Duckweed: a model for phytoremediation technology

The Lemnaceae or duckweed family comprises 37 species of smallest and simplest flowering plants. Duckweeds have a fast growth rate, can survive under a wide range of temperature and pH conditions and are easy to maintain and harvest which makes them an excellent candidate for bioremediation of wastewaters. The main objective of the present review is to extend an appreciation for the potential of living and non-living biomass of duckweed in remediating waters contaminated with heavy metals. Along with showing the detailed mechanism of phytoremediation by duckweed, the paper also discusses the enhancement of duckweed phytoremediation by the integration of transgenic technology. Furthermore, the paper explores other applications of duckweed specifically as fuel, animal feed, in human nutrition, in medicine and as a life support system. Apart from this, various disposal mechanisms for harvested duckweed have been analysed. Current understanding of removal efficiencies of several contaminants by employing duckweed is limited mainly to laboratory experiments. More concentrated and persistent efforts to develop efficient approaches for the genetic transformation of duckweeds can expand the development and utilization of duckweeds.

Advances and Perspectives of Transgenic Technology and Biotechnological Application in Forest Trees

Transgenic technology is increasingly used in forest-tree breeding to overcome the disadvantages of traditional breeding methods, such as a long breeding cycle, complex cultivation environment, and complicated procedures. By introducing exogenous DNA, genes tightly related or contributed to ideal traits—including insect, disease, and herbicide resistance—were transferred into diverse forest trees, and genetically modified (GM) trees including poplars were cultivated. It is beneficial to develop new varieties of GM trees of high quality and promote the genetic improvement of forests. However, the low transformation efficiency has hampered the cultivation of GM trees and the identification of the molecular genetic mechanism in forest trees compared to annual herbaceous plants such as Oryza sativa. In this study, we reviewed advances in transgenic technology of forest trees, including the principles, advantages and disadvantages of diverse genetic transformation methods, and their application for trait improvement. The review provides insight into the establishment and improvement of genetic transformation systems for forest tree species. Challenges and perspectives pertaining to the genetic transformation of forest trees are also discussed.

Problems and perspectives in weed management

Despite the wide use of herbicides in the past century, their use is decreasing due to rising resistance phenomena, absence of discovery of new modes of actions and more regulatory restrictions. On the other hand, several tactics and technologies have developed recently providing alternatives from mechanical, cultural, robotic and natural products use perspectives, that could profitably enhance weed management within the agroecosystem and usher in a new paradigm of weed management that integrates chemical and non-chemical weed management practices. In the next future, herbicide will remain an important tool for weed management and will be increasingly complemented by other innovative tactics and tools in a IWM perspective. This integrated approach would thus preserve the chemical and transgenic technology for future generations.

Efficient genetic transformation method for Eucalyptus genome editing

Plantation forestry of Eucalyptus urophylla × Eucalyptus grandis supplies high-quality raw material for pulp, paper, wood, and energy and thereby reduces the pressures on native forests and their associated biodiversity. Nevertheless, owing to the heterozygosity of the E. urophylla × E. grandis genetic background, germplasm improvement by crossbreeding tends to be inefficient. As an alternative approach, genetic engineering of Eucalyptus can be used to effectively improve germplasm resources. From a strategic standpoint, increasing the plantation productivity and wood quality by transgenic technology has become increasingly important for forest industry. In this study, we established a fluorescence labelling method using CRISPR/Cas9 technology to obtain positive transformed progenies. The positive transformed progenies were easily obtained from the genetically modified population via fluorescence screening. This system can be used as a plant genome site-specific editing tool and may be useful for improving Eucalyptus genetic resources.

Efficiency in nitrogen management using conventional and transgenic technology in the cultivation of maize

The objective to evaluate the maize yield components as a function of the top-dressing nitrogen partitioning in maize plants with conventional and transgenic technology. The experiment was carried out in the agricultural crops of 2012/2013 and 2013/2014, in the municipality of Tenente Portela-RS, Brazil. The experiment was set up in a randomized block design in a factorial scheme with two genetic technologies x 11 nitrogen fertilization treatments, arranged in three replications. The treatments were composed of top-dressing applications in the phenological stages V2 - two fully expanded leaves, (V2), V4 - four fully expanded leaves, (V4), V6 - six fully expanded leaves (V6) and V8 - with eight fully expanded leaves (V8) and split applications in V2+V4; V2+V6; V2+V8; V4+V6; V4+V8; V6+V8; and V2+V4+V6+V8. There was interaction between genetic technologies and levels of nitrogen fertilization in the maize crop. The highest grain yield was obtained with conventional technology because it presented plants with greater prolificacy, ear diameter and number of grains per row. Grain yield was superior with nitrogen fertilization in V4 and in nitrogen splitting in the V4 + V6, V4 + V8 and V2 + V4 + V6 + V8 stages.

Inadvertent nucleotide sequence alterations during mutagenesis: highlighting the vulnerabilities in mouse transgenic technology

In the last three decades, researchers have utilized genome engineering to alter the DNA sequence in the living cells of a plethora of organisms, ranging from plants, fishes, mice, to even humans. This has been conventionally achieved by using methodologies such as single nucleotide insertion/deletion in coding sequences, exon(s) deletion, mutations in the promoter region, introducing stop codon for protein truncation, and addition of foreign DNA for functional elucidation of genes. However, recent years have witnessed the advent of novel techniques that use programmable site-specific nucleases like CRISPR/Cas9, TALENs, ZFNs, Cre/loxP system, and gene trapping. These have revolutionized the field of experimental transgenesis as well as contributed to the existing knowledge base of classical genetics and gene mapping. Yet there are certain experimental/technological barriers that we have been unable to cross while creating genetically modified organisms. Firstly, while interfering with coding strands, we inadvertently change introns, antisense strands, and other non-coding elements of the gene and genome that play integral roles in the determination of cellular phenotype. These unintended modifications become critical because introns and other non-coding elements, although traditionally regarded as “junk DNA,” have been found to play a major regulatory role in genetic pathways of several crucial cellular processes, development, homeostasis, and diseases. Secondly, post-insertion of transgene, non-coding RNAs are generated by host organism against the inserted foreign DNA or from the inserted transgene/construct against the host genes. The potential contribution of these non-coding RNAs to the resulting phenotype has not been considered. We aim to draw attention to these inherent flaws in the transgenic technology being employed to generate mutant mice and other model organisms. By overlooking these aspects of the whole gene and genetic makeup, perhaps our current understanding of gene function remains incomplete. Thus, it becomes important that, while using genetic engineering techniques to generate a mutant organism for a particular gene, we should carefully consider all the possible elements that may play a potential role in the resulting phenotype. This perspective highlights the commonly used mouse strains and the most probable associated complexities that have not been considered previously, resulting in possible limitations in the currently utilized transgenic technology. This work also warrants the use of already established mouse lines in further research.

TT2020 meeting report on the 16th Transgenic Technology Meeting

The 16th transgenic technology (TT) meeting of the International Society of Transgenic technology (ISTT) took place on October 26–29th 2020 and was quite unique as it was the first-ever virtual meeting in the history of ISTT events. Dr. Rebecca Haffner-Krausz at Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, was the local organizer of the meeting, which attracted 756 registered participants from 32 different countries.