BIO 12.

01 CJ-D Group 1

PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY

Definition
● The process of sustainably and genetically modifying plants for specific needs and
opportunities
● “application of engineering techniques to introduce the desirable traits into plants
through genetic modification” (Plant Biotechnology FAQs, 2012)
● Putting these two definitions together, plant biotechnology is the modification of plants to
cause them to exhibit desirable traits for specific needs.

Importance of Plant Biotechnology

- Can make farming more profitable and create more room for other profitable ideas
- Provides quality-improved sets of traits of plants
- It basically elevates the level of performance of people in agriculture in the sense that
their products possess better traits than the usual; like heat and drought resistance,
resistance to phytopathogens, herbicide, insect resistance and more

EXAMPLES OF PLANT BIOTECH PRODUCTS:

BT CORN (Pest resistant)

1. What is Bt Corn
- Bt Corn is a genetically modified crop first introduced by Mycogen and Ciba
Seeds (now Novartis Seeds) in 1996

2. Why was it made

- Bt corn was made in order to gain protection from european corn borers and
overall pests that would serve harmful to the growth of corn crops
- Within the Philippine context, Bt corn was modified to be resistant to the Asiatic
corn borer (also known as Ostrinia Furnacalis)

3. How was it made

- Bt Corn is made through the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis, specifically,
through the protein Bt delta endotoxin
- Bt delta endotoxin is resistant to european corn borer caterpillars under the
Lepidoptera order (this includes other pests like moths and butterflies)
- The Bt delta endotoxin is inserted alongside some genetic material such as a
promoter sequence that dictates how this trait will be expressed in the plant

4. The present
- Varieties of corn GMO, Bt corn included, have increased the yields of crops from
5.6% to 24.5% as compared to their non-GMO crop counterparts
HB4 WHEAT (Drought Resistant)

1. What is HB4 Wheat

- HB4 Wheat is a drought resistant crop developed in 2004 by scientists from the
National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) along with
Bioceres, an agrotechnological group from Argentina.

2. Why was HB4 Wheat Made?

- “Wheat is a key staple for billions of people around the globe, and a crop that has
remained orphan in the sphere of biotechnology despite being planted in 200
million hectares globally” (ISAAA Inc., 2021)
- Argentina (where HB4 wheat was developed) is the largest producer and
exporter of wheat throughout Latin America
- Resulting in an annual opportunity of 6-8 million hectares of wheat
- With its highly tropical climate, their plants often experience drought

3. How was HB4 Wheat Made?

- HB4 is genetically modified wheat, and its drought tolerance is brought on by a
sunflower gene within it
- It also has the enzyme phospinotricin acetyltransderase (PAT), in order to gain
tolerance from glufosinate ammonium - one of the most widely-applied herbicides

4. The present
- Argentina granted the first approval of HB4 wheat’s use in 2020, and deemed it
‘event’ for growth and consumption
- HB4 wheat is said to have increased wheat yields by an average of 20%
- The commercialization of HB4 Wheat in Argentina has been subject to Brazilian
approval, since the country is the main export market for Argentinian wheat
production
- The same gene used in HB4 wheat is being incorporated into other plants such
as soybeans

BT EGGPLANT (Local Biotech Product)

1. What is BT Eggplant?
- Developed by the Institute of Plant Breeding at the University of Philippines - Los Banos
(IPB-UPLB)
- It is an eggplant modified using modern biotechnology to resist the feeding damage of
the Eggplant Fruit and Shoot Borer (EFSB)
- A.k.a FSB-resistant eggplant

2. Why is BT Eggplant made?

- Eggplant is the leading vegetable crop in terms of volume and area of production - 2020
Philippine Statistics Authority Report
 - Up to 73% losses annually due to EFSB
- Farmers spray chemical pesticide at least 4 times a week, spending 20-40% of total
production cost for insecticides alone
- FSB Resistance is hard to develop using conventional plant breeding, so biotechnology
techniques was used

3. How was BT Eggplant made?

- Bacillus Thuringiensis is a soil bacteria that naturally produces toxins fatal to certain
insect families like butterflies, moths, flies and beetles.
- Scientists have incorporated a gene of Bacillus Thuringiensis to eggplants, so that the
eggplants could produce the toxin on their own to confer resistance to EFSBs.

4. The present
- The BT Eggplant project started in 2003
- Is granted a “Biosafety Permit for Commercial Propagation” last October 2022, allowing
scaling up of operations and ensuring the availability of BT Eggplant seeds in the coming
years

As aforementioned, all these examples are products of Plant Biotechnology. Specifically, these
plants are all implemented with recombinant DNA technology, meaning that a gene from a
different organism was infused to them. For BT Corn and eggplant, scientists used the gene
of bacillus thuringiensis, while for hb4 wheat, it is the gene of a sunflower.

And as you can see, these genes were incorporated into these plants in order for them to confer
a desired quality for an ideal purpose, which is the core of plant biotechnology.