This novel system for genetic engineering in plants makes it easy to add and study multiple genes at once, doubling the speed and halving the cost of plant transformation. This genetic engineering system uses a novel split selectable marker to insert multiple genes into a plant cell simultaneously. This means you only need one marker to select and track the success of adding these genes. It also allows easy identification of transgenic events – identifying which plants have the new genes – using the naked eye through visualization of two reporters: RUBY, which turns the leaf red under white light, and GFPuv, which causes the plant to glow green under UV light.
This technique is particularly adept at several uses: For example, trait stacking, which incorporates multiple desirable traits such as disease resistance or drought tolerance and increased yield into a single crop variety; functional genomics, to study how different genes work together in a plant, providing insights into the functions of genes; pathway engineering, such as modifying metabolic pathways or engineering new pathways by co-expressing multiple genes involved in the same biochemical pathway; and multi-gene editing in which a large number of genes can be modified easily using advanced techniques such as CRISPR/Cas-based systems.
This plant co-transformation system offers a powerful tool for improving plants and understanding their genetic functions with applications for plant science, agriculture, forestry, bioenergy, biomaterials and climate change mitigation.
The Biological and Environmental Research program in DOE’s Office of Science provided funding for this research.
ORNL’s Xiaohan Yang led development with Guoliang Yuan, Gerald Tuskan, Md Mahmudul Hassan and Haiwei Lu, also from ORNL.