|
|
Article: HOW TO KEEP TOMATOES TUMOR-FREE TRANSGENIC STRATEGY FITS PLANTS WITH SELF- DEFENSE ARMS AGAINST CROWN GALL BOTANICAL NEOPLASM.(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- BIOWORLD Today
- Article date:
- October 31, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 A Thomson Healthcare Company. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Mammals aren't the only forms of life on earth that contract cancer. Plants, too, can acquire botanical tumors, called crown galls.
"Crown gall," observed plant molecular biologist Abhaya Dandekar, "is an important disease that affects a lot of woody plants - ornamentals, fruit trees, nut trees, that kind of thing. A big round burl at the base of trees, crown gall wood is prized to make veneer or smokers' pipes. When a crown gall grows on these plants, they go into a decline, and are no longer productive. This causes a tremendous amount of economic damage to perennial crops worldwide."
Dandekar, a professor of pomology (fruit culture) at the ...