The researcher Pablo Bolaños-Villegas is working to develop plants that are more tolerant to drought.
/ University of Costa Rica courtesy photo.



-Published:Friday, October 25, 2019-


Researchers on track of a better papaya


By the A.M. Costa Rica staff


Who says papaya can't be sexy?

Don't tell that to a University of Costa Rica trio who have been immersed in the reproductive details of the tropical fruit with the goal of improving yield, drought tolerance and disease resistance.

The result so far is chronicled in a chapter in a scientific book that has just been published. The chapter is “Analysis of Meiosis in Nonmodel Tropical Plants: The Case of Carica papaya Linn,” and it may be found in the Springer Scientific book Plant Meiosis: Methods and Protocols.

In the case of papaya, meiosis is how the plant produces pollen, and the researchers have established a way that those involved in plant breeding can determine the quality of the pollen they are about to use.

The University of Costa Rica reported the publication Thursday. The researchers are Pablo Bolaños-Villegas, José Mora-Calderón and Kalani Scott-Moraga. All were working at the University of Costa Rica's Laboratory of Cell and Molecular Biology at the Fabio Baudrit Agricultural Research Station in Alajuela.

Bolaños, a University of Costa Rica graduate, is the principal researcher. He obtained his doctorate at the University of Hsinchu in Taiwan.

Compared to other fruits, payapa or lechosa, as it sometimes is called in Spanish, is not the most impressive. It is known in English as a pawpaw. In addition to rounding out a breakfast fruit plate, the papaya produces an  enzyme called papain, which can be used to tenderize meat.

This is a fruit of economic importance.



As the authors said in explaining their chapter they are working to develop plants that are more tolerant to drought, withstand marginal soil fertility, resist diseases and satisfy demands for high yield. New cultivars of the tropical fruit papaya are needed, but in many cases, these traits are available in only wild relatives found throughout Latin America, so understanding the process of fertilization may help plant breeders insert desirable traits into commercial strains, they said.

Their technique is a  practical and simple method to isolate pollen to study the behavior of their genetic components as crosses are made among varieties, they said.

The university said that the research was ground breaking.




 

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What other fruit should the scientists study for improving it quality? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com





















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