December 2022 - 15

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 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.
What is
PlantGENE?
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.
" 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, " she said, " a grower
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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
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 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, " she
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
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December 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of December 2022
