A New Hope for Farmers: Wild Tobacco Mutants May be More Susceptible to Insects
Scientists have recently discovered a wild tobacco plant with two mutations that make it much more susceptible to insect damage than its peers. This new development could be a game changer for farmers who have long been battling with tobacco pests, and could allow them to produce higher yields at a lower cost. The wild tobacco plant was found to be much more susceptible to insect damage due to two mutations on its two copies of the Nicotiana attenuata gene. This gene is known to be involved in the plant’s defense against a variety of pests, but the two mutations in the wild tobacco plant drastically weakened its protection. The discovery of this wild tobacco plant could help farmers better protect their crops from insect damage, and ultimately lead to higher yields and lower costs.
source: Phys.org