Chinanews.com, Beijing, February 24th, title: To win the turnaround in the seed industry, this batch of Chang'e-5 brings the seeds of the sky "there is a play"
Author Guo Chaokai
The lunar samples brought back by Chang'e 5 were unveiled for the first time in the Great Hall of the People on the 22nd, making netizens eager to see the true face of the moon.
At the same time, another scientific research result related to Chang'e-5 is equally encouraging.
A series of seeds, such as alfalfa, oats, and rice, that followed the Chang'e-5 spacecraft journey, have sprouted in the laboratory.
Don't underestimate these seeds, they are shouldering the important task of winning the turnaround of the Chinese seed industry.
What is so special about these seeds that follow the "God" of Chang'e-5?
Why does China carry out space mutation breeding?
What magical changes will take place after returning to Earth with the seeds of the Chang'e-5 space travel?
The reporter interviewed relevant experts to find out.
Zhongtian No. 1 alfalfa single plant.
Photo courtesy of Lanzhou Animal Husbandry Institute
Which seeds are lucky enough to "go to heaven"?
In fact, the "seed" passengers of Chang'e 5 are not only alfalfa, oats, and rice.
With the support of the Chang'e-5 detector system, the Aerospace Breeding Industry Innovation Alliance has collected more than 30 experimental materials of various plant seeds, such as rice, alfalfa, oats, Arabidopsis, flowers, etc., provided by multiple units.
As China's most complex aerospace system project with the largest technological span, the Chang'e-5 mission brought back about 1,731 grams of lunar samples from the moon, which means that there is not much load capacity left for other studies.
In the case of limited capacity, how did these seeds go through layers of screening and have the honor to follow the Chang'e-5 "to heaven"?
The interviewed experts pointed out that China's seed industry has a weak foundation and some crop seeds are monopolized by foreign countries.
If we are determined to develop the national seed industry, we must step up the cultivation of fine varieties with independent intellectual property rights.
The reason why Chang'e-5 carried more than 30 kinds of seed experimental materials to the sky is to complete deep-space mutagenesis through the special environment of space, excavate excellent germplasm resources, and cultivate new varieties with high quality, high yield, wide adaptability and outstanding traits. .
To this end, all units have also "the eight immortals cross the sea and each show their magical powers" and have provided "good seeds for the home" one after another.
Yang Hongshan, chief expert of the stress-resistant pasture breeding and utilization team of the Lanzhou Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (hereinafter referred to as the Lanzhou Institute of Animal Husbandry), told a reporter from China News Agency: "Each unit carries different seeds and purposes, and some focus on basics. Research, some are more focused on breed breeding."
Taking the alfalfa and oat seeds provided by Lanzhou Animal Husbandry as an example, Yang Hongshan said that the primary reason for choosing these two types of seeds is because they are both high-quality forages rich in protein.
At this stage, alfalfa and oats are the first and second largest forages in China respectively. "The current Chinese people's demand for meat, eggs, and milk is gradually increasing. To solve the demand for meat, eggs and milk, we must first solve the problem of livestock rations."
"After selecting alfalfa and oats, we will determine the varieties or new strains to be carried according to the breeding goals, and carefully select each seed to ensure that the germination rate is above 95%. After that, we will manually select, Make every seed full without damage, and ensure that it can germinate normally after returning to Earth from space." Yang Hongshan said.
In other words, the seeds that have been selected through layers of screening are veritable "chosen seeds".
Yang Hongshan said that a small amount of alfalfa and oats that have been grown in the laboratory are growing normally. Researchers are observing its growth characteristics, including germination and growth. Most important experiments will be planted in early March and will be moved again in late April. Planted in Daejeon.
In addition, South China Agricultural University also hopes that by carrying the Chang'e 5 "Go to Heaven", it will breed a batch of new rice varieties with high yield, high quality, multi-resistance and green rice to meet the needs of diversified industries and improve China's food security level.
Yang Hongshan, chief expert of the stress-resistant pasture breeding and utilization team of Lanzhou Institute of Animal Husbandry, observes the growth of oats carried by Chang'e-5. Photo by Zheng Ping
What is special about the Chang'e 5 space journey?
Since the 1960s, countries such as the United States, the former Soviet Union, Canada, Japan, Finland, Australia, and Brazil have successively carried out space mutation breeding experiments.
China's space mutation breeding began in the 1980s. After more than 30 years of research and application, more than 200 new varieties have been officially approved.
Nowadays, the results of space mutation breeding have quietly integrated into all aspects of people's lives.
In Yang Hongshan's view, there are "three treasures" of space mutation, namely high vacuum, microgravity and space rays. The combination of these three factors can cause genetic changes in seeds.
Previously, China had carried different crop seeds to the sky through different Shenzhou spacecraft, returnable satellites and other spacecraft.
Compared with previous trips to heaven, what is special about the Chang'e-5 mission?
Yang Hongshan said that Lanzhou Animal Husbandry Institute had participated in seven space missions, including Shenzhou-8, Shenzhou-10, Tiangong-1, and a new generation of manned spacecraft, but these missions belonged to low-Earth orbit.
The flight distance of Chang'e 5 is farther, the average distance between the moon and the earth is about 380,000 kilometers, and Chang'e 5 flies back and forth more than 700,000 kilometers.
"Compared with the past, on the one hand, Chang'e 5 has a longer flight distance, and on the other hand, it will encounter the Van Allen radiation belt and sunspot bursts during its flight, which will produce special space mutagenic effects." Yang Hongshan said, "deep space mutagenesis. The mutation produced in extreme environments may be a bit more intense, but how different it is from low-Earth orbit requires us to conduct in-depth research."
Photos of Chang'e 5 carrying oat seeds to emerge from Zheng Ping
What is the use of space mutation breeding?
The interviewed experts said that the forage seeds returned by the Chang'e 5 will be divided into three parts, a small part will be used for early laboratory basic research, most will be used in field experiments, and a small part will be preserved as germplasm resources stand up.
As far as space mutation breeding is concerned, "going to the sky" with a spacecraft is only the first step. More importantly, it is the breeding test of varieties returning to the ground after the space trip.
When talking about the cultivation of forage grass varieties, Yang Hongshan said with emotion: “From seed loading to planting experiments, to cultivating new varieties and actually promoting them to the market, the breeding years of different crops are different. According to the breeding procedure, a new alfalfa is cultivated. It takes about 12-13 years for the variety. Oats are a year-long plant, and the cultivation time will be reduced by 2-3 years."
Guo Tao, deputy director of the National Plant Aerospace Breeding Engineering Technology Research Center and professor of South China Agricultural University, also revealed that the Huanong rice seeds that follow the Chang'e 5 "Go to Heaven" are expected to have the first batch of products in about two years, and the systematic and comprehensive research is completed. It will take 5-10 years.
Many people are still relatively unfamiliar with space mutation breeding, and some people even compare it with genetic modification.
Yang Hongshan said, “The safety of space mutation breeding is beyond doubt, because it is an endogenous genetic change, and this kind of mutation exists in nature itself. Space mutation only increases the mutation rate of plants. After breeding, vegetables and fruits can Eat with confidence.” It is worth mentioning that in August 2015, the astronauts of the International Space Station harvested the lettuce grown in space and ate it directly, which more vividly proved the safety of space breeding.
Photo of the emergence of alfalfa seeds on the Chang'e-5 spaceship photo by Zheng Ping
Small seeds burst with great energy
The outside world has noticed that the "14th Five-Year Plan" proposes to strengthen the country's strategic scientific and technological capabilities and target cutting-edge fields such as biological breeding, artificial intelligence, and quantum information.
The 2021 Central Document No. 1 published on February 21 also proposed that the seed industry should turn around.
How to make small seeds burst into great energy?
The interviewed experts believe that, at this stage, it is necessary to step up the cultivation of excellent varieties with independent intellectual property rights, and space mutation breeding is an effective way.
Over the years, space mutation breeding has made important contributions to many fields such as China’s food security and ecological environment construction. The cultivated area of new plant varieties such as vegetables, flowers, forests and grasses has exceeded 2.4 million hectares. According to estimates, space mutation The scale of direct economy created by breeding exceeds 200 billion yuan.
Pasture is an important test object for space mutation breeding.
At present, China has successfully cultivated national and provincial forage varieties such as "Zhongtian No. 1 Alfalfa", "Zhongmu No. 6 Alfalfa", "Nongjing No. 14 Alfalfa", and has promoted the research and development of aerospace breeding of grass plants. And to promote planting in a large area across the country.
Among them, "Zhongtian No. 1 Alfalfa" is a "fist product" launched by Lanzhou Animal Husbandry Institute through space mutation breeding. This variety has high-quality, high-yield traits, and its intuitive phenotypic traits are multi-leaf, mainly with 5 leaves ( Conventional alfalfa has 3 small leaves). The more leaves, the better the yield and quality. The hay yield is up to 1789.9 kg per mu, and the average crude protein content is 20.8%. This effectively solves the problem of the lack of domestic high-quality and high-yield varieties and the rapid degradation of foreign introduced varieties. problem.
According to the space station construction mission plan, China will continue to implement 11 missions this year and next, and complete the space station orbit construction in 2022.
Speaking of the future space mutation breeding program, Yang Hongshan said: “If forage seeds have the conditions to complete the full growth cycle of planting, growing, flowering and setting seeds on the space station, it will be very different from previous space missions, and it will also have Great research value. This is our idea as a breeder. Whether it can be realized depends on the planning of the China Space Station."
For the Chinese breeding industry, the space journey of Chang'e 5 is not the end.
Various seeds of "Going to heaven" on the Chang'e No. 5 have emerged and sprouted in the laboratory one after another, and the "seeds" that are fighting for the seed industry are also quietly "sprouting".
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