Synthetic genetic circuitry engineering to reprogram plant root growth

The ability to design genetic circuits that can modulate gene expression patterns and drive the development of specific traits has been a long-standing goal of synthetic biology.

In plants, for example, this approach could be used to alter root system growth in predictable ways and influence the ability of roots to reach essential soil nutrients and obtain water during periods of drought.

One approach towards this goal is the use of synthetic genetic circuits: networks of modified genes linked through transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation.

Although synthetic gene circuits have been implemented in various prokaryotic and eukaryotic cell lines, this technology has been difficult to implement in plants due to the time required to produce transgenic lines and the difficulty of tuning circuit activity in different cell types. .

Jennifer Brophy’s team at Stanford University in California created a collection of synthetic transcriptional regulators and used the elements to control gene expression across root tissues in the plant Arabidopsis.

The activity of synthetic genetic circuits that process the presence or absence of specific signals in plant leaves was carefully measured by plating leaf samples into 96-well plates. When the correct supplies enter the leaves, they fluoresce green which can be measured with a plate reader. (Image: Jennifer Brophy)

Brophy and colleagues’ study shows that this approach could be used to reprogram plant root development and predictably alter lateral root density, without affecting other aspects of normal plant growth.

Methods for programming new traits into plants will become increasingly useful as climate challenges grow and new agricultural solutions are needed, the study authors argue.

This is entitled “Synthetic genetic circuits as a means of reprogramming plant roots”. And it has been published in the academic journal Science. (Source: AAAS)