The Philippines hopes to have a genetically modified sweet potato in the next five years. Scientists from the Visayas State University (VSU) and the University of the Philippines Los Baños Institute of Plant Breeding (UPLB-IPB) are now working on the development of virus resistant sweet potato (VRSP) through Agrobacterium-mediated transformation.

Sweet potato is a popular cash crop abundantly planted to more than 120,500 hectares in the Philippines. Of fifteen known sweet potato viruses worldwide, eight of these can be found in the country. The most widely spread and important among these, is the sweet potato feathery mottle virus (SPFMV) which is associated with leaf curl, a disease known as “Kamote Kulot” in Luzon. “The virus disease complex has been reported to reduce yield of sweet potato by 40-60% in Leyte and 85-98% in Albay”, says Dr. Manuel Palomar, VRSP project leader of VSU. According to Dr. Palomar, VRSP sweet potato can be developed through the transfer of coat protein gene of the SPFMV into local varieties of sweet potato through a phenomenon called “cross-protection”.

“Currently, we already have our gene of construct for the VRSP, and it is being validated. The transformation and tissue culture components are under optimization and hopefully, we expect to have the field trials of VRSP by 2011,” shares Ms. Lolita Dolores, a virologist and project leader from UPLB-IPB, during the Training-Workshop on Risk Assessment and Social Marketing of Public-Sector Biotech Product held at Sabin Resort Hotel, Ormoc City, Leyte on 13-14 May 2009. The workshop was organized by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture through Biotechnology Information Center (SEARCA-BIC), Department of Science and Technology - Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCARRD), Program for Biosafety Systems Southeast Asia (PBS SEAsia), and the VSU as part of the capacity building initiatives for the scientists and regulators in the region.

The VRSP project is being supported by the DOST-PCARRD and ISAAA Southeast Asia.

For additional information regarding the VRSP project initiatives in the Philippines, email lmd121552@yahoo.com or bic@agri.searca.org or visit www.searca.bic.org. (Rochella B. Lapitan, SEARCA BIC)

For more information, please contact:

Ms. Jenny A. Panopio
Special Project Coordinator & Network Administrator
Biotechnology Information Center
SEAMEO SEARCA
College, Laguna 4031
Email: jap at agri.searca.org
Tel: (63-49)536-2290 loc 169 or 406
Tele/Fax: (63-49)536-4105
URL: www.bic.searca.org