Student/presenter: Arjun Ojha, PhD, Molecular Crop Improvement
Format: Oral presentation
Title: Development of tissue culture free genetic transformation and gene-editing platform in crops
Arjun Ojha Kshetry, Luis Herrera-Estrella and Gunvant B. Patil
Institute of Genomics for Crop Abiotic Stress Tolerance (IGCAST), Department of Plant & Soil Science, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX
Gene editing technologies, especially CRISPR/Cas have revolutionized crop engineering research. However, delivery of gene editing reagents is largely depending on genetic transformation and in vitro regeneration (tissue culture) of plants. Moreover, plant regeneration and genetic transformation are highly genotype-dependent. Therefore, the lack of efficient genotypeindependent plant transformation methods in several recalcitrant crops including cotton, soybean, sorghum, common bean, etc. has been a major limitation in applying gene-editing technology in crop improvement. To overcome these challenges, we are creating a synthetic cascade to express developmental regulator genes involved in stem cell activity, rapid tissue differentiation, and the regeneration process. Importantly, these developmental regulators will be applied in vivo, and we envision the development of a robust regeneration and gene-editing methodology without a need for tissue culture. Currently, we are testing a series of developmental regulators in the model plant Nicotiana benthamiana (tobacco), and once successful, it will be applied to major recalcitrant crop species.