Sunday Evening News 422 - Weeks 16, 17 - 2025
Weekly report on genetic engineering, genome editing, biotechnology and legal regulation.
April 2025-04-14 - 2025-04-27
Meetings – Conferences / Treffen - Veranstaltungen
Save the date
1st AAB-PlantEd Training School
4 – 8 August 2025, Düsseldorf, Germanyi
https://www.aab.org.uk/event/1st-aab-planted-training-school/
Gesellschaft für Pflanzenbiotechnologie: Workshop Pflanzenbiotechnology in Hamburg
22.-23.09.2025, Universität Hamburg
https://www.pflanzen-biotechnologie.de/deutsch/aktuelles/ (hier auch das Anmeldeformular)
SEC-Symposium: Pflanzenschutz – Ja, aber wie?
13.11.2025 Frankfurt/Main, DECHEMA-Haus
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Technologieland Hessen: Die Farben der Biotechnologie - Grün & Blau am 13. Mai - online
https://www.technologieland-hessen.de/bioinnovationen-veranstaltung
Press Releases - Media / Presse- und Medienberichte
Woche 17 -Week 17
Wang L.: Tiny CRISPR Tool Opens the Door to Faster, Simpler Plant Genome Editing
https://innovativegenomics.org/news/tiny-crispr-tool-plant-genome-editing/
Galindo G.: How Italy's agri-business softened the country’s opposition to GMOs
CPI: Rewriting the Rulebook: EU Biotech Regulations Under Review
https://www.pymnts.com/cpi-posts/rewriting-the-rulebook-eu-biotech-regulations-under-review/
VIB (the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology): Transgene-free genome editing in poplar trees: A step toward sustainable
forestry
https://phys.org/news/2025-04-transgene-free-genome-poplar-trees.html
GMO: China approves, EU authorises maize varieties, events
https://www.environewsnigeria.com/gmo-china-approves-eu-authorises-maize-varieties-events/
MPI: Neue Methode zur Vorhersage von Pflanzenmerkmalen für höhere Erträge
Stein A.: Erste gentechnisch veränderte Banane der Welt
https://www.tageblatt.de/Nachrichten/Erste-gentechnisch-veraenderte-Banane-der-Welt-392358.html
Informationsdienst Gentechnik: Leiser Abschied vom Gentech-Weizen HB4
https://www.keine-gentechnik.de/nachricht/leiser-abschied-vom-gentech-weizen-hb4
Woche 16 -Week 16
Testbiotech: Schweiz für mehr Vorsorge und Wahlfreiheit bei Neuer Gentechnik
Switzerland in favour of more precaution and freedom of choice in new genetic engineering
Waiblinger H.- W.: Gentechnik und Lebensmittel 2024 - Ergebnisse aus Baden-Württemberg liegen jetzt vor
https://www.ua-bw.de/pub/beitrag.asp?subid=3&Thema_ID=17&ID=4166&lang=DE&Pdf=No
Vollständiger Bericht: https://www.cvua-freiburg.de/uploaddoc/cvuafr/gentechnik_2024_CVUA_FR_Langfassung.pdf
Lin J.: Germany’s government-to-be out of step on gene edited crops
CANDACE GODWIN/Gardening at the Coop: Heirloom, hybrid, GM-Oh My! Understanding the differences
https://cdapress.com/news/2025/apr/19/heirloom-hybrid-gm-oh-my-understanding-the-differences/
Only some selected press releases or media reports are listed here. The daily up-date of the press releases and
media reports are ►here: April week 16/17
Publications – Publikationen
Vöneky S., Born C., Tribess L., Weller S. (2025): Gutachten zur Vereinbarkeit des EU-Vorschlags für eine Verordnung über
mit bestimmten neuen genomischen Techniken (NGT) gewonnenen Pflanzen mit dem Cartagena Protokoll über die biologische Sicherheit
Compatibility of the EU proposal for a regulation on plants based on certain new genomic techniques with the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety
Vives-Vallés, Juan Antonio and Gangjee, Dev S. (2025): Lightning in a Bottle? Wine GIs and Disruptive Innovation SRN:
https://ssrn.com/abstract=5211201 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5211201
This article examines the intersection of innovation and tradition in the context of Geographical Indications (GIs) for wine, focusing on the transformative potential of New Genomic Techniques (NGTs) in viticulture. GIs signal provenance, whilst requiring a commitment to traditional production methods. However, viticulture in the EU today faces several challenges, including climate change, increasing competition from New World wine producers, and shifting consumer preferences. Innovation is an important resource for meeting these challenges. NGTs, exemplified by CRISPR technology, enable precise genetic modifications to promote traits such as disease resistance while preserving the genetic identity of traditional grape varieties. They hold out the promise of reconciling innovation with tradition. The European Commission’s Proposal for a Regulation on plants obtained by certain new genomic techniques (COM(2023) 411 final) could pave the way for their adoption across the wine sector. However, the adoption of NGTs within this sector raises complex regulatory, legal, and socio-economic questions. The novel contribution of the study is to analyse the compatibility of NGTs with the European Union’s strict GI regulations, considering public perception challenges related to biotechnology, and implications for wine typicity and varietal diversity. In bridging the domains of GIs, biosafety regulation, and agricultural innovation, this study identifies the challenges to be overcome by the EU wine sector when seeking to reconcile its deep-rooted traditions with the radical potential of NGTs.
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5211201
Dayé C.: (2025): The legislative effect of ignorance: institutional risk and the regulation of new genomic techniques.
Science and Public Policy, scaf011 https://doi.org/10.1093/scipol/scaf011
Recent innovations in biotechnology, above all the use of genome editing like CRISPR/Cas in plant breeding, have led authorities across the globe to question the adequacy of regulatory policies. Focusing on the situation in the European Union, this article claims that the inability to establish whether new genomic techniques (NGTs) were used in breeding a particular crop functions as the main driver behind the dawning policy changes concerning the use of NGTs in plant breeding. This ignorance takes the form of an institutional risk: as authorities are unable to execute the regulation, they are entering a regulatory impasse. Drawing a comparison to the writings of German sociologist Heinrich Popitz, who spoke of the ‘preventive effect of ignorance’, this article explores the ‘legislative effect of ignorance’ as the main driver of policy change in the NGT case and attempts to draw general conclusions for similar situations in science and innovation policy.
https://academic.oup.com/spp/advance-article/doi/10.1093/scipol/scaf011/8113825
John Paul C.H.C. (2025): Regulation of Genetically Modified Organisms in India: A Critical Legal Analysis in the Context of
Global Best Practices | https://doij.org/10.10000/IJLMH.119498
With the increased global adoption of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in agriculture, concerns surrounding their regulation—particularly with respect to environmental, health, and socio-economic impacts—have gained renewed significance. Although India was among the early adopters of a regulatory framework, the legal regime lacks scientific rigor, transparency, public participation, liability mechanisms, and alignment with international biosafety standards such as the Cartagena Protocol. This paper critically examines India’s legal and regulatory framework for GMOs, focusing on the structural limitations of the 1989 Rules framed under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. Through a comparative study of legal frameworks from jurisdictions such as the EU, Australia, Germany, Norway, Switzerland, and New Zealand, the paper highlights how other jurisdictions have adopted more transparent, accountable, and precautionary models for GMO governance. These jurisdictions demonstrate the integration of scientific expertise, public consultation, enforceable liability, and risk assessment within their biosafety regimes. The analysis suggests that India’s current approach not only falls short of aligning with global biosafety norms but also risks undermining public trust and ecological sustainability. The paper argues for the enactment of a dedicated biosafety law that reflects India’s ecological diversity and socio-political realities, while incorporating enforceable mechanisms for risk assessment, liability, and public oversight. Such reform is imperative for ensuring that GMO governance in India is legally sound, socially responsive, and future-ready.
Chriki, S., Hallman, W., Hocquette, JF. et al. (2025): Food culture and cell-culture: technical, ethical and social frontiers.
npj Sci Food 9, 49 | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41538-025-00417-8
As the FAO/WHO has completed the rigorous identification of food safety hazards of cell-based food, this article identifies remaining research gaps, particularly in the economic and social sciences, that need to be filled to better meet the expectations of cell-based food production.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41538-025-00417-8
Hobby, D., Tong, H., Heuermann, M. et al. (2025): Predicting plant trait dynamics from genetic markers. Nat. Plants |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-025-01986-y
Molecular and physiological changes across crop developmental stages shape the plant phenome and render its prediction from genetic markers challenging. Here we present dynamicGP, an efficient computational approach that combines genomic prediction with dynamic mode decomposition to characterize the temporal changes and to predict genotype-specific dynamics for multiple morphometric, geometric and colourimetric traits scored by high-throughput phenotyping. Using genetic markers and data from high-throughput phenotyping of a maize multiparent advanced generation inter-cross population and an Arabidopsis thaliana diversity panel, we show that dynamicGP outperforms a baseline genomic prediction approach for the multiple traits. We demonstrate that the developmental dynamics of traits whose heritability varies less over time can be predicted with higher accuracy. The approach paves the way for interrogating and integrating the dynamical interactions between genotype and environment over plant development to improve the prediction accuracy of agronomically relevant traits.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-025-01986-y
Gray A, Garcia-Alonso M, Hokanson K, Roberts A, Romeis J and Smith J (2025): Opinion: Advancing science in support of
sustainable bio-innovation: 16th ISBR Symposium – in memory of Professor Alan Raybould. Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol. 13: 1593891. | https://doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2025.1593891
Special Issue: Plant Engineering — Advances, Bottlenecks, and Promise
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/10.1111/(ISSN)1365-313X.plant-engineering-advances
Chenal, M., Rivera-Millot, A., Harrison, L.B. et al. (2025): Discovery of the widespread site-specific single-stranded nuclease
family Ssn. Nat Commun 16, 2388 | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-57514-1
Site-specific endonucleases that exclusively cut single-stranded DNA have hitherto never been described and constitute a barrier to the development of ssDNA-based technologies. We identify and characterize one such family, from the GIY-YIG superfamily, of widely distributed site-specific single-stranded nucleases (Ssn) exhibiting unique ssDNA cleavage properties. By first comprehensively studying the Ssn homolog from Neisseria meningitidis, we demonstrate that it interacts specifically with a sequence (called NTS) present in hundreds of copies and surrounding important genes in pathogenic Neisseria. In this species, NTS/Ssn interactions modulate natural transformation and thus constitute an additional mechanism shaping genome dynamics. We further identify thousands of Ssn homologs and demonstrate, in vitro, a range of Ssn nuclease specificities for their corresponding sequence. We demonstrate proofs of concept for applications including ssDNA detection and digestion of ssDNA from RCA. This discovery and its applications set the stage for the development of innovative ssDNA-based molecular tools and technologies.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-57514-1
Wang X., Yue Y, Zhai Y., +5 , Wu, Y., (2025): Functional redundancy in the toxic pathway of Bt protein Cry1Ab, but not
Cry1Fa, against the Asian corn borer, PNAS 122 (16) e2503674122 | https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.250367412
Crops genetically engineered to produce insecticidal proteins from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) have been used extensively to control some major crop pests, but their benefits decrease when pests evolve resistance. Better understanding of the genetic basis of resistance is needed to effectively monitor, manage, and counter pest resistance to Bt crops. Resistance to Bt proteins in at least 11 species of Lepidoptera, including many important crop pests, is associated with naturally occurring mutations that disrupt one or more of three larval midgut proteins: cadherin and ATP-binding cassette proteins ABCC2 and ABCC3. Here, we determined how CRISPR/Cas9-mediated mutations disrupting cadherin, ABCC2, and ABCC3 singly and in pairs affect resistance to Bt proteins Cry1Ab and Cry1Fa in the Asian corn borer (Ostrinia furnacalis), which is the most damaging pest of corn in Asia and is closely related to the European corn borer (Ostrinia nubilalis), a major pest in Europe and North America. The results from bioassays of six knockout strains and their parent susceptible strain support a model in which Cry1Ab can kill larvae via one path requiring ABCC2 or another path requiring cadherin and ABCC3, whereas Cry1Fa uses only the first path. The model’s predictions are generally supported by results from genetic linkage analyses and responses to Cry1Ab and Cry1Fa of Sf9 cells and Xenopus oocytes modified to produce cadherin, ABCC2, and ABCC3 singly or in pairs. The functional redundancy identified here for Cry1Ab could sustain its efficacy against O. furnacalis and may exemplify a widespread natural strategy for delaying resistance.
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2503674122
Ding, Z.; Zhai, L.; Chen, K.; Zhang, F.; Qiu, X.; Xu, J. (2025): Improvement of Rice Salt Tolerance by Pyramiding Two Genes
in Xian and Geng Backgrounds Through CRISPR-Cas9 System. Agronomy, 15, 1014 | https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15051014
Salinity is one of the main environmental factors influencing rice production. Many genes affecting salt tolerance (ST) have been cloned in rice so far. In the present study, four genes negatively regulating ST, including HST1, LRRK1, STRK2, and PC1, were edited by CRISPR-Cas9 technology in six rice varieties (three in indica (xian) and three in japonica (geng) backgrounds), and three two-gene editing combinations, including hst1-lrrk1, hst1-strk2, and hst1-pc1, were created. All combinations of hst1-pc1, hst1-lrrk1, and hst1-strk2 significantly improved the ST of all the tested materials in both xian and geng backgrounds and had much better ST than single-gene editing lines. The combination of hst1-pc1 had the poorest ST in CH70 and 8TX23 backgrounds but showed almost the same level of ST as the combinations of hst1-strk2 and hst1-lrrk1 in the C199S background for 17 days after salinization, which clearly brought out the background effect on ST and its utilization in ST breeding. As a comparison of the recipient varieties, almost all gene-edited lines except hst1-pc1 in the CH70 background showed significantly reduced grain weight owing to reduced seed setting rate in normal conditions. The hst1-strk2 showed the highest level of ST at the seedling stage and a relatively higher grain yield among all the lines; thus, it is feasible to enhance the ST of high-yielding rice varieties by simultaneously gene-editing against the two loci or pyramiding these two alleles with the other major ST genes of rice. Our results provide valuable gene resources and germplasms for improving rice salt tolerance and high yield.
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/15/5/1014
Lídia N. Queiroz L.N., Monteiro T.R., Gomes A.C.M.M., ·Cabral G.B., Aragão F.J.L. (2025): Enhanced folate content in
bioengineered lettuce stably expressed under field conditions.Transgenic Res (2025) 34:20 | https://doi.org/10.1007/s11248-025-00440-1
Folate (vitamin B9) is an essential nutrient that plays a crucial role in various bodily functions. Its deficiency can lead to health issues, such as megaloblastic anemia, neural tube defects in the developing fetus and increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. Consequently, there is interest in increasing folate content in food crops by classical and molecular breeding. Since folate is a water-soluble vitamin that is sensitive to heat, we chose to manipulate its synthesis pathway in lettuce, which is often used for salads and sandwiches, without heat treatment, which makes it a good vehicle for making folate available to the population via biofortification. Transgenic lettuce plants were generated to express the GTP-cyclohydrolase I and aminodeoxychorismate synthase coding sequences from Arabidopsis thaliana. Plants were cultivated under greenhouse conditions and two field trials were carried out. Results have shown that transgenic lines presented up to 3.4 times more folate than the non-transgenic lettuce plants and 1.9 times more folate than spinach, considered one of the plants richest in folates. Advanced generations of homozygous plants were cultivated under field conditions for two years and the results showed that folate-biofortification was stable. A folate-biofortified lettuce serving would provide about 36 to 64% of the recommended daily intake. This technology is a foundation to produce folate-biofortified commercial varieties that can help to reduce hidden hunger, decreasing the number of cases of fetus malformations and other diseases
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11248-025-00440-1
Flachs A, Stone G.D., Hallett S., Kranthi K.R. (2025): GM Crops and the Jevons Paradox: Induced Innovation, Systemic
Effects and Net Pesticide Increases From Pesticide-Decreasing Crops: Agrar Change e70006. https://doi.org/10.1111/joac.70006
The Jevons paradox describes how increased efficiency in the use of a resource can paradoxically increase rather than reduce its overall consumption. In agricultural systems, efficiency is confounded by a broad range of economic, ecological, social and evolutionary factors. Agriculture is a particularly elastic kind of production: Efficiencies in one input can lead to an increased consumption of other inputs as well as changes to system outputs. Furthermore, policy, market forces and farmer decisions shape the cultural notion of efficiency across the agricultural landscape. This paper expands the Jevons paradox to consider not just how increased efficiencies induce greater resource consumption in other parts of agrarian systems but also how that consumption entrenches capitalist monoculture. Genetically modified (GM) crops are a technology with the theoretical potential to make agriculture more efficient as a function of yield per input (e.g., water, fuel, fertilizer and pesticide) or unit of land. Like other technological efficiencies, however, the increased use of GM crops over the past 30 years has not contributed to input reductions nor to land reclamations, but to the expansion of agricultural land and increased use of the very pesticides these technologies are purported to curtail. Here, we present a global analysis of Herbicide Tolerant crops and an empirical case study from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton in India. In lowering the costs for pesticide applications at the farm level, GM crops not only induce greater overall consumption of those pesticides but also help to sustain this larger system of chemical-intensive monoculture.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/joac.70006
Hoengenaert L., Anders C. , Van DoorsselaereJ., Vanholme R., Boerjan W. (2025): Transgene‐free genome editing in poplar,
New Phytologist (2025). DOI: 10.1111/nph.20415
Precise gene-editing methods are valuable tools to enhance genetic traits. Gene editing is commonly achieved via stable integration of a gene-editing cassette in the plant's genome. However, this technique is unfavorable for field applications, especially in vegetatively propagated plants, such as many commercial tree species, where the gene-editing cassette cannot be segregated away without breaking the genetic constitution of the elite variety.
Here, we describe an efficient method for generating gene-edited Populus tremula × P. alba (poplar) trees without incorporating foreign DNA into its genome. Using Agrobacterium tumefaciens, we expressed a base-editing construct targeting CCoAOMT1 along with the ALS genes for positive selection on a chlorsulfuron-containing medium.
About 50% of the regenerated shoots were derived from transient transformation and were free of T-DNA. Overall, 7% of the chlorsulfuron-resistant shoots were T-DNA free, edited in the CCoAOMT1 gene and nonchimeric.
Long-read whole-genome sequencing confirmed the absence of any foreign DNA in the tested gene-edited lines. Additionally, we evaluated the CodA gene as a negative selection marker to eliminate lines that stably incorporated the T-DNA into their genome. Although the latter negative selection is not essential for selecting transgene-free, gene-edited Populus tremula × P. alba shoots, it may prove valuable for other genotypes or varieties.
https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.20415
Hoengenaert, L., Anders C., Boerjan W. (2025): Going bananas: how transgene-free editing is contributing to a fruitful
future, New Phytol. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.70150
This article is a Commentary on Van den Broeck et al.(2025), doi: 10.1111/nph.70044.
https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.70150
Zhang, R.-X.; Zhang, Y.-F.; Yang, H.; Zhang, X.-D.et al. (2025): An Optimized Editing Approach for Wheat Genes by Improving
sgRNA Design and Transformation Strategies. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26, 3796. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26083796
Hexaploid wheat has a large genome, making it difficult for transgenes to produce phenotypes due to gene redundancy and tight linkage among genes. Multiple gene copies typically necessitate multiple targeting events during gene editing, followed by several generations of self-crossing to achieve homozygous genotypes. The high cost of transgenesis in wheat is another issue, which hinders the easy availability of gene-edited materials in wheat. In this study, we developed a comprehensive approach to improve wheat gene editing efficiency. First, we established a protoplast-based system to evaluate the relative efficiency of gene editing targets, which enabled the rapid and effective selection of optimal sgRNAs. We then compared two transformation strategies: biolistic bombardment and Agrobacterium-mediated transformation for generating edited wheat lines. Although biolistic bombardment showed higher initial editing efficiency, Agrobacterium-mediated transformation proved more effective for obtaining homozygous mutants. Notably, we discovered that deploying the same sgRNA through different vectors enhanced editing efficiency, whereas overlapping but distinct sgRNAs exhibited interference effects. Finally, we optimized the VITF-edit (virus-induced transgene free editing) technique using BSMV delivery to establish a relatively simple and easily applied wheat gene editing method for general laboratories.
https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/26/8/3796
Shilomboleni, H., Schnurr, M.A.(202): Are disruptive agricultural technologies compatible with agroecology?. npj Sustain.
Agric. 3, 21 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44264-025-00064-2
Agroecology has emerged as a credible approach to achieving sustainable and resilient agrifood systems. But the role for disruptive agricultural technologies within agroecology remains contentious. This paper examines the potential congruence for technology-driven and agroecology-driven approaches to agricultural development. We examine two case studies from east Africa—one focused on user-centered digital technology in Ethiopia and the second on new breeding techniques in Uganda.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s44264-025-00064-2
Massa, G.A.; Décima Oneto, C.A.; González, M.N.; Poulsen-Hornum, A. et al. (2025): CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated Development of
Potato Varieties with Long-Term Cold Storage and Bruising Resistance. Biology 14, 445. https://doi.org/10.3390/biology14040445
Enzymatic browning and cold-induced sweetening (CIS) affect the post-harvest quality of potato tubers. Browning is caused by polyphenol oxidase 2 (PPO2), which is activated by mechanical damage during harvest and storage. CIS occurs when vacuolar invertase converts sucrose into reducing sugars, which react with amino acids during frying, forming brown pigments and acrylamide. While cold storage prevents sprouting and disease, it also increases vacuolar invertase expression, leading to quality loss. Using CRISPR/Cas9, we developed gene-edited potato lines with improved resistance to browning and CIS. Line 6A (cv. Atlantic) and E03-3 (cv. Spunta) exhibited complete vacuolar invertase (InvVac) knockout, maintaining chip quality for at least 60 days at 4 °C. Line 6A, renamed PIRU INTA, was tested in field trials and preserved frying quality for up to 90 days under cold storage. PIRU INTA is currently undergoing registration as a new variety. Additionally, lines E04-5B and E03-3 (cv. Spunta) showed partial PPO2 gene edits, reducing enzymatic browning by 80% and 40%, respectively. This study demonstrates the potential of CRISPR/Cas9 to develop non-transgenic, gene-edited potatoes with enhanced storage quality, benefiting both growers and the food industry.
https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/14/4/445
Abuslima, E., Kanbar, A., Ismail, A. et al. (2025): Salt stress-induced remodeling of sugar transport: a role for promoter
alleles of SWEET13. Sci Rep 15, 7580 | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-90432-2
Sucrose, the primary carbon form synthesized by photosynthesis, is transported via the phloem for proper plant development and productivity. However, long-distance sucrose transport can become unbalanced under adverse environmental conditions. Therefore, we highlight the influence of salt stress on sugar partitioning in source versus sink tissues in sorghum under generative development including the role of stress induced sucrose transporter expression. The two sorghum genotypes displayed different responses to salinity in terms of resource allocation, in Della sugar was translocated to the stem and roots, whereas in Razinieh sugars were directed towards the grains. In Della, the unloading of sucrose in the roots was associated with increased expression levels of SbSUT6 and SbSWEET6, while in the internodes, sucrose unloading correlated with elevated levels of SbSWEET13 and the ABA-dependent transcription factor SbbZIP-TF-TRAB1. Conversely, in Razinieh, the expression of SbSUT2 in the flag internodes was linked to enhanced panicle development. In addition, a differential activation of SbSWEET13 and SbSUT6 promoters by ABA and MeJA was elucidated using dual-luciferase reporter assay in sorghum protoplasts. Finally, we arrive at a model where dynamic remodeling of sugar transport during generative development is crucial for the response to salt stress, and more manifested in sink tissues.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-90432-2
Resjö, S., Iqra, Kieu, N. P., Zahid, M. A., Lenman, M., Andersson, B., & Andreasson, E. (2025). Late blight field resistance in
potatoes carrying Solanum americanum resistance genes (Rpi-amr3 and Rpi-amr1). GM Crops & Food, 16(1), 263–271 | https://doi.org/10.1080/21645698.2025.2479913
Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is an important global crop, but its production is severely impacted by late blight, caused by the pathogen Phytophthora infestans. The economic burden of this disease is significant, and current control strategies rely mainly on fungicides, which face increasing regulatory and environmental constraints. To address this challenge, potatoes with resistance genes from wild potato relatives offer a promising solution. This study evaluated field resistance to late blight in potato lines (Maris Piper) containing the Solanum americanum resistance genes Rpi-amr3 and Rpi-amr1 across three years (2018–2020) in Sweden. Field trials were conducted under natural infection conditions to assess disease resistance. Results showed that the transgenic lines conferred strong resistance to late blight compared to the susceptible control. However, slight late blight symptoms were observed in the transgenic lines. These results highlight the effectiveness of S. americanum resistance genes in providing strong resistance, and emphasize the potential of stacking multiple R genes, including these genes to maintain efficacy. This research supports the development of resistant potato varieties as a sustainable alternative to chemical control, promoting food security and environmentally friendly agriculture.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21645698.2025.2479913?src=exp-la#abstract
Feng, C., Chen, B., Hofer, J. et al. (2025): Genomic and genetic insights into Mendel’s pea genes. Nature |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08891-6
Mendel1 studied in detail seven pairs of contrasting traits in pea (Pisum sativum), establishing the foundational principles of genetic inheritance. Here we investigate the genetic architecture that underlies these traits and uncover previously undescribed alleles for the four characterized Mendelian genes2,3,4,5,6,7, including a rare revertant of Mendel’s white-flowered a allele. Primarily, we focus on the three remaining uncharacterized traits and find that (1) an approximately 100-kb genomic deletion upstream of the Chlorophyll synthase (ChlG) gene disrupts chlorophyll biosynthesis through the generation of intergenic transcriptional fusion products, conferring the yellow pod phenotype of gp mutants; (2) a MYB gene with an upstream Ogre element insertion and a CLE peptide-encoding gene with an in-frame premature stop codon explain the v and p alleles, which disrupt secondary cell wall thickening and lignification, resulting in the parchmentless, edible-pod phenotype; and (3) a 5-bp exonic deletion in a CIK-like co-receptor kinase gene, in combination with a genetic modifier locus, is associated with the fasciated stem (fa) phenotype. Furthermore, we characterize genes and alleles associated with diverse agronomic traits, such as axil ring anthocyanin pigmentation, seed size and the ‘semi-leafless’ form. This study establishes a foundation for fundamental research, education in biology and genetics, and pea breeding practices.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-08891-6
Mendels Erbsen: 160 Jahre altes Rätsel gelöst
Genomanalyse enthüllt DNA-Basis der drei noch fehlenden Merkmale des berühmten Experiments
https://www.scinexx.de/news/biowissen/mendels-erbsen-160-jahre-altes-raetsel-geloest/
Sun, H., Tusso, S., Dent, C.I. et al. (2025): The phased pan-genome of tetraploid European potato. Nature |
doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08843-0
Potatoes were first brought to Europe in the sixteenth century1,2. Two hundred years later, one of the species had become one of the most important food sources across the entire continent and, later, even the entire world3. However, its highly heterozygous, autotetraploid genome has complicated its improvement since then4,5,6,7. Here we present the pan-genome of European potatoes generated from phased genome assemblies of ten historical potato cultivars, which includes approximately 85% of all haplotypes segregating in Europe. Sequence diversity between the haplotypes was extremely high (for example, 20× higher than in humans), owing to numerous introgressions from wild potato species. By contrast, haplotype diversity was very low, in agreement with the population bottlenecks caused by domestication and transition to Europe. To illustrate a practical application of the pan-genome, we converted it into a haplotype graph and used it to generate phased, megabase-scale pseudo-genome assemblies of commercial potatoes (including the famous French fries potato ‘Russet Burbank’) using cost-efficient short reads only. In summary, we present a nearly complete pan-genome of autotetraploid European potato, we describe extraordinarily high sequence diversity in a domesticated crop, and we outline how this resource might be used to accelerate genomics-assisted breeding and research.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-08843-0
https://communities.springernature.com/posts/a-recipe-for-complexity-building-the-potato-pan-genome
Gundersen C., Iannotti L., F Leroy F. (2025): Food security at risk: the consequences of limiting animal source foods .
Animal Frontiers 15, Issue 1, 24–33 https://doi.org/10.1093/af/vfae030
Implications: Over three billion persons are food insecure across the world with almost one billion suffering from undernourishment, making this one of the leading challenges we face today. Ensuring access to high-quality foods through equitable food systems is central to alleviating food insecurity.
The efficient functioning of the entire agricultural supply chain is critical to the promotion of economic growth and affordable foods. In recent years, there have been a series of policies and policy proposals that are targeted against animal source foods (ASF). This imposition impedes efficient functioning and leads to higher rates of food insecurity.
Certain populations are highly vulnerable to malnutrition with restricted dietary intakes of ASF. These populations may be delineated by: 1) life course phase, including those with unique biological requirements (e.g., pregnant/lactating women, children and adolescents, and older adults); and 2) contextually, those with social, economic, or environmental barriers to accessing ASF.
Anti-meat taxes and regulations are being imposed and proposed in high-income countries. One of the consequences of these interventions is higher rates of food insecurity due to higher prices. We estimate that up to three million more Americans will be made food insecure by the taxes alone, which amounts to almost a 10% increase in overall food insecurity rates.
https://academic.oup.com/af/article/15/1/24/8106654?login=false
EFSA
FEZ Panel (2025): Revised safety evaluation of the food enzyme endo-1,3(4)-β-glucanase from the non-genetically modified Cellulosimicrobium funkei strain AE-TN. EFSA Journal, 23(4), e9330 | https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2025.9330
https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.2903/j.efsa.2025.9330