scholarly journals Plastid Transformation: How Does it Work? Can it Be Applied to Crops? What Can it Offer?

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (14) ◽  
pp. 4854 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yihe Yu ◽  
Po-Cheng Yu ◽  
Wan-Jung Chang ◽  
Keke Yu ◽  
Choun-Sea Lin
Keyword(s):  
Chloroplast Genome ◽  
Genome Engineering ◽  
Agronomic Traits ◽  
Crop Improvement ◽  
Plastid Transformation ◽  
Nuclear Genome ◽  
Regeneration Ability ◽  
Protein Accumulation ◽  
Nuclear Transformation ◽  
Alternative Means

In recent years, plant genetic engineering has advanced agriculture in terms of crop improvement, stress and disease resistance, and pharmaceutical biosynthesis. Cells from land plants and algae contain three organelles that harbor DNA: the nucleus, plastid, and mitochondria. Although the most common approach for many plant species is the introduction of foreign DNA into the nucleus (nuclear transformation) via Agrobacterium- or biolistics-mediated delivery of transgenes, plastid transformation offers an alternative means for plant transformation. Since there are many copies of the chloroplast genome in each cell, higher levels of protein accumulation can often be achieved from transgenes inserted in the chloroplast genome compared to the nuclear genome. Chloroplasts are therefore becoming attractive hosts for the introduction of new agronomic traits, as well as for the biosynthesis of high-value pharmaceuticals, biomaterials and industrial enzymes. This review provides a comprehensive historical and biological perspective on plastid transformation, with a focus on current and emerging approaches such as the use of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) as DNA delivery vehicles, overexpressing morphogenic regulators to enhance regeneration ability, applying genome editing techniques to accelerate double-stranded break formation, and reconsidering protoplasts as a viable material for plastid genome engineering, even in transformation-recalcitrant species.

scholarly journals Precision Genome Engineering Through Cytidine Base Editing in Rapeseed (Brassica napus. L)

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Limin Hu ◽  
Olalekan Amoo ◽  
Qianqian Liu ◽  
Shengli Cai ◽  
Miaoshan Zhu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genome Engineering ◽  
Molecular Breeding ◽  
Target Genes ◽  
Agronomic Traits ◽  
Crop Improvement ◽  
Brassica Napus L ◽  
Editing Efficiency ◽  
Base Editing ◽  
Expected Gain ◽  
Genome Wide

Rapeseed is one of the world's most important sources of oilseed crops. Single nucleotide substitution is the basis of most genetic variation underpinning important agronomic traits. Therefore, genome-wide and target-specific base editing will greatly facilitate precision plant molecular breeding. In this study, four CBE systems (BnPBE, BnA3A-PBE, BnA3A1-PBE, and BnPBGE14) were modified to achieve cytidine base editing at five target genes in rapeseed. The results indicated that genome editing is achievable in three CBEs systems, among which BnA3A1-PBE had the highest base-editing efficiency (average 29.8% and up to 50.5%) compared to all previous CBEs reported in rapeseed. The editing efficiency of BnA3A1-PBE is ~8.0% and fourfold higher, than those of BnA3A-PBE (averaging 27.6%) and BnPBE (averaging 6.5%), respectively. Moreover, BnA3A1-PBE and BnA3A-PBE could significantly increase the proportion of both the homozygous and biallelic genotypes, and also broaden the editing window compared to BnPBE. The cytidine substitution which occurred at the target sites of both BnaA06.RGA and BnaALS were stably inherited and conferred expected gain-of-function phenotype in the T1 generation (i.e., dwarf phenotype or herbicide resistance for weed control, respectively). Moreover, new alleles or epialleles with expected phenotype were also produced, which served as an important resource for crop improvement. Thus, the improved CBE system in the present study, BnA3A1-PBE, represents a powerful base editor for both gene function studies and molecular breeding in rapeseed.

SCREENING OF CHLOROPLAST PROMOTERS FOR HEVEA BRASILIENSIS CHLOROPLAST TRANSFORMATION

2015 ◽  
Vol 77 (24) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anas Akmal Ag. Ismail ◽  
Zaima Azira Zainal Abidin ◽  
Zarina Zainuddin
Keyword(s):  
Recombinant Protein ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Recombinant Proteins ◽  
Hevea Brasiliensis ◽  
Agronomic Traits ◽  
Chloroplast Transformation ◽  
Foreign Protein ◽  
Protein Accumulation ◽  
Nuclear Transformation ◽  
Single Chain

In recent years, the growth in the use of recombinant proteins has grown tremendously. With the aid of the advances in DNA recombinant biotechnology, molecular farming in plants has been applied to meet this increasing demand where plants have emerged as one of the most promising general production platforms for recombinant proteins. Hevea brasiliensis is one of the main commodities in Malaysia and widely cultivated species for commercial production of latex. This important plant has been used to express recombinant proteins such as a single-chain variable fragment (scFv) antibody against the coat protein of Streptococcus gordonii (an oral dental bacterium), human serum albumin and human atrial natriuretic. The genes that encodes for the recombinant proteins were targeted into the nucleus genome of Hevea but the proteins were expressed in low concentration. Generating transgenic plant using chloroplast transformation offers many advantages in comparison to nuclear transformation and many researches have been made to apply this strategy to enhance agronomic traits or produce recombinant protein in several plant species. Since chloroplast is highly polyploidy, it allows high-level foreign protein expression. Given the generally very high foreign protein accumulation rates that can be achieved in transgenic chloroplasts, the aim of this study is to screen a number of chosen endogenous Hevea chloroplast promoters to drive the expression of the reporter gene, uidA for Hevea specific chloroplast transformation vector. Three promoters were chosen for this experiment which are; rbcL, psbA and rrn16 promoters. The putative regions of these promoters were derived from the chloroplast genome sequence of Hevea. Analyses of the three putative promoter regions using multiple sequence alignment with comparable regions from other plant species show significant sequence homology. Further analyses of the putative regions using in-vitro transcription are planned for future study. It is hoped that with the development of an optimized expression vector will allow high expression of valuable recombinant protein in the chloroplast of Hevea.

scholarly journals Potential of chloroplast genome in plant breeding

2010 ◽  
Vol 46 (No. 3) ◽  
pp. 103-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Řepková
Keyword(s):  
Chloroplast Genome ◽  
Transgene Expression ◽  
Animal Cell ◽  
Nuclear Genome ◽  
Pathogen Resistance ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Human Interferon ◽  
Protein Accumulation ◽  
High Accumulation ◽  
Wide Range

Chloroplast engineering (or chloroplast transformation technology, CTT) is a strategy consisting of inserting a transgene into the chloroplast genome of a plant instead of its nuclear genome. CTT brings advantages such as control of the site of gene insertion, high rates of transgene expression and protein accumulation, lack of transmission of the transgene via pollen due to the fact that plastid genes are maternally inherited and an absence of epigenetic effects. Tobacco remains the species most amenable to CTT to date, although chloroplast genetic engineering has also been achieved successfully in crops such as maize, tomato, cotton, potato, rice and sugar beets. Improving agricultural traits such as herbicide and pathogen resistance, resistance to drought, salt tolerance and phytoremediation potential are all promising applications. Molecular pharming is another area of chloroplast engineering with high potential; the production of a wide range of products such as vaccine antigens, pharmaceutical proteins (human somatotropin, human serum albumin, human interferon, monoclonal antibodies) and industrial proteins (avidin, beta casein, liquid crystal polymers, xylanase, anthranilate synthase) is economically beneficial in comparison with bacterial cultivation or animal cell cultures. This review summarises the current status of CCT and its potential economic impact from the viewpoint of high levels of transgene expression and high accumulation of foreign proteins.  

Bacillus thuringiensis cry1C expression from the plastid genome of poplar leads to high mortality of leaf-eating caterpillars

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (9) ◽  
pp. 1525-1532 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuyong Wu ◽  
Letian Xu ◽  
Ling Chang ◽  
Meiqi Ma ◽  
Lili You ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bacillus Thuringiensis ◽  
Plastid Genome ◽  
Genome Engineering ◽  
Plastid Transformation ◽  
Nuclear Transformation ◽  
Hyphantria Cunea ◽  
Forest Pests ◽  
Transformation Protocol ◽  
Young Leaves ◽  
Low Levels

AbstractPlastid transformation technology has several attractive features compared with traditional nuclear transformation technology. However, only a handful of species are able to be successfully transformed. Here, we report an efficient and stable plastid transformation protocol for poplar, an economically important tree species grown worldwide. We transformed the Bacillus thuringiensis cry1C gene into the poplar plastid genome, and homoplasmic transplastomic poplar was obtained after two to three rounds of regeneration under antibiotic selection for 7–12 months. The transplastomic poplar expressing Cry1C insecticidal protein showed the highest accumulation level in young leaves, which reached up to 20.7 μg g-1 fresh weight, and comparatively low levels in mature and old leaves, and hardly detectable levels in non-green tissues, such as phloem, xylem and roots. Transplastomic poplar showed high toxicity to Hyphantria cunea and Lymantria dispar, two notorious forest pests worldwide, without affecting plant growth. These results are the first successful examples of insect-resistant poplar generation by plastid genome engineering and provide a new avenue for future genetic improvement of poplar plants.

Recombinant Protein Production in Microalgae: Emerging Trends

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niaz Ahmad ◽  
Muhammad Aamer Mehmood ◽  
Sana Malik
Keyword(s):  
Chloroplast Genome ◽  
Recombinant Proteins ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Higher Plants ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Chloroplast Transformation ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Nuclear Transformation ◽  
Scale Production ◽  
Algal Chloroplast

: In recent years, microalgae have emerged as an alternative platform for large-scale production of recombinant proteins for different commercial applications. As a production platform, it has several advantages, including rapid growth, easily scale up and ability to grow with or without the external carbon source. Genetic transformation of several species has been established. Of these, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii has become significantly attractive for its potential to express foreign proteins inexpensively. All its three genomes – nuclear, mitochondrial and chloroplastic – have been sequenced. As a result, a wealth of information about its genetic machinery, protein expression mechanism (transcription, translation and post-translational modifications) is available. Over the years, various molecular tools have been developed for the manipulation of all these genomes. Various studies show that the transformation of the chloroplast genome has several advantages over nuclear transformation from the biopharming point of view. According to a recent survey, over 100 recombinant proteins have been expressed in algal chloroplasts. However, the expression levels achieved in the algal chloroplast genome are generally lower compared to the chloroplasts of higher plants. Work is therefore needed to make the algal chloroplast transformation commercially competitive. In this review, we discuss some examples from the algal research, which could play their role in making algal chloroplast commercially successful.

scholarly journals Integration of high-density genetic mapping with transcriptome analysis uncovers numerous agronomic QTL and reveals candidate genes for the control of tillering in sorghum

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajanikanth Govindarajulu ◽  
Ashley N Hostetler ◽  
Yuguo Xiao ◽  
Srinivasa R Chaluvadi ◽  
Margarita Mauro-Herrera ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Agronomic Traits ◽  
Interspecific Cross ◽  
Crop Improvement ◽  
Differentially Expressed ◽  
Plant Domestication ◽  
Sorghum Propinquum ◽  
Ril Population ◽  
Trait Locus ◽  
Genomic Regions ◽  
Low Coverage

Abstract Phenotypes such as branching, photoperiod sensitivity, and height were modified during plant domestication and crop improvement. Here, we perform quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping of these and other agronomic traits in a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population derived from an interspecific cross between Sorghum propinquum and Sorghum bicolor inbred Tx7000. Using low-coverage Illumina sequencing and a bin-mapping approach, we generated ∼1920 bin markers spanning ∼875 cM. Phenotyping data were collected and analyzed from two field locations and one greenhouse experiment for six agronomic traits, thereby identifying a total of 30 QTL. Many of these QTL were penetrant across environments and co-mapped with major QTL identified in other studies. Other QTL uncovered new genomic regions associated with these traits, and some of these were environment-specific in their action. To further dissect the genetic underpinnings of tillering, we complemented QTL analysis with transcriptomics, identifying 6189 genes that were differentially expressed during tiller bud elongation. We identified genes such as Dormancy Associated Protein 1 (DRM1) in addition to various transcription factors that are differentially expressed in comparisons of dormant to elongating tiller buds and lie within tillering QTL, suggesting that these genes are key regulators of tiller elongation in sorghum. Our study demonstrates the usefulness of this RIL population in detecting domestication and improvement-associated genes in sorghum, thus providing a valuable resource for genetic investigation and improvement to the sorghum community.

scholarly journals Recent advances in CRISPR/Cas9 and applications for wheat functional genomics and breeding

aBIOTECH ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Li ◽  
Yan Li ◽  
Ligeng Ma
Keyword(s):  
Functional Genomics ◽  
Genome Editing ◽  
Functional Annotation ◽  
Genome Engineering ◽  
Agronomic Traits ◽  
Wheat Breeding ◽  
Breeding Programs ◽  
Base Editing ◽  
The World ◽  
World Food Security

AbstractCommon wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the three major food crops in the world; thus, wheat breeding programs are important for world food security. Characterizing the genes that control important agronomic traits and finding new ways to alter them are necessary to improve wheat breeding. Functional genomics and breeding in polyploid wheat has been greatly accelerated by the advent of several powerful tools, especially CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technology, which allows multiplex genome engineering. Here, we describe the development of CRISPR/Cas9, which has revolutionized the field of genome editing. In addition, we emphasize technological breakthroughs (e.g., base editing and prime editing) based on CRISPR/Cas9. We also summarize recent applications and advances in the functional annotation and breeding of wheat, and we introduce the production of CRISPR-edited DNA-free wheat. Combined with other achievements, CRISPR and CRISPR-based genome editing will speed progress in wheat biology and promote sustainable agriculture.

scholarly journals Research and Application of Molecular and Phenotypic Data for Tree Biodiversity Evaluation

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 564
Author(s):  
Gaetano Distefano
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Agronomic Traits ◽  
Crop Improvement ◽  
Phenotypic Data ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Biotic Stresses ◽  
Tree Crop ◽  
Ecological Habitats

The main challenges for tree crop improvement are linked to the sustainable development of agro-ecological habitats, improving the adaptability to limiting environmental factors and resistance to biotic stresses or promoting novel genotypes with improved agronomic traits [...]

scholarly journals Comparative analysis of chloroplast genomes of cultivars and wild species of sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas [L.] Lam)

BMC Genomics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shizhuo Xiao ◽  
Pan Xu ◽  
Yitong Deng ◽  
Xibin Dai ◽  
Lukuan Zhao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Genetic Structure ◽  
Chloroplast Genome ◽  
Wild Species ◽  
Ipomoea Batatas ◽  
Nuclear Genome ◽  
Ipomoea Trifida ◽  
Chloroplast Markers ◽  
Chloroplast Genomes ◽  
Chloroplast Dna Markers

Abstract Background Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas [L.] Lam.) is an important food crop. However, the genetic information of the nuclear genome of this species is difficult to determine accurately because of its large genome and complex genetic background. This drawback has limited studies on the origin, evolution, genetic diversity and other relevant studies on sweetpotato. Results The chloroplast genomes of 107 sweetpotato cultivars were sequenced, assembled and annotated. The resulting chloroplast genomes were comparatively analysed with the published chloroplast genomes of wild species of sweetpotato. High similarity and certain specificity were found among the chloroplast genomes of Ipomoea spp. Phylogenetic analysis could clearly distinguish wild species from cultivars. Ipomoea trifida and Ipomoea tabascana showed the closest relationship with the cultivars, and different haplotypes of ycf1 could be used to distinguish the cultivars from their wild relatives. The genetic structure was analyzed using variations in the chloroplast genome. Compared with traditional nuclear markers, the chloroplast markers designed based on the InDels on the chloroplast genome showed significant advantages. Conclusions Comparative analysis of chloroplast genomes of 107 cultivars and several wild species of sweetpotato was performed to help analyze the evolution, genetic structure and the development of chloroplast DNA markers of sweetpotato.

scholarly journals Gene targeting facilitated by engineered sequence-specific nucleases and its potential for applications in crop improvement

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daisuke Miki ◽  
Rui Wang ◽  
Jing Li ◽  
Dali Kong ◽  
Lei Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Targeting ◽  
Agronomic Traits ◽  
Higher Plants ◽  
Crop Improvement ◽  
Strand Break ◽  
End Joining ◽  
Homology Directed Repair ◽  
Target Dna ◽  
Targeted Gene Editing ◽  
Non Homologous End Joining

Abstract Humans are currently facing the problem of how to ensure that there is enough food to feed all of the world’s population. Ensuring that the food supply is sufficient will likely require the modification of crop genomes to improve their agronomic traits. The development of engineered sequence-specific nucleases (SSNs) paved the way for targeted gene editing in organisms, including plants. SSNs generate a double-strand break (DSB) at the target DNA site in a sequence-specific manner. These DSBs are predominantly repaired via error-prone non-homologous end joining (NHEJ), and are only rarely repaired via error-free homology-directed repair (HDR) if an appropriate donor template is provided. Gene targeting (GT), i.e., the integration or replacement of a particular sequence, can be achieved with combinations of SSNs and repair donor templates. Although its efficiency is extremely low, GT has been achieved in some higher plants. Here, we provide an overview of SSN-facilitated GT in higher plants and discuss the potential of GT as a powerful tool for generating crop plants with desirable features.

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