Plant Functional Genomics and its benefits for consumers

Marco Zanirato Ph.D.
Pioneer Hi-Bred Italy S.p.A.
Pioneer Hi-Bred is a plant breeding Company founded in 1926. His founder, Henry A. Wallace, was the first to apply the theory of heterosis to Plant Breeding and he developed the firsts hybrid of corn writing the history of world agriculture.
Many years have passed and Pioneer is still using all its knowledge, know-how, Precision Farming and agronomy research and its genetic research and technology in order to transform into reality (superior products) as much consumer needs as possible.
Qualitatively enhanced varieties are getting in the marketplace in the next few years. Firsts applications will be in the area of food safety (less pesticide utilization, low mycotoxin content), environmental impact (water use, less phosphorous pollution) and feed and food quality (available energy, available aminoacids, healthier fats and oils).
First "wave" of genetically enhanced products (such as insect resistant and herbicide resistant crops) are bringing benefits for consumers and for the environment (better quality and more safety productions, less chemical use) but a lot more we will see in the near future.
One of the most exciting field of genetics research is called Genomics. Genomics is a new science that studies the genome of specie at molecular level in order to better genetically improve the same specie.
Pioneer Genomics goals are: identify all the expressed genes in maize and other crops, develop informatics and databases that link genomic and germplasm information, develop tools for rapid identification of candidate genes, their function and pathways associated with complex biological traits or processes, develop tools for rapid confirmation of candidate gene function. All the obtained information will be use in plant breeding in order to obtain enhanced variety with less environmental impact, more safety and with more quality for the consumer.
Up to now, Pioneer has a database containing more than 350,000 maize EST's (Expressed Sequence Tags) that represent more than 60,000 non-overlapping partial maize cDNA sequences. Pioneer is using this huge database to develop new varieties in a more precise and accurate way preventing unexpected mutations or lack of agronomic and qualitative traits. Another important step forward using genomics is the possibility to understand the complex interaction between the genotype and the environment and this will allow to develop hybrids that fit with particular crop conditions and environment (i.e. low input farming, not irrigated cropping systems, organic farming, etc.).
Some example of Genomics application will be discussed. (High Available Phosphorous, preferred AA composition, Hi-oil, better starch for wet milling, better fatty acids profile, water use efficiency, disease resistance, mycotoxin detoxification, etc.).
Besides producing food for the increasing population, a greater volume and range of needs from industrial grain processors will also need to be met. Consumers need higher quality food, with healthier characteristics and higher nutritive value. All of this will have to be accomplished in a manner that sustains biological resources and provides a reliable, safe food supply.