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JillFarrant_2015G-_我们如何让作物在无水状态下存活_
I believe that the secret to producing extremely drought-tolerant crops, which should go some way to providing food security in the world, lies in resurrection plants, pictured here, in an extremely droughted state. 我相信要培育出极耐旱作物, 为世界粮食安全提供一定程度的解决之道, 秘密在于复苏植物, 这张图片显示它们处在严重干旱下的状态。
extremely:adv.非常,极其;极端地; resurrection:n.复活;恢复;复兴;
You might think that these plants look dead, but they're not. 你们可能会认为这些植物看起来已经死了, 但并非如此。
Give them water, and they will resurrect, green up, start growing, in 12 to 48 hours. 给它们水, 它们会在 12 到 48 小时内复苏、变绿、开始成长。
Now, why would I suggest that producing drought-tolerant crops will go towards providing food security? 为什么我会说 培育耐旱作物可以提供粮食安全？
Well, the current world population is around 7 billion. 目前全世界约有 70 亿人口。
And it's estimated that by 2050, we'll be between 9 and 10 billion people, with the bulk of this growth happening in Africa. 据估计到了 2050 年, 我们会有 90 到 100 亿人口, 大部分的增长会在非洲。
estimated:adj.估计的;预计的;估算的; bulk:n.大部分;主体;(大)体积;大(量);v.扩展;增大;堆积起来;形成大块;
The food and agricultural organizations of the world have suggested that we need a 70 percent increase in current agricultural practice to meet that demand. 世界粮食与农業组织提出, 依目前的耕作方式, 我们需要 70% 的成长 以满足此需求。
agricultural:adj.农业的;农艺的; organizations:n.组织,构造,有机体(organization的复数);组织机构;
Given that plants are at the base of the food chain , most of that's going to have to come from plants. 有鉴于植物位于食物链的底层, 此增长必须由植物提供。
food chain:n.食物链;
That percentage of 70 percent does not take into consideration the potential effects of climate change. 70 % 这样的百分比数字, 还没有考虑到气候变迁的潜在影响。
percentage:n.百分比;百分率;利润的分成;提成; consideration:n.顾及;报酬;斟酌;仔细考虑; potential:n.潜能;可能性;[电]电势;adj.潜在的;可能的;势的;
This is taken from a study by Dai published in 2011, where he took into consideration all the potential effects of climate change and expressed them -- amongst other things -- increased aridity due to lack of rain or infrequent rain. 这是截自戴研究员于 2011 年出版的研究报告, 他考虑到 所有气候变迁的潜在影响, 并陈述,除了其它影响, 因为缺雨或不常下雨,干旱情况会加重。
expressed:v.表示;表达;显而易见;不言自明;(express的过去分词和过去式) amongst:prep.在…之中;在…当中(等于among); infrequent:adj.罕见的;稀少的;珍贵的;不频发的;
The areas in red shown here, are areas that until recently have been very successfully used for agriculture, but cannot anymore because of lack of rainfall . 这里看到的红色区域 是直到最近 都很成功的农業用地, 但无法再使用,因为降雨不足。
recently:adv.最近;新近; rainfall:n.降雨;降雨量;
This is the situation that's predicted to happen in 2050. 图上这种情况预计将于 2050 年发生。
predicted:v.预言;预告;预报;(predict的过去分词和过去式)
Much of Africa, in fact, much of the world, is going to be in trouble. 非洲大部分地区,事实上全球大部分区域, 都会有麻烦。
We're going to have to think of some very smart ways of producing food. 我们不得不想一些非常高明的方式来生产粮食。
And preferably among them, some drought-tolerant crops. 最好是选耐旱作物。
preferably:adv.较好;宁可,宁愿;更适宜;
The other thing to remember about Africa is that most of their agriculture is rainfed. 非洲有另一件事要记得, 绝大部分的农業都是看天田（雨养农業）。
Now, making drought-tolerant crops is not the easiest thing in the world. 在这个世界培育耐旱作物并不容易。
And the reason for this is water. 原因是水。
Water is essential to life on this planet. 水是地球生命的要素。
essential:n.要点;要素;实质;必需品;adj.完全必要的;必不可少的;极其重要的;本质的;
All living, actively metabolizing organisms , from microbes to you and I, are comprised predominately of water. 所有活着、还在代谢的生物, 举凡微生物或你我, 主要都由水组成。
metabolizing:vt.使新陈代谢;使变形;vi.新陈代谢; organisms:n.[生物]生物体(organism的复数);[生物]有机体; microbes:n.细菌,[微]微生物;微生物类(microbe的复数形式); comprised:v.包含(comprise的过去分词);由…组成; predominately:adv.占优势地;有影响力地;更大量地;占绝大多数地;
All life reactions happen in water. 所有的生命反应都在水中发生。
reactions:n.反应;回应;抗拒;生理反应;副作用(reaction的复数)
And loss of a small amount of water results in death. 失去一小部分的水就会导致死亡。
You and I are 65 percent water -- we lose one percent of that, we die. 你和我有 65％ 是水, 只要失去 1% 的水就会死亡。
But we can make behavioral changes to avoid that. 但是我们能改变行为以避免这种情况。
behavioral:adj.行为的;
Plants can't. 植物不能。
They're stuck in the ground. 它们牢牢钉在地上。
And so in the first instance they have a little bit more water than us, about 95 percent water, and they can lose a little bit more than us, like 10 to about 70 percent, depending on the species , but for short periods only. 所以首先它们比我们多含一点水, 大约 95% 都是水, 可以比我们多失去一点水分, 从 10% 到约 70% 都可以,端看是哪种植物, 但是只能短暂失水。
instance:n.实例;情况;建议;v.举...为例; species:n.[生物]物种;种类;
Most of them will either try to resist or avoid water loss. 大部分植物都会想办法抗拒或避免失水。
resist:v.抵制;阻挡;反抗;回击;抵抗;忍住;n.防染剂;防蚀用涂料;防腐剂;
So extreme examples of resistors can be found in succulents . 植物抗拒失水最极端的例子就是多肉植物。
resistors:n.[电]电阻器,电阻(resistor的复数形式); succulents:n.[植]肉质植物(succulent的复数);
They tend to be small, very attractive , but they hold onto their water at such great cost that they grow extremely slowly. 它们通常很小、很漂亮, 但是它们为了保住水分,付出了极大的代价, 就是长得奇慢无比。
attractive:adj.吸引人的;有魅力的;引人注目的; hold onto:抓紧
Examples of avoidance of water loss are found in trees and shrubs . 可以在树木或灌木中找到避免失水的例子。
avoidance:n.逃避;废止;职位空缺; shrubs:n.[林]灌木;权木;矮树丛(shrub的复数);
They send down very deep roots, mine subterranean water supplies and just keep flushing it through them at all times, keeping themselves hydrated . 它们札下深根 , 布下地网寻找水源, 随时补注自己, 保持含水状态。
send down:把…向下发送;使下降(价格等);开除; subterranean:adj.地下的;秘密的;隐蔽的;n.地下工作者; flushing:n.洗涤;抽水冲洗;出渣;洒水;v.发红;脸红;冲洗干净;(flush的现在分词) hydrated:adj.含水的;v.与水化合;成水合物(hydrate的过去分词形式);
The one on the right is called a baobab . 右边这种树叫波巴布树（猢狲树）。
baobab:n.猴面包树(非洲产的一种巨树);
It's also called the upside-down tree, simply because the proportion of roots to shoots is so great that it looks like the tree has been planted upside down . 又称为倒栽树, 就是因为根与茎的比例差别如此之大, 看起来很像倒着种的树。
upside-down:adj.颠倒的;乱七八糟的; proportion:n.比例;部分;份额;均衡;v.摊派;使相称; upside down:adj.颠倒的;乱七八糟的;
And of course the roots are required for hydration of that plant. 当然它的根部必需让整棵树含水。
hydration:n.[化学]水合作用;
And probably the most common strategy of avoidance is found in annuals . 大概最常见的避免失水策略可在一年生植物中看到。
strategy:n.策略;行动计划;部署;战略; annuals:n.[植]一年生植物;
Annuals make up the bulk of our plant food supplies. 一年生植物占粮食供给的一大部分。
Up the west coast of my country, for much of the year you don't see much vegetation growth. 我国西海岸, 一年大部分的时间都看不到什么植物生长。
west coast:n.美国西海岸(尤指加利福尼亚州); vegetation:n.植被;植物,草木;呆板单调的生活;
But come the spring rains, you get this: flowering of the desert. 但是春天一下雨,你就看到这个: 开花的沙漠。
The strategy in annuals, is to grow only in the rainy season. 一年生植物的策略, 是只在雨季成长。
At the end of that season they produce a seed, which is dry, eight to 10 percent water, but very much alive. 到了季末它们会结种子, 种子是干的,8% 到 10% 的水, 但是的确是活的。
And anything that is that dry and still alive, we call desiccation-tolerant. 那么干却还活着的东西, 我们就称为耐旱。
In the desiccated state, what seeds can do is lie in extremes of environment for prolonged periods of time. 在干燥状态时, 种子能做的就是静躺在极端环境下 很长一段时间。
desiccated:adj.干的(等于desiccate);粉状的;v.使干燥(desiccate的过去式);变干; extremes:n.极端不同的感情;极端;极度;极限;(extreme的复数) prolonged:adj.长期的;持久的;v.延长(prolong的过去分词和过去式);
The next time the rainy season comes, they germinate and grow, and the whole cycle just starts again. 下次雨季来时, 就发芽成长, 生命周期周而复始。
germinate:vt.使发芽;使生长;vi.发芽;生长;
It's widely believed that the evolution of desiccation-tolerant seeds allowed the colonization and the radiation of flowering plants, or angiosperms , onto land. 大家普遍认为种子的耐旱性演化 可以使开花植物 或被子植物,能在陆地上拓殖、辐射。
evolution:n.演变;进化;发展;渐进; colonization:n.殖民;殖民地化; radiation:n.辐射;放射线;放射疗法; angiosperms:n.[植]被子植物(angiosperm的复数);
But back to annuals as our major form of food supplies. 再来谈一年生植物如何成为最主要的粮食来源。
Wheat, rice and maize form 95 percent of our plant food supplies. 小麦、稻米及玉米占植物粮食供应量的 95%。
maize:adj.黄色的,玉米色的;n.玉米;黄色,玉米色;
And it's been a great strategy because in a short space of time you can produce a lot of seed. 这是很好的策略, 因为你可以在短时间内生产大量的种子。
Seeds are energy-rich so there's a lot of food calories , you can store it in times of plenty for times of famine , but there's a downside . 种子富含能量,所以能提供很多卡路里, 你可以储粮以备饥荒, 但是有个缺点。
energy-rich:高能的; calories:n.[物]卡路里(热量单位,calorie的复数); famine:n.饥荒; downside:n.下降趋势;底侧;adj.底侧的;
The vegetative tissues , the roots and leaves of annuals, do not have much by way of inherent resistance , avoidance or tolerance characteristics . 一年生植物的营养组织, 根部及叶片, 没有太多 抗受性、回避性或耐受性的遗传特质。
vegetative:adj.植物的;植物人状态的,无所作为的;促使植物生长的;有生长力的; tissues:n.纸巾,手巾纸;(人、动植物细胞的)组织;(tissue的复数) by way of:经由;当作; inherent:adj.固有的;内在的;与生俱来的,遗传的; resistance:n.电阻;抵抗;阻力;抗力; tolerance:n.公差;耐量;宽容;容忍; characteristics:n.特征;特点;品质;(characteristic的复数)
They just don't need them. 它们不需要这些特质。
They grow in the rainy season and they've got a seed to help them survive the rest of the year. 它们在雨季生长, 然后结种子以幫助它们撑过一年其余的日子。
And so despite concerted efforts in agriculture to make crops with improved properties of resistance, avoidance and tolerance -- particularly resistance and avoidance 所以尽管在农業界大家一致努力 要改良作物的 抗受性、回避性及耐受性, 尤其是抗受性及回避性,
despite:prep.尽管,不管;n.轻视;憎恨;侮辱; improved:adj.改良的:v.改进:改善(improve的过去分词和过去式) particularly:adv.特别地,独特地;详细地,具体地;明确地,细致地;
because we've had good models to understand how those work -- we still get images like this. 因为我们有很好的范本瞭解这些如何作用, 我们仍然得到像图上这样的结果。
images:n.印象;声誉;形象;画像;雕像;(image的第三人称单数和复数)
Maize crop in Africa, two weeks without rain and it's dead. 非洲的玉米田 在两星期无雨的情况下, 死亡殆尽。
There is a solution : resurrection plants. 我们有一个解决方案: 复苏植物。
solution:n.解决方案;溶液;溶解;解答;
These plants can lose 95 percent of their cellular water, remain in a dry, dead-like state for months to years, and give them water, they green up and start growing again. 这种植物可以失去细胞内 95% 的水分, 维持在干燥、近似死亡状态下数月到数年, 然后给它们水分, 它们就会变绿,又开始成长。
cellular:adj.细胞的;多孔的;由细胞组成的;n.移动电话;单元;
Like seeds, these are desiccation-tolerant. 这些就像种子一样可以耐旱。
Like seeds, these can withstand extremes of environmental conditions. 这些就像种子一样可以禁得起极端环境条件。
withstand:vt.抵挡;禁得起;反抗;vi.反抗;
And this is a really rare phenomenon . 这是非常罕见的现象。
phenomenon:n.现象;杰出的人;非凡的人(或事物);
There are only 135 flowering plant species that can do this. 只有 135 种开花植物可以做到这点。
I'm going to show you a video of the resurrection process of these three species in that order. 我要给大家看一段影片, 是这三种植物的复苏过程, 按图片上的顺序播放。
process:v.处理;加工;列队行进;n.过程,进行;方法,adj.经过特殊加工(或处理)的;
And at the bottom, there's a time axis so you can see how quickly it happens. 影片下方有时间轴, 大家可以看到过程有多快。
axis:n.轴;轴线;轴心国;
(Applause) （掌声）
Pretty amazing, huh? 很惊人吧？
So I've spent the last 21 years trying to understand how they do this. 我过去 21 年都在试着瞭解它们如何办到这一点。
How do these plants dry without dying? 这些植物如何能干枯却不死亡？
And I work on a variety of different resurrection plants, shown here in the hydrated and dry states, for a number of reasons. 我研究很多种不同的复苏植物, 这里看到的是含水及干燥状态, 有几个原因。
variety:n.多样;种类;杂耍;变化,多样化;
One of them is that each of these plants serves as a model for a crop that I'd like to make drought-tolerant. 其中一个是这里的每种植物都充作研究范本, 以研究我想培育的耐旱作物。
So on the extreme top left, for example, is a grass, it's called Eragrostis nindensis, it's got a close relative called Eragrostis tef -- a lot of you might know it as " teff " -- it's a staple food in Ethiopia , it's gluten-free , and it's something we would like to make drought-tolerant. 举个例子,左上方是一种草, 画眉草属植物, 它有个近亲叫衣索比亚画眉草, 很多人叫它苔麸, 这是衣索比亚国民食物, 无麸质, 我们想让它耐旱。
relative:adj.相对的;有关系的;成比例的;n.亲戚;相关物;[语]关系词;亲缘植物; teff:n.埃塞俄比亚画眉草(非洲产的粮食作物); staple:n.主要产品; adj.主要的,常用的; v.把…分级; Ethiopia:n.埃塞俄比亚; gluten-free:无谷胶;无谷蛋白;
The other reason for looking at a number of plants, is that, at least initially , 另一个原因要看各种植物, 就是,至少起初是这样,
initially:adv.最初,首先;开头;
I wanted to find out: do they do the same thing? 我想知道:是不是每种植物都有同样的反应？
Do they all use the same mechanisms to be able to lose all that water and not die? 是不是都用同一种机制 让自己失水却不至于死？
mechanisms:n.机制;[机]机构(mechanism的复数);机械;[机]机构学;
So I undertook what we call a systems biology approach in order to get a comprehensive understanding of desiccation tolerance, in which we look at everything from the molecular to the whole plant, ecophysiological level. 所以我着手用我们称为系统生物学的方法, 以期对耐旱性能有完整的瞭解, 我们看所有的东西, 从分子到全株、生理生态学阶层都看。
undertook:v.承担(undertake的过去式);着手做; biology:n.(一个地区全部的)生物;生物学; approach:n.方法;路径;v.接近;建议;着手处理; comprehensive:adj.综合的;广泛的;有理解力的;n.综合学校;专业综合测验; desiccation:n.干燥; molecular:adj.[化学]分子的;由分子组成的;
For example we look at things like changes in the plant anatomy as they dried out and their ultrastructure. 举个例子,我们会看像是 植物在变干的过程中,在解剖学上经历的变化 及其超微结构。
anatomy:n.解剖;解剖学;剖析;解析;
We look at the transcriptome, which is just a term for a technology in which we look at the genes that are switched on or off, in response to drying. 我们会看转录组,这只是一个技术名词, 基本上就是要看哪些基因 在因应干燥过程中会被开启或关闭。
technology:n.技术;工艺;术语; genes:n.基因;(gene的复数) switched on:开着(开关)的; in response to:响应;回答;对…有反应;
Most genes will code for proteins , so we look at the proteome. 大部分的基因都制造蛋白质,所以我们也看蛋白质组。
proteins:n.[生化]蛋白质(protein复数);
What are the proteins made in response to drying? 为了因应干燥,会制造出哪些蛋白质？
Some proteins would code for enzymes which make metabolites , so we look at the metabolome. 有些蛋白质是为了合成酵素,产生代谢物, 所以我们也看代谢物组。
enzymes:n.[生化]酶(enzyme的复数);酶类,酵素; metabolites:n.[生化]代谢物;代谢分子(metabolite的复数形式);
Now, this is important because plants are stuck in the ground. 这很重要,因为植物牢牢钉在地上。
They use what I call a highly tuned chemical arsenal to protect themselves from all the stresses of their environment. 它们用我称为非常精准的化学兵工厂 来保护自己不受环境逆境影响。
highly:adv.高度地;非常;非常赞许地; tuned:v.(为乐器)调音,校音;调整,调节(发动机);调频道(tune的过去分词和过去式) chemical:n.化学制品,化学药品;adj.化学的; arsenal:n.兵工厂;军械库;
So it's important that we look at the chemical changes involved in drying. 所以去看死亡过程的化学变化就很重要。
involved:adj.有关的; v.涉及; (involve的过去式和过去分词)
And at the last study that we do at the molecular level, we look at the lipidome -- the lipid changes in response to drying. 我们最近的研究在看分子层次, 我们看的是脂类组, 脂质如何变化以因应死亡。
lipid:n.[生化]脂质;油脂;
And that's also important because all biological membranes are made of lipids . 这也很重要, 因为所有的生物膜都由脂质组成。
biological:adj.生物学的;生物的;与生命过程有关的;加酶的;n.[药]生物制品; membranes:n.细胞膜(membrane的复数);薄膜;膜皮; lipids:n.脂肪,油脂;[生化]脂类(lipid的复数);
They're held as membranes because they're in water. 它们能形成薄膜是因为在水中。
Take away the water, those membranes fall apart . 把水拿掉,薄膜就会解体。
fall apart:崩溃;土崩瓦解;破碎;
Lipids also act as signals to turn on genes. 脂质还作为打开基因的信号。
Then we use physiological and biochemical studies to try and understand the function of the putative protectants that we've actually discovered in our other studies. 然后我们用生理及生化研究 试着瞭解我们假设的保护因子的功用, 这些因子是我们在其它研究中发现的。
physiological:adj.生理学的,生理的; biochemical:adj.生物化学的; putative:adj.推定的,假定的; protectants:n.杀虫撒布剂;(protectants是protectant的复数);
And then use all of that to try and understand how the plant copes with its natural environment. 然后用所有研究结果去试着瞭解 植物如何适应自然环境。
copes:v.应对;处理(cope的第三人称单数形式);
I've always had the philosophy that I needed a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms of desiccation tolerance in order to make a meaningful suggestion for a biotic application . 我一直有套哲理,就是我必须 对耐旱性机制有全盘瞭解, 才能对其生物应用提出有意义的建议。
philosophy:n.哲学;哲理;人生观; meaningful:adj.严肃的;重要的;重大的;意味深长的; biotic:adj.生物的;有关生命的; application:n.应用;申请;应用程序;敷用;
I'm sure some of you are thinking, "By biotic application, does she mean she's going to make genetically modified crops?" 我很确信有些人正在想: 「生物应用？ 她是说她要培育基改作物？」
genetically modified:adj.(植物等)遗传修饰的;
And the answer to that question is: depends on your definition of genetic modification . 这个问题的答案是: 要看你怎么定义基改。
definition:n.定义;清晰度;(尤指词典里的词或短语的)释义;解释; modification:n.修改;改进;改变;
All of the crops that we eat today, wheat, rice and maize, are highly genetically modified from their ancestors, but we don't consider them GM because they're being produced by conventional breeding . 我们今天吃的作物,小麦、稻米、玉米, 其基因都已改造成与原来的老祖宗大不相同, 但是我们不认为这些是基改, 因为这些是传统育种的产物,
conventional:adj.符合习俗的,传统的;常见的;惯例的; breeding:n.繁殖;饲养;教养;再生;v.生产;培育;使…繁殖;(breed的现在分词)
If you mean, am I going to put resurrection plant genes into crops, your answer is yes. 如果你问,我是否要把复苏作物的基因放进作物中, 答案是没错。
In the essence of time, we have tried that approach. 时间就是成败的关键,我们已经试过这种方法。
essence:n.本质;实质;精髓;香精;
More appropriately , some of my collaborators at UCT, 更正确的说法是我在开普敦大学的合作伙伴,
appropriately:adj.适当地;合适地;相称地; collaborators:n.[劳经]合作者;投敌者(collaborator的复数);
Jennifer Thomson, Suhail Rafudeen, have spearheaded that approach and I'm going to show you some data soon. 汤姆森和拉弗丁博士, 已经带头做这种方法, 我等一下就会给大家看一些数据。
spearheaded:v.做…的先锋;带头做;领先突击;(spearhead的过去分词和过去式)
But we're about to embark upon an extremely ambitious approach, in which we aim to turn on whole suites of genes that are already present in every crop. 但是我们即将用一项非常有野心的方法, 我们的目标是打开一系列基因, 它们本来就存在于每种作物内。
embark:vi.从事,着手;上船或飞机;vt.使从事;使上船; ambitious:adj.野心勃勃的;有雄心的;热望的;炫耀的; suites:n.套房;组曲;餐厅套件;[计]程序组(suite的复数);
They're just never turned on under extreme drought conditions. 只是在非常干旱的情况下这些基因从未被打开过。
drought:n.干旱;缺乏;
I leave it up to you to decide whether those should be called GM or not. 我让大家自己判断 这该不该称为基改。
I'm going to now just give you some of the data from that first approach. 我现在就给大家看一下第一次做的数据。
And in order to do that 为了让大家明白,
I have to explain a little bit about how genes work. 我必须解释一下基因如何运作。
So you probably all know that genes are made of double-stranded DNA. 你们大概都知道 基因由双股 DNA 组成。
double-stranded:双链的;
It's wound very tightly into chromosomes that are present in every cell of your body or in a plant's body. DNA 紧密缠绕成染色体, 存在于你或植物体内的每一个细胞中。
wound:n.创伤,伤口;v.使受伤;受伤,伤害; tightly:adv.紧紧地;坚固地; chromosomes:n.[遗][细胞][染料]染色体(chromosome的复数形式);
If you unwind that DNA, you get genes. 如果你把 DNA 解开,就得到基因。
unwind:vt.放松;解开;[计]展开;vi.放松;解开;松开;
And each gene has a promoter , which is just an on-off switch, the gene coding region , and then a terminator , which indicates that this is the end of this gene, the next gene will start. 每个基因都有一个启动子, 就像开关一样, 还有基因编码区, 及一个终止子, 表示这是该基因的终点,下一个基因要开始。
promoter:n.促进者;发起人;催化剂;促进剂;启动子; on-off:adj.开关的;n.开关; coding:n.译码;v.把…编码;(code的现在分词) region:n.地区;范围;部位; terminator:n.终结者;终止子;明暗界限; indicates:v.表明指示,显示;(indicate的第三人称单数)
Now, promoters are not simple on-off switches. 启动子不像开关那么简单。
promoters:n.促进者;推广员;推销商;激活子(promoter的复数形式);
They normally require a lot of fine-tuning , lots of things to be present and correct before that gene is switched on. 它们通常需要很多微调, 很多条件必须存在且正确,基因才会打开。
normally:adv.正常地;通常地,一般地; fine-tuning:n.微调;细调;v.调整(fine-tune的ing形式);
So what's typically done in biotech studies is that we use an inducible promoter, we know how to switch it on. 所以做生技研究时, 我们通常使用可诱导型启动子, 我们知道如何开启它。
typically:adv.代表性地;作为特色地; biotech:abbr.生物技术;生物科技(biotechnology);
We couple that to genes of interest and put that into a plant and see how the plant responds . 我们将其与要研究的基因配对 并放入植物中,看该植物如何反应。
responds:v.(口头或书面)回答,回应;作出反应;响应;(respond的第三人称单数)
In the study that I'm going to talk to you about, my collaborators used a drought-induced promoter, which we discovered in a resurrection plant. 在我要跟大家谈的这个研究中, 我的合作伙伴用一种由干旱诱发的启动子, 我们在复苏植物中发现。
The nice thing about this promoter is that we do nothing. 这个启动子的好处是我们不用管它。
The plant itself senses drought. 植物本身会感觉到干旱。
And we've used it to drive antioxidant genes from resurrection plants. 我们用这个启动子驱动复苏植物内的抗氧化基因。
antioxidant:n.[助剂]抗氧化剂;硬化防止剂;[助剂]防老化剂;
Why antioxidant genes? 为什么是抗氧化基因？
Well, all stresses, particularly drought stress, results in the formation of free radicals , or reactive oxygen species, which are highly damaging and can cause crop death. 因为所有的逆境,尤其是干旱, 都会产生自由基, 或活性氧类, 它们的破坏性极强,且会导致作物死亡。
formation:n.形成;编队;组成;队形; radicals:n.自由基;激进分子;[数]根基(radical的复数); reactive:adj.反应的;电抗的;反动的;
What antioxidants do is stop that damage. 抗氧化基因会停止该破坏。
antioxidants:n.[助剂]抗氧化剂;抗氧化物(antioxidant的复数形式);
So here's some data from a maize strain that's very popularly used in Africa. 现在看到的是某种玉米品系的数据,这在非洲极常使用。
strain:n.压力;品系;应力;张力;v.扭伤;拉紧;滤;损伤; popularly:adv.流行地;通俗地;普及地;大众地;
To the left of the arrow are plants without the genes, to the right -- plants with the antioxidant genes. 箭头左边的是没有该基因的植株, 右边的 植株有抗氧化基因。
After three weeks without watering, the ones with the genes do a hell of a lot better. 三星期不浇水后, 有该基因的植株表现好的不得了。
Now to the final approach. 最后一点。
My research has shown that there's considerable similarity in the mechanisms of desiccation tolerance in seeds and resurrection plants. 我的研究显示 种子与复苏植物耐旱性的机制相当相似。
considerable:adj.相当大的;重要的,值得考虑的; similarity:n.类似;相似点;
So I ask the question, are they using the same genes? 所以我问这个问题, 这两者都用同样的基因吗？
Or slightly differently phrased, are resurrection plants using genes evolved in seed desiccation tolerance in their roots and leaves? 或用略为不同的问法, 复苏植物会利用种子的耐旱性基因 在根部与植物上吗？
slightly:adv.些微地,轻微地;纤细地; evolved:v.(使)逐渐形成;进化;进化形成;(evolve的过去分词和过去式)
Have they retasked these seed genes in roots and leaves of resurrection plants? 它们会把这些种子基因的任务 在根部及叶片上利用吗？
And I answer that question, as a consequence of a lot of research from my group and recent collaborations from a group of Henk Hilhorst in the Netherlands, 我的答案是, 从我的研究小组, 及最近一起合作,位于荷兰的希和教授,
consequence:n.结果;重要性;推论; collaborations:n.协作(collaboration的复数);
Mel Oliver in the United States and Julia Buitink in France. 美国的奥利佛 法国的茱莉亚等所得的结果,
United:adj.联合的; v.联合,团结; (unite的过去分词和过去式)
The answer is yes, that there is a core set of genes that are involved in both. 我的答案是有, 的确有一组关键基因与两者都有关。
core:n.核心;要点;果心;[计]磁心;vt.挖...的核;
And I'm going to illustrate this very crudely for maize, where the chromosomes below the off switch represent all the genes that are required for desiccation tolerance. 我用这张图跟大家粗略说一下玉米的情况, 开关之下的染色体 代表耐旱基因。
illustrate:v.解释;加插图于;给(书等)做图表;表明…真实; crudely:adv.粗糙地;天然地;粗鲁地;不成熟地; represent:v.代表;表现;描绘;回忆;再赠送;
So as maize seeds dried out at the end of their period of development, they switch these genes on. 玉米在种子发育最后阶段要干掉时, 就会打开这些基因。
Resurrection plants switch on the same genes when they dry out. 复苏植物在干掉时也会打开同样的基因。
switch on:n.接通;
All modern crops, therefore, have these genes in their roots and leaves, they just never switch them on. 因此,所有现代作物 根部及叶片内都有这种基因, 只是从来不打开。
They only switch them on in seed tissues. 它们仅打开种子组织内的这种基因。
So what we're trying to do right now is to understand the environmental and cellular signals that switch on these genes in resurrection plants, to mimic the process in crops. 所以我们现在正在 瞭解环境与细胞信号 如何打开复苏植物内的这些基因, 并在作物中模拟此过程。
mimic:vt.模仿,摹拟;n.效颦者,模仿者;仿制品;小丑;adj.模仿的,模拟的;假装的;
And just a final thought. 最后一点想法。
What we're trying to do very rapidly is to repeat what nature did in the evolution of resurrection plants some 10 to 40 million years ago. 我们现在做的就是, 很快速地重现一千到四千万年前 大自然复苏植物演化的过程。
My plants and I thank you for your attention. 我的植物和我都感谢大家的关注。
(Applause) （掌声）