Aplikasi Teknik Rekayasa Genetik dalam Perbaikan Sumber Daya Genetik Tanaman untuk Ketahanan Cekaman Biotik

Abstract

<p>The main constraint encountered in the<br />utilization of plant genetic resources (PGR) in agriculture are<br />biotic stresses such as insect pests, plant diseases, and plant<br />parasitic nematodes. The application of genetic engineering<br />techniques create a great opportunity for crops improvements<br />particularly for insect and plant diseases resistance. Through<br />genetic engineering, genetically engineered (GE) crops have<br />been developed, of which having the new traits such as resistance<br />to insect pests, plant diseases, and herbicide tolerance.<br />GE crops are already widely grown and marketed in many<br />countries. Globally, GE crops that are commercialized consists<br />of four categories of traits, which are insect resistance (IR),<br />herbicide tolerance, (HT), the combined traits of IR and HT<br />(stacked genes), and virus resistance. Initially, GE crops had<br />been commercialized globally covering 1.7 million ha in 1996,<br />and the cropping area increased rapidly to reach about 134<br />million ha in 2009. Indonesia is known as a country rich in<br />PGR, that have very high value. One of environmentally<br />friendly technologies that can be applied in the utilization of<br />PGR in Indonesia, is genetic engineering. In Indonesia,<br />research on plant genetic engineering had started since 1997.<br />Commodities that are being researched to develop GE plants<br />limited on rice, potatoes and tomatoes. GE rice resistant to<br />stem borer (Scirpophaga incertulas), GE potato resistant to<br />late blight (Phytophthora infestans), and GE tomato resistant<br />to tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) and cucumber<br />mosaic virus (CMV) have been successfully developed by<br />Research Center for Biotechnology of Indonesian Institute of<br />Science and Indonesian Center for Agricultural Biotechnology<br />and Genetic Resources Research and Development<br />(ICABIOGRAD). Those GE crops have been tested for their<br />resistance at the screenhouses, green houses of the biosafety<br />containment, and confined field trial.</p>