What is plant biotechnology and its importance
What is meant by plant biotechnology?
Plant biotechnology is defined as:
- “Application of science and technology to plants, their parts, products and models, in order to alter living or inert materials for the development of knowledge, goods and services” (OECD)
- “Technologies based on plant biotechnology” (BIOVEGEN)
What applications does plant biotechnology have?
- Improvement of varieties based on characters of agronomic interest:
- Productivity (resistance to biotic stress: pests, viruses, pathogens; tolerance to abiotic stress: drought, salinity..., tolerance to herbicides. Plant-soil interaction, nutrient absorption, improved metabolism, etc.)
- Nutritional improvement: vitamin enrichment, better taste, nutraceutical foods.
- Post-harvest physiology (delay in fruit ripening)
- Food processing, IV range
- Improvement of ornamentals: structure, size, color, smell, absence of fruit...
- Phytoremediation: removal of contaminants
- Biofuels: bioenergy crops (1st, 2nd, 3rd generation)
- Biofactories: biopolymers, therapeutic proteins, biodegradable plastics, etc.
- Exploitation of natural diversity and protection of biodiversity
Productivity, quality, sustainability, new applications
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