[pf] How to tell if your garden plants need water

by Jill Taylor Bussiere

18 December 2000 23:25 UTC

New Super-Spud Glows Green to Ask for Water

LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have pioneered a genetically modified 
``super potato'' which glows when it needs water, the head of the 
project said on Monday.

Researchers at Edinburgh University injected potato plants with a 
fluorescence gene borrowed from the luminous jellyfish aequorea 
victoria, which causes their leaves to glow green when dehydrated.

``This is an agriculture of the future,'' Professor Anthony Trewavas 
told Reuters. ``We were trying to design a way of monitoring the 
resources within a field and decided it was the plant itself which has 
that information.''

The potatoes are not intended to be eaten but would act as 
''sentinels,'' planted beside the commercial crop to alert a farmer that 
the rest of his field needed watering.

The glow is barely visible to the naked eye but can be detected using a 
small hand-held device. Field trials are due to start next year though 
Trewavas predicted it could take some 20 years before the plants are 
commonly used.

The technology could be extended to other fruit and vegetables, he added.