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Scientists have discovered the genetic secrets of two unpopular members of two favorite food families. They hope the discoveries will produce tastier tomatoes and stronger rice.
科学家们已经发现了人们最喜爱食物家庭成员中两种最不受欢迎作物其中的遗传秘密。他们希望这项发现将使得西红柿的口感更加美味，水稻的生长更为茁壮。
The scientists discovered the complete set of genetic rules of African rice and wild tomatoes. They published their studies in two reports in the journal Nature Genetics.
科学家们发现非洲水稻及野生西红柿的完整基因编码。他们的发现分别刊登在《自然遗传学》杂志的2篇论文中。
There are good reasons African rice and wild tomatoes have not been popular. Asian rice is more productive and easier to process than African rice. The wild tomato is poisonous.
非洲水稻和野生西红柿不受人民欢迎有其必然原因。相比非洲水稻，亚洲水稻更多产，更易加工。而野生西红柿则是有毒的。
Rod Wing is a plant biologist at Arizona State University. He helped map the African rice genes. And there is some good news to report.
亚利桑那州立大学植物生物学家罗德·温格帮助绘制了非洲水稻的基因图谱。此外他还来了一些好消息。
"There are some varieties that have been kinda well-adapted to grow in kind of mangrove areas, which are quite a bit more salty than you would experience for Asian rice."
“有些品种已经了适应红树林地区的生长环境,而且尝起来口感可能会比亚洲大米更咸。”
Mr.Wing says African rice can grow in salty and even poisonous soil. And it can grow around weeds and in extremely dry conditions. He says this strength is increasingly important as climate change makes crop production more difficult. He says that this is important because the Earth's population is growing quickly.
温格先生表示非洲水稻可以在含盐,甚至有毒的土壤环境种植。而且也可以在杂草和极端干旱条件下生长。他表示随着气候变化使得种植业难上加难，作物这种对环境很强的适应性就显得愈加重要。他称这点至关重要,因为地球的人口正在迅速增加。
"There's gonna be two-to two-and-a-half-billion more people on the planet in less than 40 years, and that's a pretty scary scenario."
“在未来不到40年时间内地球将会挤满超过200亿至245亿人口,想想就觉得可怕。”
Scientists will be able to make better rice faster. They can now identify the genes that control what is good about African rice and combine those genes with Asian rice.
科学家们将更快的研制出更好的水稻。他们现在已经可以提取非洲水稻基因中的优势并将这些基因与亚洲大米结合。
The wild tomato also has some good qualities. Scientists found that it can grow in salty as well as very dry conditions, like the African rice. Bjorn Usadel of Germany's RWTH Aachen University is one of the scientists who published the genetic maps of the two plants. The map identifies the genes that may be responsible for these qualities.
同样野生番茄也有一些优秀品质。科学家们发现野生番茄和非洲水稻一样可以生长在含盐及干旱环境中。博朗·乌萨德尔是德国亚琛工业大学发表两种植物基因编码的其中一位科学家。图谱鉴别的基因可能决定了这些作物的品质。
"The tomatoes are green and potentially there's something inside that's just not healthy; but there's also other interesting things inside."
“绿色西红柿表明可能里面含有不健康的东西,但是也意味着有其他有趣的东西。”
The new map could also help improve the quality of tomatoes sold in food stores. Many people say these tomatoes do not taste very good. Mr.Usadel says researchers found differences in the genes of wild and farm-grown tomatoes that affect how they taste and smell.
新绘制的基因图谱也可以帮助改善在食品商店出售番茄的质量。很多人都表示这些西红柿味道不太好。乌萨德尔先生称研究人员发现野生和农田种植西红柿的基因差异决定着它的口味和气味。
"So, even though these wild tomatoes definitely don't taste better, this population gives us actually an indication where the taste is coming from."
“所以,即使这些野生西红柿就是尝起来味道不是很好,实际上这里的人们给我们一种味道源自哪里的启示。”
The scientist says there is another use for the map. He says it will permit scientists to make sure that any new kinds of tomatoes developed from wild tomato do not carry any of its poisonous genes.
科学家们表示基因图谱还有另一种用途。这将允许科学家们确保任何由野生番茄演变而来的新品种西红柿不携带任何的有毒基因。
I'm Caty Weaver.
我是卡迪·韦弗，这里是VOA慢速新闻报道。
译文属可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载
