Increasing crop yield is the issue that breeders pay most attention on throughout the existence of agriculture. In view of the constant growth population all over the word, this issue is becoming more and more relevant.
Plant accumulates organic matters mainly through photosynthesis, which happens in chloroplasts. Due to the rapid development of molecular biological tools, exogenous genes can be introduced into chloroplast genome, as well as duplication and deletion of endogenous genes. Plants are genetically modified to accumulate more useful compounds and products they don't naturally produce.
Compared with nuclear genome, chloroplast genome has advantages, including high-level expression of exogenous genes, muti-gene expression and avoiding damage from compound accumulation. Additionally, in most flowering plants, chloroplasts are not inherited from the male parent, which means transgenes can't be disseminated by pollen and will not bring potential genetic pollution.
With gene editing technology, organisms can be genetically modified to have optimized traits useful for various applications. Such as improved accumulation of useful compound, increased nutrition content, reduction of toxic and many other traits.
Here is the list of improved traits by gene editing in chloroplasts of plants. With gene editing technology, gene encoding proteins or enzymes related to producing nutrient like fatty acid, carbohydrate and vitamin can be inserted into chloroplast genome.
| Transgenes | Traits |
|---|---|
| phaA | Engineered cytoplasmic male sterility |
| RbcS | Restoration of RuBisCO activity |
| TC, γ -TMT | Vitamin E accumulation |
| CrtZ, CrtW | Accumulation of astaxanthin fatty acid esters |
| BicA | CO2 capture within leaf chloroplasts |
| Trx f, Trx m | Starch synthesis; chloroplast redox regulation |
| CV-N | Expression of CV-N in chloroplasts |
| Bgl-1 | Increased β-Glucosidase |
| ubiC | pHBA polymer accumulation |
| man 1 | Increased mannanase |
| PMK, MVK, MDD | Artemisinic acid producing |
| phbC, phbA, phbB | Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) accumulation in leaves |
| crtZ, crtW | Astaxanthin accumulation |
With advanced and mature gene editing platform RecoNase™, Lifeasible offers services including gene knock-in and gene knock-out in cyanobacteria, chloroplast and yeast. Our experienced scientists have established efficient and high-precision gene editing toolkit, in which our customers can get satisfying results on time. Please feel free to contact us, get started with our professional services.
