One hundred important questions facing plant science research.docx

One hundred important questions facing plant science research.docx

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Onehundredimportantquestionsfacingplantscienceresearch

Onehundredimportantquestionsfacingplantscienceresearch

Griersonetal,NewPhytologist（2011）192:

6–12

Introduction

Plantsciencehasneverbeenmoreimportant.Thegrowingandincreasinglyprosperoushumanpopulationneedsabundantsafeandnutritiousfood,shelter,clothes,fibre,andrenewableenergy,andneedstoaddresstheproblemsgeneratedbyclimatechange,whilepreservinghabitats.Theseglobalchallengescanonlybemetinthecontextofastrongfundamentalunderstandingofplantbiologyandecology,andtranslationofthisknowledgeintofield-basedsolutions.Plantscienceisbeginningtoaddressthesegrandchallenges,butitisnotclearthatthefullrangeofchallengesfacingplantscienceisknownorhasbeenassessed.Whatquestionsshouldthenextgenerationofplantbiologistsbeaddressing?

Tostarttoanswerthisquestionwesetouttocompilealistof100importantquestionsfacingplantscienceresearch.

Wehadthreemaingoals.

（1）Weaimedtostimulatediscussionamongsttheplantscienceandrelatedcommunities,andidentifyareasofresearchthatwouldhaveasubstantialimpact.

（2）Wehopedtoencourageplantscientiststothinkbeyondthelimitsoftheirownsphereofresearchandconsiderthemostimportantresearchthatcouldpossiblybecarriedout.

（3）Wesoughttoillustratetheimportanceandpotentialofplantsciencetothebroaderpublic.Thispaperaddressesaims1and2,butquestionswereselectedwithallthreeaimsinmind.Thisisintendedtobeastartingpoint.Researchprioritiesandchallengeschangecontinuouslyandunpredictablyasnewconcernsandneedsarise,andnewknowledgeisrevealed,anditwillbeimportanttoreviewandreassessthislistinthefuture.Herewepresent,withbriefexplanationsoftheirsignificance,ourlistoftheimportantquestionsfacingplantscienceresearchtoday.

Methods

Questionswereinvitedonlineovera3-monthperiodathttp:

//www.100plantsciencequestions.org.uk/index.php.ThewebsitewaspublicizedbyemailusingdistributionlistsofplantscientistsintheUKandabroad,onwebsitesaimedatplantscientistsandfarmers,andinapressrelease,whichledtocoveragebysomenewswebsitesandnewspapers.Thequestionssubmittedtothewebsitearelistedinfullathttp:

//www.100plantsciencequestions.org.uk/viewquestions.php,alongwiththenamesofthepeoplewhosubmittedthem,apartfromafewcaseswheresubmitterschosetobeanonymous.Theonlineconsultationprocessallowedinputfromcontributorswitharangeofnationalitiesandexperience.Thefulllistof350questionswasprovidedinadvancetoapanelof15individuals（SteveBarnes,RuthBastow,MarkChase,MatthewClarke,ClaireGrierson,AlastairFitter,DonGrierson,KeithEdwards,GrahamJellis,JonathanJones,SandyKnapp,GilesOldroyd,GuyPoppy,PaulTempleandRogerWilliams）representingtheacademic,commercialandpublicservicecommunitiesthatproduceorbenefitfromplantscienceresearch,andabletotakepartina2-dworkshopatBristol（UK）in2009.Duringtheprocessthelistwasreducedto96questionsbymutualagreement,whichwehopewillstimulatemorelocalvariantsparticularlyadaptedtoresearchandsocietalprioritiesinboththedevelopinganddevelopedworld.Beforethepanelmeetingthefulllistof350submittedquestionswasroughlyorganizedintogroupsaccordingtotopic.Eachpanelmemberindependentlyselectedtheirtop20questionsandtheselistswerecombined.Duringthisprocessotherpossiblequestionsundereachtopicweresuggestedandconsideredforinclusion.Eachquestionselectedbyapanelmemberwasdiscussedbythewholepanel,alongwithotherquestionsthataddressedsimilarissues.Themostimportantquestiononeachtopicwasagreeduponbythewholepanelandafinalwordingchosen.Insomecasesthepaneldecidedthatanewquestionwasrequired,andthepanelworkedtogethertoproducethewordingsforthesenewquestions.

ResultsandDiscussion

Asplantscienceisabroadanddiversefield,weprovidebriefexplanationsofthebackground,contextandprospectsforaddressingeachquestionwiththeaimofmakingthequestionsaccessibletothebroadestpossibleaudience.Thereisnoidealwaytodividethequestionsintotopicareas.Manyquestionsinevitablyanddesirablyspanmorethanonecategory,andsomeparticularlysubstantialtopicsmeritmultiplequestions.Forthepurposesofthispaper,thepaneldecidedtocategorizethequestionsintofivebroadareasthatreflectthebreadthanddepthofplantresearchdiscussedduringthe2-dworkshop:

Society,Environmentandadaptation,Speciesinteractions,Understandingandutilizingplantcells,andDiversity.

A.Society

Hereweconsidertheoverallsignificanceofplantsandplantsciencetohumansocietyingeneral.Weopenwith10questionsthatthepanelfeltencapsulatedthemostburningsocietalissuesthatshouldbeaddressedbyplantscience,followedbyothersocietalquestionsselectedbythepanel.Morespecificbiologicalquestionsinplantsciencefollowinlatersections.

The10questionsmostimportanttosociety

A1.Howdowefeedourchildren’schildren?

By2050theworldpopulationwillhavereachedc.9billionpeople.Thiswillrepresentatriplingoftheworldpopulationwithintheaveragelifetimeofasinglehumanbeing.Thepopulationisnotonlyexpanding,butalsobecomingmorediscerning,withgreaterdemandsforenergy-intensivefoodssuchasmeatanddairy.Meetingtheseincreasingfooddemandsovertheyearstocomerequiresadoublingoffoodproductionfromexistinglevels.Howarewegoingtoachievethis?

Throughthecultivationoflandcurrentlycoveredinrainforests,throughenhancedproductionfromexistingarablelandorbychangingpeople’shabitstochangefoodconsumptionpatternsandreducefoodwaste?

Therealityisprobablyacombinationofallthree.However,ifwearetoreducetheimpactoffoodproductionontheremainingwildernessareasoftheplanetthenweneedsignificantinvestmentinagriculturalscienceandinnovationtoensuremaximumproductivityonexistingarableland.

A2.Whichcropsmustbegrownandwhichsacrificed,tofeedthebillions?

Themajorityofagriculturallandisusedtocultivatethestaplefoodcropswheat（Triticumaestivum）,maize（Zeamays）andrice（Oryzasativa）,theoil-richcropssoy（Glycinemax）,canola（Brassicanapus）,sunflower（Helianthusspp.）andoilpalm（Elaeisguineensis）andcommoditycropssuchascotton（Gossypiumspp.）,tea（Camelliasinensis）andcoffee（Coffeaspp.）.Astheworldpopulationexpandsandmeatconsumptionincreases,thereisagrowingdemandforstaplesandoil-richcropsforbothhumanneedsandanimalfeed.Withoutsignificantimprovementsinyieldsofthesebasiccropplants,wewillexperienceasqueezeonagriculturalland.Itisthereforeessentialthatweaddresstheyieldgap;thedifferencebetweenfutureyieldrequirementsandyieldsavailablewithcurrenttechnologies,managementandgenepools.Otherwisewemaybeforcedtochoosebetweenproductionofstaplefoodcropstofeedtheworldpopulationandtheproductionofluxurycrops,suchastea,coffee,cocoa（Theobromacacao）,cotton,fruitsandvegetables.

A3.Whenandhowcanwesimultaneouslydeliverincreasedyieldsandreducetheenvironmentalimpactofagriculture?

Thefirstgreenrevolutionofthelate1950sandearly1960sgeneratedunprecedentedgrowthinfoodproduction.However,theseachievementshavecomeatsomecosttotheenvironment,andtheywillnotkeeppacewithfuturegrowthintheworldpopulation.Weneedcreativeandenergeticplantbreedingprogrammesforthemajorcropsworld-wide,withastrongpublicsectorcomponent.Weneedtoexplorealloptionsforbetteragronomicpractice,includingbettersoilmanagementandsmarterintercropping,especiallyinthetropics.Finally,weneedtobeabletodeployexistingmethodsofgeneticmodificationthatreducelossestopests,diseaseandweeds,improvetheefficiencyoffertilizeruseandincreasedroughttolerance.Wealsoneedtodevisemethodstoimprovephotosyntheticefficiency,andmovethecapacityfornitrogenfixationfromlegumestoothercrops.Thesearealldesirableand,withpublicsupport,feasiblegoals.

A4.Whatarethebestwaystocontrolinvasivespeciesincludingplants,pestsandpathogens?

Invasivespeciesareanincreasinglysignificantthreattoourenvironment,economy,healthandwell-being.Mostarenonindigenous（evolvedelsewhereandaccidentallyintroduced）andhavebeenremovedfromtheconstraintsregulatinggrowthintheirnativehabitat.Thebestmethodofcontrolistopreventestablishmentinthefirstplaceortoquicklyidentifyestablishmentandadoptaneradicationprogramme.However,ifaninvasivespeciesbecomesestablishedmanyoftheoptionsforremovalcancauseenvironmentaldamage,forexamplechemicalcontrolormechanicalexcavation.Biologicalcontrol（introductionofanaturalpredator⁄pathogen）canworkwellaslongasthecontrolorganismtargetsonlytheinvasivespecies.Otherwisethereisariskthatthecontrolorganismmightalsobecomeaninvasivespecies.Alternatives,suchasmanipulatingexistingnaturalenemiesand⁄ortheenvironmenttoenhancebiologicalcontrol,arealsobeingdeveloped.Sustainablesolutionsarerequiredifwearetodealwiththecontinuallygrowingproblemofinvasivespecies.

A5.Consideringtwoplantsobtainedforthesametrait,onebygeneticmodificationandonebytraditionalplantbreedingtechniques,aretheredifferencesbetweenthosetwoplantsthatjustifyspecialregulation?

Theproductsoftraditionalplantbreedingaresubjecttonospecialregulations,eventhoughthewildsourcesofgermp