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Implementation of New Plant Breeding Techniques (NPBTs) for dietary inulin
Inulin is a dietary fiber with health-promoting characteristics mainly targeted on gut health. Inulin is extracted from root chicory and used in many food products.
The yield and the length of the inulin molecule determines the value and health-beneficial character of this compound. Using NPBT we want to increase both the yield and the length of inulin. The natural production of terpenes in chicory makes the inulin extraction method less efficient and more costly. The other goal of WP2 is to reduce the production of natural chicory terpenes.
The work done during the first two years of the project CHIC shows that we could generate mutant chicory plants in which the genes encoding the inulin break-down enzymes are blocked using genome editing techniques thanks to the small alteration the CRISPR tools made in the plant DNA. All mutated plants have been analyzed in great detail on DNA level using various methods.
More news about this project:
What are New Plant Breeding Techniques (NPBTs)?
New Plant Breeding Techniques (NPBTs) are innovative tools that enable plant breeders to develop novel plant varieties that may provide solutions for environmental and food quality as well as food supply challenges.
Are you wondering why this European project is called CHIC?
CHIC is the Chicory Innovation Consortium. Its objective is to implement New Plant Breeding Techniques (NPBTs) in chicory in order to establish it as a multipurpose crop for the production of health-related products.
Postdoctoral position available at Lille University
A postdoctoral position is available in the group Evolutionary genomics of plant mating systems of the Evolution, Ecology, and Paleontology laboratory of the Lille University, directed by Prof Dr Xavier Vekemans.