The tomato and potato genus includes over 1,500 distinct species. But not all can be seen as staple foods. Among these relative varieties is a purple, prickly species. The Brazilian native's branches, leaves, and fruit are all toxic while the sap irritates the skin on contact. Traditionally, it would take generations to breed out these undesirable traits. But that's no longer necessarily the case, thanks to recent studies at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL). With CRISPR gene editing technology, the selection process can be completed faster.
Farmers have been genetically modifying plants since the dawn of agriculture. This has led to higher yields, less pesticide use, and better adaptation to climate change. Most gene editing focuses on familiar, industrial-scale crops. But other semi-domesticated, indigenous crops could one day be scaled up as well. That is if they can acquire the right traits—or lose the wrong ones.
Solanum atropurpureum. Image: Blaine Fitzgerald, Lippman lab
CSHL Professor and HHMI Investigator Zachary Lippman and postdoc Jack Satterlee are leveraging CRISPR to focus on the genetics behind extreme traits like thorns. With the help of gene editing technology, even this plant might one day turn over a new leaf.
"We're interested in this trait from two perspectives," Satterlee says. "One is crop domestication—using CRISPR to get rid of the prickles because they're unpleasant. And the other is the genetics of how the prickles are controlled."
Genetic editing is a specialty of the Lippman lab. They've previously used CRISPR to create tomatoes with faster flowering and ripening times. Lippman and his team are also working to scale up related crops like groundcherry and African eggplant. Their efforts to bring groundcherry to market led to the first genetic blueprints, or models, for two types of the small, sweet berry.
Improving the Solanum atropurpureum variety could point to new ways of controlling gene expression in crops and other plants. Lippman and Satterlee's recently discovered that suppressing members of the LONELY GUY (LOG) gene family can reduce or eliminate prickles in about 20 different species. These include famously thorny plants like roses and indigenous crops like Australia's desert raisin.
For more information:
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
www.cshl.edu