Science Behind Clearfield Lentils

VANCOUVER - Jan 21/04 - STAT -- The technology behind the development of the Clearfield lentils which are expected to be approved for use by the Canadian government this year dates back to 1922 and efforts by scientists to force the DNA in seeds to mutate in unexpected ways.

However, the first commercial applications of the technique did not appear until the 1950s. Researchers appeared to originally place more emphasis on using radioactive materials -- neutrons, gamma rays, or X-rays -- to force the DNA within seeds to mutate in unexpected ways. Now, chemical agents seem to be more often used. The technique is called mutagenesis.

In the case of the Clearfield lentil, seed from unspecified lentil varieties were exposed to a chemical which triggered unexpected mutations within the seed. Researchers were searching for mutations would result in a plant which is resistant to the imidazolinone family of herbicides. The herbicides used for this project are manufactured by BASF.

In simple terms, the seeds are then grown. They are sprayed to see if any mutated to become resistant to the target herbicide. The survivors are then crossed with a commercial lentil variety. The seed was planted and the plants again tested for herbicide resistance. The process continued until the breeders had a seed which was commercially acceptable and which was resistant to the herbicide.

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