Researchers Seek Drought-Resistant Crops (2/2)

The researchers put all the plants in a greenhouse to grow under normal conditions for forty days. Then, for fifteen days after that, the plants did not receive any water.The normal plants lost their green color. Finally, they lost their leaves. But the researchers say the transgenic plants kept their leaves and their color.

After the fifteen dry days, all the plants were watered again for a week. The transgenic plants returned to normal growth, and their seed production was close to normal. But the other plants all died.

Rosa Rivero says the transgenic plants kept a relatively" class="hjdict" word="relatively" target=_blank>relatively high water level. They also continued to produce energy during the dry period, although at a reduced level. The amount of seeds they produced was close to normal. In addition, the researchers found that the plants could survive on only thirty percent of the normal amount of irrigation water. Yield loss was minor, they said.

The findings appeared late last year in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The University of California has applied for patent protection for the technology. The researchers expect to move forward with field testing of the transgenic tobacco in late August. They hope for similar results with crops like tomatoes, rice, wheat and cotton.

参考译文：

研究人员把所有的植物放置在一个温室里，让它们在正常情况下生长40天。然后，那之后的15天，不让植物吸收任何水分。普通的植物渐渐褪去绿色。最后，他们的叶子全部脱落。但是研究人员说转基因的植物却可以（在那样的条件下）存活并且保持它们新鲜的颜色。

经历了15天的干旱，所有的植物又在接下来的一周重新获得了水分。转基因植物重新正常生长，并且它们的种子产量与平时基本持平。但是其它的植物全部死亡了。

Rosa Rivero说转基因植物基本保持在一个相对高水分的水平。它们在干旱的时候也照样继续产生能量，虽然这个能量相对较弱。它们的种子产量和正常的差不多。而且研究人员发现植物可以在只有正常灌溉量30%的条件下也可以存活，并且产量损失很小。

这个结论在去年晚些时候在《国家科学院学报》上刊登过。加利福尼亚大学申请了这项技术的专利。研究人员希望在8月下旬的时候能将转基因烟草试验推进一步：到农田中进行试验。他们希望这项技术也能运用于西红柿、水稻、麦子和棉花这些作物的种植。

TAG: voa,voa下载,voa慢速英语,voa英语,voa news,voa english,voa special,voa听力,美国之音