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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Albany, California » Western Regional Research Center » Crop Improvement and Genetics Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #327693
Title: Advancing Crop Transformation in the Era of Genome Editing

Author
item ALPETER, FREDY - University Of Florida
item SPRINGER, NATHAN - University Of Minnesota
item BARTLEY, LAURA - University Of Oklahoma
item Blechl, Ann
item BRUTNELL, THOMAS - Danforth Plant Science Center
item CITOVSKY, VITALY - Stoneybrook University
item CONRAD, LISA - Eckerd College
item GELVIN, STANTON - Purdue University
item JACKSON, DAVID - Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
item KAUSCH, ALBERT - University Of Rhode Island
item LEMAUX, PEGGY - University Of California
item MEDFORD, JUNE - Colorado State University
item OROZCO-CARDENAS, MARTHA - University Of California
item TRICOLI, DAVID - University Of California
item VAN ECK, JOYCE - Boyce Thompson Institute
item VOYTAS, DANIEL - University Of Minnesota
item WALBOT, VIRGINIA - Stanford University
item WANG, KAN - Iowa State University
item ZHANG, ZHANYUAN - University Of Missouri
item STEWART, C. NEAL - University Of Tennessee

Submitted to: The Plant Cell
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/14/2016
Publication Date: 6/22/2016
Citation: Alpeter, F., Springer, N., Bartley, L., Blechl, A.E., Brutnell, T., Citovsky, V., Conrad, L., Gelvin, S., Jackson, D., Kausch, A., Lemaux, P., Medford, J., Orozco-Cardenas, M., Tricoli, D., Van Eck, J., Voytas, D., Walbot, V., Wang, K., Zhang, Z., Stewart, C. 2016. Advancing Crop Transformation in the Era of Genome Editing. The Plant Cell. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1105/tpc.16.00196.

Interpretive Summary: The ability to add new genes to plants via genetic transformation has been used in basic biology to study gene function and in commercial agriculture to make crops resistant to herbicides, drought and/or viruses. Unfortunately, for most crops, transformation and regeneration of whole plants from cells or cell clusters are very difficult and inefficient. Genome editing is a powerful new technology that allows directed changes to be made in genes in their native chromosome locations. However, it relies on both genetic transformation and plant regeneration, and these have become bottlenecks to harnessing genome editing to increase crop productivity. This paper reviews the state of plant transformation and proposes innovations that will be needed to get past these bottlenecks. Plant tissue culture methods need optimization and simplification to save time and labor and to allow for eventual automation. Plant and microbial genetics and synthetic biology point to ways that the transfer of DNA from microbes to plant cells could be made more efficient. Also assessed is the role that public plant transformation facilities in the U.S. currently play and could potentially play in improving the technology. We conclude that advances in any or all of these aspects of plant transformation would greatly enhance the potential of genome editing to leverage genome sequence information into gains in yield, environmental resiliency, and sustainability of our crops.

Technical Abstract: Plant transformation has enabled fundamental insights into plant biology and revolutionized commercial agriculture. Unfortunately, for most crops, transformation and regeneration remain arduous even after more than thirty years of technological advances. Genome editing provides new opportunities to enhance crop productivity, but relies on genetic transformation and plant regeneration, which are bottlenecks in the process. Herein we review the state of plant transformation and point to innovations needed to enable genome editing in crops. Plant tissue culture methods need optimization and simplification for efficiency and minimal time in culture. Single cell and robotic techniques should be developed for high throughput genomic screens. Utilization of plant genes involved in developmental reprogramming, wound response, and/or homologous recombination could boost recovery of transformed plants. Engineering universal Agrobacterium strains and recruitment of other microbes, such as Ensifer or Rhizobium, could facilitate delivery of DNA and proteins into plant cells. Synthetic biology should be employed for de novo design of transformation systems. Finally, we examine public transformation facilities in the U. S. as a case study to assess the role played by infrastructure. Genome editing is a potential game-changer in crop genetics when plant transformation systems are optimized.