Endogenous Regulatory Element Screening for Plant Gene Expression
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for improving crop traits, such as herbicide tolerance, are time-consuming and inefficient, and there is a lack of comprehensive solutions for optimizing gene expression and phenotypes in plants, particularly due to the challenges of identifying and harnessing natural resistance mechanisms.
Innovation Solution
A high-throughput method for evaluating endogenous genetic regulatory elements in model plants using mutagenesis and coupling them with reporter genes, allowing for in-planta screening and identification of genetic changes that enhance trait expression, such as herbicide tolerance, by applying herbicides to detect phenotypic changes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional plant breeding or genetic engineering is used to improve crop traits, then trait improvement can be achieved, but the process is time-consuming and lacks comprehensive optimization capability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a comprehensive genetic element library containing numerous variants of regulatory elements and coding regions before actual plant breeding. This pre-generated library allows rapid screening and selection of optimal genetic elements without time-consuming trial-and-error in conventional breeding programs.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a model plant system to create and screen copies of genetic elements in a controlled environment before applying them to crop plants. This copying approach allows parallel evaluation of multiple genetic variants simultaneously, dramatically reducing the time required for trait optimization compared to direct breeding methods.
2Reliability
If herbicide-resistant crops are developed using transformed endogenous genes, then herbicide tolerance is achieved, but public acceptance decreases and natural resistance mechanisms are harder to find
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of introducing external genes to confer herbicide tolerance, the patent inverts the approach by searching for and optimizing natural resistance mechanisms already present in the plant's endogenous genes. This inversion aligns with public preference for natural resistance over GMO technology while achieving the same functional outcome of herbicide tolerance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent leverages the plant's own natural genetic resources and resistance mechanisms rather than relying on externally introduced genes. The system identifies and optimizes endogenous regulatory elements and coding regions that naturally provide herbicide tolerance, allowing the plant to serve itself with its intrinsic genetic capabilities.
3Measurement precision
If individual screening of crop plants is performed to identify optimal genetic elements, then accurate phenotypic data is obtained, but the screening process becomes excessively time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the screening process into two distinct stages: first, high-throughput screening of genetic element libraries in model plants to identify promising candidates; second, validation in crop plants. This segmentation allows rapid initial screening in a controlled model system before committing resources to crop plant testing, significantly improving overall productivity while maintaining precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a model plant as an intermediary system between the genetic element library and the final crop plant applications. This intermediary allows rapid, high-throughput screening and phenotypic evaluation in a controlled environment, serving as a mediator that accelerates the identification process without sacrificing the accuracy needed for final crop deployment.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for in-planta high throughput evaluation of endogenous genetic regulatory elements of a crop plant, obtaining a nucleic acid encoding a native regulatory element of a trait-related gene, introducing one or more genetic changes in each of a plurality of copies of the native regulatory element, introducing the genetic library into model plants, utilizing high throughput transformation, screening the transformed model plants, and identifying the one or more genetic changes in the altered regulatory element of the selected model plant.