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New crops needed for new climate
Global food security in a changing climate depends on the
nutritional value and yield of staple food crops. Researchers at Monash
University in Victoria |
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| Australia
have found an increase in toxic compounds, a decrease in protein content
and a decreased yield in plants grown under high CO2 and
drought conditions.
The research, to be presented by Dr Ros Gleadow on 29
June 2009 at the Society for Experimental Biology Annual Meeting in
Glasgow, has shown that the concentration of cyanogenic glycosides,
which break down to release toxic hydrogen cyanide, increased in plants
in elevated CO2. This was compounded by the fact that protein
content decreased, making the plants overall more toxic as the ability
of herbivores to break down cyanide depends largely on the ingestion of
sufficient quantities of protein.
Data have also shown that cassava, a staple food crop
in tropical and subtropical regions due to its tolerance of arid
conditions, may experience yield reductions in high CO2.
Combined with an increase in cyanogenic glycosides, this has major
implications for the types of crops that can be grown in the future if
CO2 levels continue to rise: "We need to be preparing for the
predicted reduction in nutritional value of many plants in the coming
century by developing and growing different cultivars which, for cassava
in particular, may not be easy' says Dr Gleadow.
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