I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 937 "Monsanto" Youth Edition (asking for monthly votes at the end of the month)

Joseph's eyes immediately lit up and he asked, "How much did you increase the sugar content to?"

Archard showed a proud look on his face: "11.5%, it's very close to 12%, Your Highness."

Achieving a sugar content of 12% was the "strategic task" Joseph had originally assigned to him. Although it was still a long way from the three-year deadline, he had basically succeeded.

He was lucky, for after conducting numerous experiments on hybridization, seed selection, and trait fixation according to Professor Joseph's knowledge of genetics, he discovered a beet with extremely good traits at the beginning of last year.

The sugar content is as high as 11.5%.

Archard continued: "As long as we have stricter seed regulations in the future, the Prussian sugar beets will not be competitive in the short term."

The sugar beets smuggled by the Prussians contained only 8% sugar.

The sugar content of Archad's new variety is a full 50% higher. This translates into more than 50% higher profits.

Because sugar refining equipment, processing time, transportation costs, etc. will be greatly reduced, the new beet varieties will have overwhelming advantages.

"You did a great job." Joseph smiled approvingly. "It seems that I have to ask His Majesty the King to confer a knighthood on you."

Archard was immediately delighted: "I really don't know how to express my gratitude, Your Highness."

He then told Joseph about his experiments in beet hybridization, which left Joseph confused.

Well, now he is no match for Archard in biological hybridization.

Never underestimate the geniuses of this era. Once they acquire advanced ideas, they will quickly surpass their teachers with their own intelligence and spirit of research.

“I also discovered a very strange phenomenon.”

Just as Joseph was thinking about how to end this conversation, he suddenly heard Archard say: "The newly cultivated beet plants are very strange. They can only reproduce with their own offspring. If they are hybridized with other beet plants, the seeds of their offspring will be seriously deformed.

"I think this is a new area of ​​genetics that needs to be studied seriously..."

Joseph was startled for a moment, raised his hand and said, "Wait, you said before that this beet suddenly appeared, the plant is very strong, the leaves are thick, and the leaves are dark in color?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

"And at the same time they can't breed with previous varieties?"

"indeed so."

Joseph smiled and said, "Mr. Archard, if I'm not mistaken, you should have obtained a tetraploid plant."

The botanist blinked in confusion: "What is, tetraploid?"

"Or maybe octoploid or hexadeploid." Joseph pulled out a piece of paper and began to recall his high school biology knowledge. "We need to start with chromosomes."

He picked up the pen and drew for a while: "Look, this is a plant cell. In the cell nucleus there is genetic material, that is, chromosomes.

"But there is more than one set of chromosomes in a cell nucleus.

“In some occasional cases, you can squeeze in two, four, or even dozens of groups.

“It doesn’t affect the species of plants, but it makes them behave differently.

“The typical situation is that the plants grow taller, the leaves become thicker and the yield increases.

"Well, you can even use artificial methods to induce polyploidy, but I only remember using colchicine, and the specific method is..."

Joseph realized that he had let something slip, and waved his hand, "Ah, that's not important. Do you understand the concept of polyploidy?" After Archard asked a few more questions, he finally nodded, "I think I know what polyploidy is, Your Highness."

"Okay, let's move on to the next question." Joseph drew a diagram of a tetraploid and a diploid. "These are plants of the same plant with different numbers of chromosomes. What do you think will happen if they cross-pollinate?"

Archard quickly drew inferences from his experience, and then said confidently: "It will produce a new triploid plant, Your Highness."

"That's right! Let's continue. What are the offspring of this triploid reproduction like?"

Archard frowned. "According to the 'meiosis' model you told me before, this plant should not be able to pair chromosomes... The odd-numbered chromosomes cannot be split evenly to combine new chromosomes to pass on to the next generation. Just like three socks cannot be paired into a pair of two..."

He suddenly looked at Joseph in shock: “You, you explained why the newly cultivated beets cannot reproduce with the previous varieties!

"Oh, God, I thought this was new territory. And you already knew why!"

Joseph smiled, made the sign of the cross on his chest, and said familiarly: "This is all God's revelation, I am just conveying it to you."

He changed the subject: "Although triploids cannot reproduce, they can grow normally. In other words, triploid beets can grow tubers.

“And the sugar is all in its roots.”

Joseph vaguely remembered that triploid and pentaploid plants, which were unable to reproduce, tended to grow stronger because they did not waste energy on seeds.

Archard's reaction was also very quick, and he immediately said:

“So, we can preserve diploid and tetraploid plants, and cultivate large quantities of triploid seeds in breeding laboratories and give them to farmers to plant.

“And they only get the tubers, but no seeds.”

With the limited area and all being managed by breeding laboratory personnel, it is almost impossible to smuggle beet plants.

Joseph nodded: "We can even sell the seeds directly to the Prussians."

Yes, Prussian farmers absolutely could not resist beet seeds with a sugar content of 12%.

It is foreseeable that it will not be long before all sugar refineries in Prussia will select machines and design production processes according to the sugar content of 12%.

After all, the cost and profit advantages are too great.

In this way, even if someone still has sugar beets with 8% sugar content, it will be difficult to find a sugar refinery to refine them.

Eventually, Prussia's beet sugar industry would become heavily dependent on French seeds.

France could then attach conditions when selling seeds - just as biotech companies did later.

For example, the produced sugarcane must be traded on the Paris Futures Exchange. Of course, in order to reduce transaction costs, a Bavarian Futures Exchange controlled by France can also be opened.

It was even stipulated in the seed contract that the produced sugarcane could not be sold to the UK.

The Prussian government also had to deploy police forces to ensure that no one defaulted. That was a matter of great importance to whether countless Prussian farmers could get seeds next year.

Well, Russia is also suitable for growing beets, and we can sell them as well.

In later generations, Russia became the country with the largest area of ​​sugar beet cultivation in Europe.

As sugar beet production continues to increase, the sugar franc will become more stable.

(End of this chapter)