AsianScientist (Oct. 24, 2017) – The drought-resistant jojoba plant could play a big role in desert afforestation, according to a study by researchers from Osaka University.
In afforestation projects, emphasis has been put on planting trees. As a result, fast-growing trees with low utility value—such as poplar—were planted. However, in many cases, after aid to afforestation was cut off, forests were regarded as useless and left unused or cut down by local people for fuel.
Instead, researchers from the Plant Bioengineering for Bioenergy Laboratory at Osaka University focused on jojoba as a plant genetic resource for afforestation. Jojoba, with its high drought resistance and salt tolerance, is prized as a material for cosmetics and is purchased at a high price. However, jojoba varieties for mass production have not been developed or are not widely used in agriculture.
To increase the efficiency of plant cloning, the researchers developed a tissue culture method involving a new combination of plant hormones. They also established the first genetic transformation procedure for breed improvement in jojoba by using agrobacterium and developed DNA markers as indices for screening.
Based on results of this study, the Osaka University venture company Simmond Co. Ltd., was established in April 2017 for stable production of jojoba in the desert and sale in Japan. Jojoba oil is scheduled to go on sale in October 2017.
The sale will become the first step toward the continuous conversion to forests by agriculture in the future. This is expected to lead to continuous afforestation in Egypt, effective utilization of wide unused desert, creation of local employment, cultivation of new industries using jojoba oil, and strengthening of the relationship between Egypt and Japan.
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Source: Osaka University; Photo: Katja Schulz/Wikimedia Commons/CC0.
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