VOA慢速英语2012 Agriculture Report - Tomato's Genetic Secrets Are Peeled Away

 

Agriculture Report - Tomato's Genetic¹ Secrets Are Peeled Away

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Scientists have made a genetic map of the tomato. Tomatoes are second only to potatoes as the world's most valuable vegetable crop. Eight years of work went into making the map, or genome. Three hundred scientists around the world took part in the project to sequence the tomato's DNA² code. Giovanni Giuliano, a researcher in Italy, is part of the Tomato Genome Consortium.

GIOVANNI GIULIANO: "We started as ten countries and we now are fourteen."

Mr. Giuliano says having the tomato's genetic map will help growers who are always trying to produce a better tomato.

GIOVANNI GIULIANO: "And of course, this will be facilitated now by the fact that we now know not only what genes³ are there, but their order."

Researchers published the genome of a tomato used by Heinz, the American food company famous for its tomato ketchup⁴. The thick sauce is used on hamburgers, hot dogs and other foods.

Heinz's research manager, Rich Ozminkowski, says the company knows what it wants in a tomato.

RICH OZMINKOWSKI: "Traits like sugars and, for Heinz, viscosity⁵, or the juice thickness, and the redness of the tomatoes are all very critical traits for us, for our products. Those are all controlled by a lot of different genes within a tomato naturally."

Mr. Ozminkowski says genome sequencing takes away much of the guesswork for breeders of tomatoes or other crops that have been mapped.

RICH OZMINKOWSKI: "By having the genome information, we can pick out those tomato plants that have more of those genes."

Until the late nineteen sixties, the tomatoes that Heinz used to make ketchup often cracked open on the vine after a heavy rain.

RICH OZMINKOWSKI: "Heinz had set about trying to put together a variety of tomatoes that would resist that cracking."

Breeders used the traditional methods of mating generations of different varieties. The tomatoes they were trying to develop not only had to resist cracking. They also had to resist disease. And they had to be easy to harvest mechanically.

Finally the company came up with the tomato it wanted, called the Heinz 1706. Mr. Ozminkowski says the job would have been much easier if there had been a genetic map to follow.

RICH OZMINKOWSKI: "The tools available back when 1706 was developed, it was all very, very conventional breeding. There were no genetic tools. You could not look at sequences. You could not do comparisons. And that is what makes the genomic project and the technologies that have spun⁶ off of that so interesting."

But the work is not just about making better ketchup. Climate change may force many crops to adjust to new conditions. And Mr. Ozminkowski says researchers are already using the new genetic tools to help fight new plant diseases.

RICH OZMINKOWSKI: "And so this is going to give us even more, because there are new diseases that are becoming problems within California and around the world."

Researchers published the tomato genome in the journal Nature.

And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report. You can read, listen and learn English with our stories and more at www.voanews.cn. You can also find more information about tomatoes. I'm Jim Tedder⁷.

1 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

2 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

3 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

4 ketchup   

n.蕃茄酱，蕃茄沙司

参考例句：

• There's a spot of ketchup on the tablecloth.桌布上有一点番茄酱的渍斑。
• Could I have some ketchup and napkins,please?请给我一些番茄酱和纸手巾？

5 viscosity   

n.粘度，粘性

参考例句：

• The viscosity shows a rather pronounced variation with temperature.温度对粘度的影响十分明显。
• The reciprocal of viscosity is known as fluidity.粘度的反意就是流动性。

6 spun   

v.纺，杜撰，急转身

参考例句：

• His grandmother spun him a yarn at the fire.他奶奶在火炉边给他讲故事。
• Her skilful fingers spun the wool out to a fine thread.她那灵巧的手指把羊毛纺成了细毛线。

7 tedder   

n.（干草）翻晒者，翻晒机

参考例句：

• Jim Tedder has more. 吉姆？特德将给我们做更多的介绍。 来自互联网
• Jim Tedder tells us more. 吉姆？泰德给我们带来更详细的报道。 来自互联网