Karlsruhe Institute of Technology expert receives funding in a Reinhart Koselleck project
The molecular biologist Professor Holger Puchta from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) receives funding in a Reinhart Koselleck project of the German Research Foundation (DFG) for work on the targeted restructuring of plant genomes. As a pioneer of green genetic engineering, Puchta has been using molecular scissors on plants for 30 years. The new project aims to use the CRISPR/Cas method to freely combine genes in crop plants – and thus make Gregor Mendel’s dream come true. This is also important in order to be able to better adapt agricultural crops to global warming in the future.
The father of genetics, Gregor Mendel (1822-1884), believed that all properties of plants could be freely combined with one another. It is now known that certain traits are inherited together because the genes encoding them are on the same chromosome. But with the modern molecular scissors CRISPR/Cas, genetic information in plants can be specifically modified. The group of Holger Puchta, Professor of Molecular Biology at the Joseph Gottlieb Kölreuter Institute for Plant Sciences (JKIP) of KIT, was recently the first to show that not only individual genes but also entire chromosomes can be modified in this way. Puchta is now receiving funding in a Reinhart Koselleck project from the DFG for the establishment of techniques for the targeted restructuring of plant genomes. The project aims to
“The work of Holger Puchta is groundbreaking and contributes to sustainable agriculture,” says Vice President Research of KIT, Professor Oliver Kraft. “We are very proud that for his outstanding research, for which he has already received two Advanced Grants from the European Research Council ERC, he is one of the first plant scientists to have received one of the rarely awarded Reinhart Koselleck projects.”
Reinhart Koselleck project aims at targeted optimization of cultivated plants
With global warming, current crops require more land, more water and more fertilizer. “The molecular scissors can change plants so that they cope better with heat. In addition, the CRISPR/Cas method can make plants more resistant to diseases and pests. This makes it possible to reduce the use of pesticides,” explains Puchta. The term CRISPR/Cas stands for a specific section of DNA (CRISPR – Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) and an enzyme (Cas) that recognizes this section and precisely cuts the DNA. This has already made it possible to improve individual characteristics of cultivated plants. Holger Puchta’s Reinhart Koselleck project further exploits the potential of the method and aims to specifically restructure plant genomes at different levels: By altering the arrangement of genes on chromosomes, molecular scissors make it possible to freely combine plant traits. “Cultivated plants can inherit several desirable characteristics, such as heat and salt resistance,” explains Puchta. In the long term, this will make it easier for plant breeding to use the entire gene pool of a species and specifically optimize crops.
The project is designed for five years and is funded with a total of 1.22 million euros. The Reinhart Koselleck projects are the highest-endowed excellence funding from the DFG for people. The funding enables researchers who have distinguished themselves through special scientific achievements to carry out highly innovative or, in a positive sense, risky projects.
Gene scissors can speed up the process of natural changes in the genome
Puchta welcomes the fact that the EU Commission wants to re-regulate the use of genome editing methods, such as CRISPR/Cas, in plant breeding: According to a recently presented draft law, new plant varieties created with the help of genome editing are to be used given the same status as conventionally bred plants under certain conditions. “This makes sense from a scientific point of view, because no foreign genetic material is introduced during genome editing,” explains the molecular biologist. “Instead, targeted and limited changes are being made. Gene scissors like CRISPR/Cas can accelerate the slow process of natural changes in the genome, which opens up enormous opportunities, especially in the face of climate change.”