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XI International Agriculture Symposium – AGROSYM 2020
In the article “Metabolic Engineering in Chicory by CRISPR/Cas9 Editing”, presented at the XI International Agriculture Symposium “AGROSYM 2020”, held virtually on 8-9th of October 2020, a recently popular gene editing technique was used to alter chicory genes involved in the metabolism of bitter compounds that belong to the group of terpenoids.
This CRISPR/Cas9 editing technique is a scientific tool that enables a very precise genome editing, the importance of which is reflected in the fact that it’s discovery earned this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The technique was used to edit chicory genes that produce bioactive but bitter compounds, with the purpose to obtain chicory varieties with less bitter taste and varieties in which the industrial extraction of inulin, an important prebiotic fiber and sweetener, is facilitated.
Gene editing in chicory was successful and we were able to confirm and characterize three mutated plants, which will be used further to reach the goals of the CHIC project. We also improved the way we detect these mutants by using a combination of PCR methods and enzymatic cutting of mutations introduced into the DNA by CRISPR/Cas9. These improvements enable a faster and more sensitive detection of mutated plants which will be important for ongoing research on CHIC.
For more information about the project, please visit us at http://chicproject.eu/
To find out more about the event, please visit http://agrosym.ues.rs.ba/index.php/en/
More news about this project:
Urgent scientific advances for Spanish agriculture: Genetic editing proposal under debate in the EU
The European Union faces a crucial decision on the use of plants developed with New Genomic Techniques (NGTs) in agriculture before the upcoming elections.
Avances científicos urgentes para la agricultura española: Propuesta de edición genética en debate en la UE
La Unión Europea se enfrenta a la crucial decisión sobre la utilización de Plantas obtenidas con Nuevas Técnicas Genómicas (NGT) en la agricultura antes de las próximas elecciones.
Researchers make chicory plants without bitter compounds using CRISPR/Cas method
Researchers have used new breeding techniques to develop a chicory variety that no longer contains bitter compounds. The research consortium published their results in the Plant Biotechnology Journal.
