December 2022 - 20

PLANT & SOIL HEALTH
PlantGENE seeks to elevate genetic engineering
What is
By Gary Pullano
VGN Senior Correspondent
A new organization consisting of plant
biotechnologists is working to accelerate
the development of new plant varieties
to meet demand in coming decades. It's a
project organizers believe will positively
impact growers' ability to enhance crop
production amid intensifying resource and
climate challenges.
" The global capacity to produce plants
using genetic engineering is critically short
of demand, " said Joyce Van Eck, associate
professor at the Boyce Thompson Institute
(BTI). " There are too few facilities and
people with the expertise to perform this
work, which is having a negative impact on
plant science research worldwide. "
Van Eck was the featured presenter in
an August BTI webinar titled, " Feeding the
Plant Through Plant Biotechnology. "
Biotechnology is key to crop
improvement, enabling researchers
to determine the functions of genes,
which can then be bred into crops
using traditional methods or modern
engineering methods. Unfortunately,
there is a big bottleneck: There aren't
enough service providers to deliver
genetically engineered plants to the
research community, nor are there enough
scientists trained to engineer the plants.
To overcome this logjam, Van Eck
was awarded a $500,000 grant (IOS
2210962) from the U.S. National Science
Foundation (NSF) to create the Plant
Genetic Engineering Network Research
Coordination Network (PlantGENE).
PlantGENE is a network of plant
biotechnologists that will work
together to facilitate the sharing of
technology, knowledge and protocols.
The community-driven initiative also
will have a website (plantgene.atlassian.
net/wiki/spaces/PH/overview) to serve
as a repository of protocols, and the
organization will host workshops and
master classes to train people on how to
engineer different species.
" PlantGENE will be a catalyst to
bring groups together to tackle issues
related to plant biotechnology and crop
improvement, " Van Eck said. " The network
will help increase capacity for plant
genetic engineering, coordinate facilities
to work together and train new scientists
who can become experts in plant genetic
engineering techniques.
" Ultimately, PlantGENE will increase
capacity for delivering genetically
engineered plants to the research
community, " said Van Eck, who is also
an adjunct assistant professor in the
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
at Cornell University.
A coordinator for PlantGENE, to be
located at BTI, will work with facility
managers at different facilities to
streamline communication among the
network, universities, private sector and
international organizations.
" This person will make BTI the hub
of a network coordinating training and
workshops to get more people doing plant
biotechnology, " Van Eck said.
The PlantGENE steering committee
includes Van Eck, Veena Veena and Nigel
Taylor of the Danforth Plant Science
Center, Heidi Kaeppler of the University
of Wisconsin, Keunsub Lee of Iowa State
University, Wayne Parrott of the University
of Georgia, and Bill Gordon-Kamm of
Corteva Agriscience.
An online launch event for
PlantGENE was in early October to
gain more input from the research
community and other stakeholders.
Effort keys on genetics
" Genetic engineering is similar to
plant breeding where it's the art and
science of changing plants to produce
the desired characteristics, " Van Eck said.
" This is done in the lab so it's different
from plant breeding which is done in the
field. Genetic engineering is a really a
very key part of the functional genomics
part of this toolbox of what we can use
for crop improvement. "
Van Eck pointed to " the newest tool on
INCREASED
FAN COVERAGE,
LONGER FRUIT BUD
PROTECTION!
* Exclusive trailing edge wedge increases
fan area coverage - 43% more
* 60 second mixing air movement on
fruit bud - 72% more
* 80 degree sector angle coverage -
largest in industry
* Faster temperature rise on
orchard floor - warmer air
draw from higher up in
atmosphere - more air
movement directly under
the fan
the scene, " CRISPR gene editing, a genetic
engineering technique in molecular
biology by which the genomes of living
organisms may be modified. It is based
on a simplified version of the bacterial
CRISPR-Cas9 antiviral defense system.
" There are natural mutants that occur in
a plant species, " such as tomatoes, she said.
" There are some (tomatoes) more
compact or easier to grow. They're called
determinant. The determinant is more
compact when compared to the wild, long,
crazy-growing tomatoes. That was due to a
natural mutation that happened in a field
back in the late 1920s.
" Over time, " Van Eck said, " a grower saw
this more compact plant, and identified
what gene was involved. Then, breeders
started to use this mutant as source for their
plants, especially for commercial tomato
breeders. You can make the plants more
manageable and more realistic to grow in. "
That is the how she views CRISPR
Stainless steel
engine hoods
Standard equipment, no additional charge
Phone: 509-248-0318
Email: hfhauff@gmail.com
Web: www.hfhauff.com
20 | FruitGrowersNews.com
H.F.HAUFF
COMPANY INC.
technology - " a way to create these precise
mutations that can help benefit different
characteristics that people want to achieve. "
She said this can be a rapid process to
fast track improvement of the species.
" We need to take advantage of
whatever we can to make sure we have a
secure food supply. "
There is a significant need to diversify
the food supply and " explore the potential
other plant species that we could look at
The Plant Genetic Engineering
Network (PlantGENE) Research
Coordination Network recognizes
that plant transformation has
been a major bottleneck for
gene functional analysis and
crop improvement applications.
PlantGENE will facilitate
technology and research
coordination to improve plant
transformation capacity.
* PlantGENE is a
community-driven network
to share technologies and
exchange ideas.
* The effort facilitates
research coordination
to tackle existing or
new barriers for plant
transformation.
* It will foster collaboration
to broaden participation and
increase diversity in plant
biotechnology.
PlantGENE?
to improve, and it's amazing that there are
50,000 potential edible plant species and
we rely on just 15 of those for the majority
of our source of calories, " she said.
Climate change and increased pest and
disease pressures adds to the onus put
on researchers not only to investigate the
potential for new crops, but to seek ways to
stabilize current plant-based food sources.
" That's where I see plant biology as a
tool. It's exploring the options we have
to help with that food security, " Van Eck
said. " I'm not sure how many people
are aware that, as the climate changes,
pests and pathogens are expanding their
reach. You get fungal pathogens in places
where they (weren't) before, and then
times of the year where they didn't used
to be a problem. "
Diane Jofuku Okamuro, program
director at NSF, said PlantGENE aligns
with the agency's history of supporting
research on plants, their genomes and their
role in our ecosystems and food systems.
" Connecting researchers with tools to test
and validate the function of genes is critical
to our ability to translate agriculturally
relevant plant research into applications
as demands on crop production increase
and our climate changes. NSF is proud to
support PlantGENE in doing that, " said
Okamuro. FGN
http://www.hfhauff.com http://www.FruitGrowersNews.com
December 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of December 2022
