Christine Bradish, plant breeder
Christine Bradish, PhD, is a plant breeder. Her research involves looking for ways to improve a crop called clary sage. This type of sage has a special compound in it which is widely used in the fragrance industry. The company that she works for is located in Merry Hill, North Carolina. It’s the largest area in the United States where clary sage is grown!
Clary sage contains a compound called sclareol. Sclareol is a plant-based additive used in detergents and other common household items. Bradish is a plant breeder looking for clary sage varieties that create the most sclareol. How does she do this?
By growing clary sage in the greenhouse and in the field, Bradish is able to compare the amount of sclareol in each plant. In addition, she can look deeper into the plant’s DNA. This is the genetic code that gives instructions to each plant to produce sclareol.
In the lab, Bradish extracts DNA from clary sage. DNA contains the genetic code for all living things. It’s like an information manual for each plant or animal that gives them all their unique traits. Bradish is able to take plants grown in the field, greenhouse, or growth chamber and look at various sections of their genetic code. She then uses the DNA data and the data collected by her teammates about the plants in the field and the sclareol yield. This helps them make recommendations to growers about which varieties of clary sage to plant in their fields.
Some crop breeders look at sections of code that give crops traits like disease resistance or drought tolerance. Bradish is looking for the part of the code that helps her predict how much sclareol will be in the clary sage.
Clary sage isn’t the same as the sage people use in recipes. Related, but different, plants carry different characteristics. For example, blackberries and raspberries are both berries, but they look and taste different. The story of clary sage and spice sage is no different. And the reason plants have variety lies in their DNA.
By studying a plant’s DNA, breeders are able to increase yields, improve a plant’s performance, or even help them be resistant to disease. Breeders look deep into the genetic code to help us determine the best directions for growing plants. In this way, plant breeders help to feed the world, improve sustainability, and preserve the environment.
Watch Bradish in action. Dr. Bradish has written several blogs, including:
Polyploidy - or how did we get seedless fruit?
DNA - genotype and phenotype information
How do scientists do traditional plant breeding?
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