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 116The Future of Seed 102 www.seed.ab.ca | Advancing Seed in Alberta Why a method of asexual seed production called apomixis could be a key to feeding the world. Agriculture Without Sex MANY consider it one of the most important questions facing the world today: How to feed the nine billion people expected to populate the planet by 2050? One answer: Eliminate sex from agri- culture. That’s the vision of Tim Sharbel, a world leader in the study of asexual seed production known as apomixis. Born and educated in Montréal, Sharbel spent 20 years doing pioneering work in Germany before moving back to Canada last year to help launch an apomixis research program at the Global Institute for Food Security, located at the University of Sas- katchewan in Saskatoon. Apomixis is a naturally occurring phe- nomenon in certain types of plants such as St. John’s wort and Kentucky bluegrass, which reproduce seed asexually, whereby all offspring are genetically identical to the mother plant. It isn’t found in any food crops — but if apomixis could be successfully intro- duced into agriculture, Sharbel envisions this would have huge implications for humankind. “Everyone is scrambling around right now trying to figure out how we’re going to feed the world, so that’s why this is so important to be talking about,” he says. “It’s not the only solution that scientist are looking into, but it is one potential answer which would change everything.” Sharbel describes the practical applica- tion of apomixis in food crops as a poten- tially disruptive technology that could inspire an agricultural revolution, since it would enable the immediate fixation of any desired genotype and lead to faster, simpler breeding schemes. “I think people have been studying the biology of these asexual plants and ani- mals for 100 years or so, but it’s only 20 or 30 years ago that people started thinking apomixis. Variants of the genes are cur- rently being tested in canola. “We’ve advanced very rapidly and have identified some candidate genes that we’re working with,” Sharbel says. “Proof of concept is where we’re at right now. … We’ll know within six months or so if the genes are actually working.” Sharbel and his team are using a GMO approach in their current testing, but ulti- mately the goal is to utilize other biotech- nologies such as genome editing, which essentially allows scientists to target mutations in a plant’s DNA and does not involve genetic transformation. “We need to identify by using proof of concept whether we can get the trait to work, and that can be a genetically modified approach because it’s not going to market. Once we identify whether we can get it to work, then the question is how do you engineer it into crops?” Sharbel says. Photo: Global Institute for Food Security about it in terms of agriculture,” Sharbel says. “There are a number of laboratories and a lot of people around the world studying apomixis because of its implica- tions. It’s worth billions and billions of dollars if we can get it working.” Through their applied work on apo- mixis, Sharbel and his team are uncover- ing clues to this evolutionary puzzle. Their research program encompasses popula- tion genetics and evolutionary theories, functional genetics and an assortment of technologies such as high throughput phenotyping, genomics, proteomics and genome editing to carefully analyze reproduction in asexual plants (typically hybrids or polypoids) and apply that knowledge to food crops. Sharbel’s research involving plants in the wild brassica genus Boechera has resulted in the isolation of two genes, APPOLO and UPGRADE, which appear to have pivotal functions in the transition to Members of the apomixis research team at work at the Global Institute for Food Security in Saskatoon. Pictured are (left to right): Dorota Paczesniak, Angie Li and Andres Posso-Terranova.