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Home Technologies A novel method to increase plant stress-resistance and yield
A novel method to increase plant stress-resistance and yield

A novel method to increase plant stress-resistance and yield

Unmet Need

In 2023, as many as 333 million people were estimated to be acutely food insecure in the 78 countries with World Food Programme operations, more than doubling pre-pandemic levels. A major cause of food insecurity is the stressors that present challenges to crop growth. These stressors include both biotic stressors from pathogens and abiotic stressors from the environment. Climate change is aggravating these stressors with increasing temperature fluctuations, drought, floods, and pests. Transgenic crops, which have had their genetic material specifically modified, are a safe, fast, and sustainable way to enhance food production and relieve food insecurity. Transgenic crops can be engineered to innately tolerate biotic or abiotic stressors without the need for frequent high-cost external treatments, such as greenhouses and pesticides. Because they are specifically engineered, transgenic crops deliver improved plant varieties more quickly than conventional backcrossing, and their development is supported by the government to ensure safety. However, existing transgenic crops sacrifice crop yields for enhanced stress resistance. There is a need for crops that can resist environmental stresses while maintaining high crop yields. Additionally, there is a need for a transgenic technology that works across multiple species of plants.

Technology

Duke inventors have developed a mutant plant protein that makes plants both stress-resistant and high-yielding. The mutant protein is intended to be stably expressed in transgenic crops. Specifically, the inventors engineered a mutated version of Nonexpressor of Pathogenesis-Related genes 1 (NPR1), a protein that mediates immune responses in a wide range of plant species. This gene can currently be overexpressed in a variety of plant species to enhance their resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, though this inhibits plant growth. By introducing 3 mutations in NPR1, the inventors created a mutant called SBD-ANK locked (SAL), which is able to protect crops from biotic and abiotic stresses without inhibiting growth. This has been demonstrated in vivo in transgenic plants. When exposed to growth-inhibiting chemicals and pathogenic microorganisms, plants expressing SAL accumulated more biomass and experienced less cell death compared to plants expressing wildtype NPR1.

Other Applications

This technology could also be used to produce a kit that transiently expresses SAL in plants, as well as DNA vectors containing SAL. Beyond agriculture, this technology could be used to further research immune response pathways in plants.

Advantages

  • Protects plants against both biotic stresses from pathogens and abiotic stresses from the environment without inhibiting plant growth
  • Maintains high crop yields while enhancing stress responses
  • Reduces need for pesticides and fertilizers by utilizing native immune systems in crops
  • Genetic editing bypasses the need for conventional backcrossing and accelerates the delivery of improved plant varieties
  • Benefits a wide variety of crops, including high-acreage agronomic crops (rice, wheat, soybean, peanut, potato) and horticultural crops (grape, carrot, tomato, apple, citrus, tobacco, strawberry)

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