Episode 6 – Just a Huge Distraction

In this episode, Kevin talks with Pamela Ronald, professor of plant pathology at the University of California, Davis. Almost 20 years ago, Ronald discovered Xa21, a plant pattern recognition receptor that guards against bacterial infection. This receptor shares many features with Toll-like receptors, and the role of Xa21 was shown a year before TLRs were implicated in immunity.

We also talk about recent work from Ronald’s lab, in which bananas, a staple crop for millions of people in Africa, are genetically engineered to express Xa21 in order to protect them from a devastating bacterial infection.

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Links:

• The paper: Transgenic expression of the rice Xa21 pattern-recognition receptor in banana (Musa sp.) confers resistance to Xanthomonas campestris pv. musacearum.

• Pamela Ronald’s home on the internet

• Food Matters Blog

• One of Kevin’s Screeds about GMO’s (there are many more - just ask!)