboratories of life Sciences. “In traditional farming, a major portion of the crop is adversely affected by fungus and other insects, while the utmost use of pesticides on the crop will affect passively on humans,” said Sarin, adding the invention is completely bio-processed as the gene GroEl is derived from the existing insects only with no chemical reactions or artificial manufacturing needed.
According to the research team, the experiment of GroEl gene has also been done with cotton and chickpea seeds, and the results are positive. GroEl gene in plants can also help the plant to survive in drought conditions.
“We have practically observed that GroEl gene-seed plants can bear temperature up to 42 degrees Celsius. It is a remarkable achievement for the research team,” said a researcher.
SlS has also come up with other researches which are on the mustard seed and black gram (Vigna mungo). Mustard oil and Vigna mungo are much consumed in the regular diet.
Alpha-Tocopherol is a form of vitamin that has been increased up to six times in mustard seeds trough metabolism engineering in the labs. Alpha-Tocopherol is considered a good agent to fight diseases like cancer and tumour. The increased amount of Alpha-Tocopherol in mustard seeds will enhance the strength of the plant to make it survive extreme conditions, for instance drought and heavy metal stress, which occurs in the soil.
The researchers claim that this mustard seed will help protect cell membrane, enhance immune response, protect from the diseases like cancer, Alzheimer’s; protect heart from coronary diseases and also regulates the platelet aggregation.
“In coming days, this mustard seed can be used in the making of anti-ageing creams. We have experimented with all the aspects of Alpha-Tocopherol on Mouse/Mice Model System,” said Poonam, a researcher. While doing the experiment on the mice, we have found hundred per cent positive results in reducing the skin cancer, she added.
Vigna mungo seed, which is genetically modified in the labs, has been prepared to fight under the harsh climate conditions. “During my interactions with farmers of Punjab and Rajasthan, I have observed they are gravely dependent on the climate conditions. Farmers commit suicide in our country because their crop becomes the prey to droughts. Our seed can bear the high temperature and can survive without water for a maximum of 14 days,” said Deepak, another researcher, SlS, JNU.
The researches about these seeds have been internationally-recognised and the research has been published in Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) and in IPCC international Journals.