Chapter 126: Coming (medium cup)
November 28th.
Winter has finally come this year. The cold wind that traveled a long way from Siberia has passed through the loess high slopes, the North China Plain, the plains of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and the southeastern hills. When it reaches the land of Lingnan, it has little power left.
Jiang Miao was not in the experimental area, but at the southeastern foothills of Magong Mountain in the northwest of Nanhu Village. He had previously ordered Lu Weibin to contract an additional piece of mountainous land in Nanhu Village as a crop cultivation experimental base, which is here.
In fact, the experimental area is at the southern foot of Magong Mountain, next to the crop cultivation base.
The entire crop cultivation base is located at the southeastern foot of Magong Mountain, with a total area of 576 acres of four-level terraces. This is also the last free land in Nanhu Village. The remaining land is either in the reservoir area, residential areas, or beaches. , windbreaks.
These 576 acres of terraced fields are divided into 50 planting areas, each of 10 acres; the remaining 76 acres of land, in addition to roads and isolation zones, are supporting facilities and buildings.
As the company's financial resources become more abundant, Jiang Miao also increases the collection of various seedling resources.
Especially herbaceous and small shrub crops in tropical and subtropical areas have been planted in 5 planting areas.
In fact, it includes more than 50 major categories such as sugar cane, jute, banana, papaya, cassava, sweet potato, peanut, lemongrass, and mung bean.
The reason why Jiang Miao likes herbaceous crops is that the iteration speed of herbaceous crops is relatively fast.
For example, the 50 bananas in front of him are the endangered varieties, the legendary Big Mac banana, that he purchased through his relationship with the Lingnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences. He cultivated the seedlings through the laboratory group, and has currently cultivated 50 Big Mac banana seedlings.
It has been planted for more than two months and is still in the seedling stage.
The Big Mac banana has no seeds, a thick skin, and an attractive appearance. Its thick skin makes it resistant to bruises during transportation, and its dense skin makes it easier to transport. These characteristics make it an excellent export product. .
The reason why it is now on the verge of extinction is mainly because in the early 20th century, yellow leaf disease appeared and infected the Big Mac banana, resulting in a decrease in its yield.
At present, only a small amount of it is cultivated in southern Siam and Malaysia.
As for why Big Mac bananas are not immune to yellow leaf disease through hybridization or transgenic technology, there must be a reason.
Otherwise, agricultural research institutions or commercial companies in various countries would have done this long ago.
The reasons why Big Mac bananas cannot come back into production through traditional breeding techniques and genetically modified techniques are very complex, including:
Genetic singleness: Big Mac bananas are triploid and cannot reproduce sexually. They can only rely on asexual reproduction to reproduce. This results in their genes being almost identical, lacking genetic diversity, and difficult to produce through genetic recombination like sexual reproduction. Resistance genes to yellow leaf disease.
Breeding technology limitations: Traditional cross-breeding methods have limited effect on Big Mac bananas because the chromosomes of triploid bananas cannot pair normally during meiosis and it is difficult to produce effective gametes. Therefore, the probability of obtaining fertile offspring from crossing with other varieties is extremely low. , and it is difficult to introduce disease resistance genes through hybridization.
Lack of disease resistance gene resources: There are few disease resistance genes in the banana gene pool, and most of them originate from the genes of the pathogen itself. This makes it difficult to isolate related genes, resulting in a lack of effective genes that can be used to improve the disease resistance of Big Mac bananas. genetic resources.
Complexity of the pathogenic bacteria: Fusarium oxysporum, which causes yellow leaf disease, has multiple physiological races and is constantly mutating and evolving, which increases the difficulty of cultivating long-lasting disease-resistant varieties. Even if a single or a small number of disease-resistant genes are introduced through genetic engineering and other means, It is also difficult to protect against multiple disease-causing types of pathogenic bacteria.
These problems are not difficult for Jiang Miao.
There is a classic line in the movie "Jurassic Park":
"Life finds its own way."
In his tissue culture laboratory, Jiang Miao continuously stimulates the leaf cells of Big Mac bananas to produce mutations through various methods of inducing gene mutations.
The first-generation varieties with resistance to Fusarium oxysporum were screened out and cultivated into seedlings. These seedlings were again used for secondary mutation induction, which lasted for three generations.
Then select the appropriate type from the third generation mutants, and use cell fusion combined with chromosome loss technology to allow the triploid Big Mac banana mutants and haploids of Huajiao and other varieties to undergo cell fusion to promote One of the chromosomes is lost, resulting in a diploid banana that can be reproduced.
The 50 Big Mac banana seedlings in front of us are the five best-performing third-generation mutants. They are diploid Big Mac bananas that were selected through cell fusion combined with chromosome loss technology.
The characteristics of these five Big Mac bananas are that they are extremely resistant to Fusarium oxysporum and still retain the flavor of the original Big Mac. Moreover, the disease resistance gene segments among them are different, which allows them to Better disease resistance is achieved through natural hybridization, thereby increasing genetic diversity.
In fact, this technology can also be used on ginkgo.
Plants with a single gene can use this technology to increase genetic diversity, thus getting rid of the dilemma of having a single gene.
As for why other research institutions do not use cell fusion combined with chromosome loss technology.
The answer is that this technology is currently immature, the success rate is very low, and the efficiency is very low. The reason for this is that after cell fusion, a large number of fused cells will be produced, and it is difficult to determine which fused cell is successful.
After all, current genetic testing methods cannot perform genetic testing on every cell.
Jiang Miao also relied on the identification panel to select the appropriate ones from a large number of fusion cells.
As for how to separate accurately, we also rely on the identification panel. By continuously dividing the culture medium of the cell culture dish, then diluting it multiple times with culture nutrient solution, and using targeted genes to remove unnecessary cells, we can find out which cells are needed. cells.
This operation is also time-consuming.
It takes Jiang Miao at least a week to select a suitable variety.
The 50 new Big Mac bananas now in the greenhouse are actually different from the original Big Mac bananas.
If you detect the gene sequences between the six varieties, you can find that although they are related, they are also very different.
Distinguished according to botanical classification.
The previous Big Mac belonged to the Musa acuminata lineage, with its scientific name Musaacuminata, and was one of the important ancestors of modern banana cultivars.
It has the characteristics of larger fruits and better taste. Most edible banana varieties, such as the common banana, belong to this lineage. The pseudostems of these varieties are thin, the leaves are thin and long, and the fruit fingers are slender, up to three times as long. Body is the most common type of banana currently on the market.
Another lineage among bananas, the long-stemmed banana lineage: the scientific name is Musabalbisiana, is also one of the important wild ancestors of bananas.
It is characterized by strong pseudostems, thick leaves, short and thick fruit fingers, mostly diploid, such as pink bananas, etc., which belong to this pedigree. The fruits have unique flavor and taste, and they have a certain planting area in southern China.
If the five varieties cultivated by Jiang Miao can be planted on a large scale, the banana family's genealogy will have to be opened on five separate pages.
In other words, these 5 banana varieties represent 5 completely new lineages.
The main reason is that the genes have been mutated for several generations, and they have been processed through cell fusion chromosomes, so that they have mutated genes that are very different from the parent Big Mac banana.
However, Jiang Miao doesn’t know the true taste of these new varieties of bananas because they haven’t bloomed yet.
After all, the identification panel can only analyze the flavor substances produced by these genes and the approximate contents of various flavor substances through gene sequences.
The taste evaluated by this kind of data is definitely not 100% accurate. In other words, simple text information cannot make people understand the complex flavor of plants.
Only after you grow it and taste it will you know its true flavor.
Based on the growth of these bananas, it is estimated that the first batch of ripe bananas will not be harvested until May or June next year.
After seeing the banana experimental field, he then looked at the conditions in other experimental fields one after another.
Only a small part of these were cultivated by Jiang Miao himself, and the remaining mutant seedlings were varieties cultivated by Zhang Chengdong and others.
The differences between the varieties cultivated by the two are very large.
The varieties cultivated by Jiang Miao are all close to success.
The experimental varieties of Zhang Chengdong and others can only be described by one idiom, that is, crooked melons and cracked dates.
99% of them are crooked melons and cracked dates.
From here we can see the passivity and helplessness of ordinary researchers in seed research and development.
At the end of the month, on a sunny morning, Teacher Li from Shizishan Agricultural University took several leaders from the school to the headquarters of Hailufeng Company.
Li Zixuan, who had been to Jiangcheng together before, was already waiting at the entrance of the company. When he saw Teacher Li and others, he hurriedly greeted them.
"Hello, Teacher Li, I am Li Zixuan, Mr. Jiang's secretary."
"Hello, Xiao Li." Teacher Li smiled and nodded.
Under Li Zixuan's guidance, the group arrived at the restaurant on the second floor of the experimental area.
"Teacher Li, I haven't seen you for a long time, but you are still so energetic!" Jiang Miao said enthusiastically.
Teacher Li responded with a smile: "Amiao, seeing your business developing so well, the teacher is really proud of you! Let me introduce you, this is He Lin, Vice Principal He." "Hello! He School!" Jiang Miao stretched out his hand.
He Lin, a middle-aged man with a square face wearing glasses, also extended his hand, and the two shook hands: "Jiang Miao's company is now world-famous, and the school is proud of you."
"This is Zhao Donglai, director of the Scientific Research Department."
"This is Zhu Longfu, dean of the College of Agriculture."
"Hello! Zhao Chu, Zhu Yuan."
"Hello! Classmate Jiang Miao."
The group chatted for a while and then went straight to the topic after sitting down.
Teacher Li said straight to the point: "Amiao, the main reason I came here this time is to discuss with you whether we can set up an internship base in your company to provide some practical opportunities for students in our school."
Regarding this, Jiang Miao did not feel embarrassed, and a smile flashed in his eyes: "Teacher, of course there is no problem! Our school has trained me, and I can only dream of having the opportunity to give back to my alma mater."
Teacher Li nodded slightly: "That's great. Today's students have rich theoretical knowledge, but relatively lack of practical experience. Internships in your company will allow them to be exposed to the real working environment, which will have a great impact on their future career development." ”
Jiang Miao listened carefully, and after thinking for a moment, he said: "Teacher, I will assign someone to teach the interns so that they can really learn something. However, I also want to hear some of your thoughts on the content and requirements of the internship. ”
At this time, He Lin spoke: "I think students can participate in different projects to understand the operating procedures of the company, and at the same time, they can also use their professional knowledge. For example, participating in the development of new products in the R&D department, in production The department understands the production process ”
Hearing this, Jiang Miao nodded frequently: "Yuan Zhu, you are so thoughtful. I will try my best to provide the best internship conditions so that the juniors and juniors can gain something."
Teacher Li said happily: "Teacher, on behalf of the school, thank you in advance. I believe that through this cooperation, it will not only help students grow, but also inject new vitality into your business."
Jiang Miao replied with a smile: "This is also my honor, to be able to do something practical for the school and the students!"
The two parties chatted for more than an hour, and the sun shone on them through the window, as if indicating a bright future for this cooperation.
Li Zixuan recorded the conversation.
Jiang Miao looked at the time and found that it was almost lunch time, so she said: "Dear teachers, it's lunch time. Let me do my best to be a landlord at noon, and we will chat while eating."
"Haha, then we won't be polite to you, the big boss." Teacher Li joked.
He Lin, Zhu Longfu, and Zhao Donglai also followed the good advice.
Half an hour later, the kitchen prepared the meal.
A total of 8 people came to the school, and on Jiang Miao's side, in addition to secretary Li Zixuan, there were also Shuya, who had just completed the experiment, and her secretary Li Wenna, a total of 12 people.
The food is also very interesting.
Several dishes come in two plates.
They are steamed grouper and steamed Egyptian pond lice.
Kabayaki eel and kabayaki Egyptian pond lice.
Mackerel white meatballs and Egyptian fish balls.
Black fish milk and white fish soup and Egyptian pond lice milk and white fish soup.
Plus tomato scrambled eggs, kung pao chicken, white truffle risotto, braised oysters with shredded ginger oil, steamed red shrimps, local specialty vegetable cakes, stir-fried shrimps with morels, boiled chicken, roast goose, boiled cabbage sum and pork Fried lotus root with oil residue.
Jiang Miao pointed to the steamed fish with the meat removed: "Teachers, try this fish and help us compare it."
"Oh?" Zhu Longfu picked up a piece of grouper meat with his chopsticks. After taking a bite, he nodded slightly: "This grouper is very fresh."
He picked up another piece of steamed fish with Egyptian pond lice, took a bite, and then raised his glasses: "Is this fish really Egyptian pond lice? It's so fresh and sweet!"
"Yes, this is the result of our company in the past six months. It is through a special feed formula and breeding in a flowing pond for about fifty days, thereby removing the earthy smell and increasing the protein content and aroma, sweetness and flavor components in the body." As Jiang Miao explained, he picked up a piece of Egyptian pond lice meat and put it into his mouth.
Teacher Li was full of praise for the tomato scrambled eggs in front of him: "This tomato scrambled egg is good, the tomato flavor is very rich, it should be the red tomato cultivated by your company, right?"
"The teacher's eyes are as bright as a torch."
"He Xiao, try this morel. This is a morel cultivated by Shuya. It is still in the laboratory stage."
He Lin ate a piece of morels: "Oh? Classmate Lin also studies morels?"
"Yes, He Xiao, I am currently doing research on morel productivity technology." Shuya smiled and nodded.
One meal down.
Everyone's appetite was satisfied.
Although these dishes are not as good as those in big restaurants, fortunately, the ingredients are fresh and high-quality, and the flavor adds to everyone's evaluation of these dishes.
As mentioned in "A Tip of the Tongue": High-end ingredients often only require simple cooking.
Rested for half an hour.
Had a few cups of tea.
They just talked about a few other things.
He Lin put down his tea cup: "Jiang Miao, the honorary doctorate degree that the school helped you apply for has entered the approval stage. It is expected to be completed in December. If everything goes well, it will be announced in January next year. When will you and Shuya plan to Come here?”
Jiang Miao touched the stubble on his chin: "Maybe next March! I happen to be going to Monan Province next year."
He Lin nodded: "Then you can contact Lao Li directly. Another thing is that an alumnus wants to meet Jiang Miao."
"Oh? I would like to hear the details."
He Lin gave an overview of the situation: "Yang Hejun, the CEO of Chengyi Group in Yangcheng, is an alumnus of our school's class of 1993. He is interested in cooperating with Hailufeng Company, but I don't know the specific cooperation."< br>
"Okay, School He will give me his contact information later."
"No problem." He Lin secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and he continued: "Let Lao Zhu talk about the third thing!"
Zhu Longfu took a document from his assistant and handed it to Jiang Miao: "Jiang Miao, the school wants to appoint you and Shuya as part-time distinguished professors. If your honorary doctorates are successfully passed next year, the school plans to hire you as doctoral supervisors. , and promote the establishment of a graduate training base in Hailufeng Company.”
Although Jiang Miao was a little surprised by the school's actions, he and Shuya were indeed qualified.
After all, this is a candidate for the first prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award in the future. In the opinion of Zhu Longfu and others, Jiang Miao and his wife’s artificial eel propagation technology and white truffle artificial cultivation technology have a probability of winning the first prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award. is 99.9%.
If these two technologies cannot win the first prize, the selection committee will probably be furious with public opinion.
Jiang Miao pondered for a moment and then asked: "Yuan Zhu, if I become a distinguished professor and doctoral supervisor, but I need to manage a company and conduct scientific research, I may not be able to spend a lot of time with students."
Zhu Longfu, who was well prepared, said with a smile: "It doesn't matter. To become a distinguished professor or doctoral supervisor, you don't have to take care of students. Jiang Miao and Shuya can make your own arrangements according to the situation. The school respects your choice."
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"Then I have no problem." Jiang Miao nodded and agreed.
Shuya also nodded.
This kind of thing will help increase your influence in the academic world and make your scientific research results more reasonable.
After all, the first impressions given by doctoral supervisors and undergraduates are different.
Lion Mountain Agricultural University also felt that Jiang Miao and Lin Shuya had great potential, so they decided to invest in advance.
If the two of them win other grand prizes in the future, the school will also benefit. Even if they don't win the grand prize, their company is still a tens of billions-level enterprise, which is also good for the school.
(End of chapter)