Sunday Evening News 497/ 2026
Weekly report on genetic engineering, genome editing, biotechnology and legal regulation.
November 2026-11-02 - November 2026-11-08 Week 45
Press Releases - Media / Presse- und Medienberichte
Direktklage beim Europäischen Gericht gegen Neue Gentechnik-Verordnung (NGT) eingereicht
Gärditz K.F.: Zur Regulierung von Risikotechnologie
https://www.laborjournal.de/editorials/3614.php
Kokenbrink A.: „Bio bringt fürs Klima nichts“
Der Schweizer Urs Niggli gilt als Vordenker des Ökolandbaus und hat ihn jahrzehntelang geprägt. Einst war er euphorisch, heute blickt er kritisch auf die Branche und sagt: Mit Ökolandbau lässt sich die Welt nicht ernähren.
https://www.faz.net/aktuell/wirtschaft/klima-nachhaltigkeit/bio-vordenker-niggli-rechnet-mit-oekolandbau-ab-bio-bringt-fuers-klima-nichts-accg-201602935.html (nocht ganz neu, die Äußerungen von Niggli, aber immer interessant)
idw: Neue Technologie optimiert Enzyme für die Industrie
Applied Microbiology International members call for microbiome-focused approach to EU biotechnology regulation
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1150330
From Europe’s NGT patent debate to US seed patent reform?
https://www.appleyardlees.com/from-europes-ngt-patent-debate-to-us-seed-patent-reform/
Codex Alimentarius Relevance To Gene Edited Food Regulation
https://www.lawgratis.com/blog-detail/codex-alimentarius-relevance-to-gene-edited-food-regulation
Food Regulatory Science Update • Preliminary Assessment of the WHO Integrated Nutrient and Food Profiling Model
for Regulatory Purposes
https://gforss.org/2026/11/02/assessment-whomodel/
Only some selected press releases or media reports are listed here. The daily up-date of the press releases and
media reports are ►here: November week 45
Publications – Publikationen
Bierenbroodspot M.J, Kunz C.F., Goldbecker E.S., Lorenz M. et al (2026): A deep genetic structure phylogenomically frames
the closest algal relatives of land plants.. PLoS Biol 24 (11), e3004005 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3004005
Discerning the nature of the last common ancestor of land plants (embryophytes) and algae allows to retrace the adaptations that ushered in the conquest of land by plants. For this, the closest streptophyte algal relatives of embryophytes hold key information. Albeit initially coming as a surprise due to their plain body plans, all major phylogenomic efforts have concluded that the Zygnematophyceae are the algal sisters to land plants. The Zygnematophyceae are the streptophyte algal class with the greatest species richness and while we now have ample genome information on a few select members of zygnematophytes, our understanding of the genomic divergence as well as genetic potential for key traits is limited by a lack of phylodiverse data that accounts for this diversity and integrates it into a phylogenomic framework. We here sequenced 43 new transcriptome datasets for the Zygnematophyceae and built a phylogenomic tree based on a total of 104 zygnematophyceaen transcriptomes and 2243 loci. We recover a deep genetic structure for the Zygnematophyceae: Despite the deep split between Spirogyrales and their unicellular sister group Desmidiales, most Spirogyrales emerged after pronounced genetic divergence, accommodating the attainment of multicellularity and divergent traits such as unique cell and plastid division. Overall, our data capture signatures of massive ancient radiations that could only be revealed thanks to a phylodiverse sampling. Recognizing the deep genetic divergences and a vast evolutionary history of the Zygnematophyceae are key to illuminate the nature of the algal progenitors of land plants.
https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3004005
Reynoso, E. D., Ong, A. K. S., & Reyes, J. R. I. S. (2026). Trust, access, and governance in biofortified food systems: an
extended theory of planned behavior analysis of Golden Rice acceptance. GM Crops & Food, 17 (1) | https://doi.org/10.1080/21645698.2026.2753262
Trust, access, and governance are important contextual dimensions of public acceptance of agricultural biotechnology. This study examined Golden Rice acceptance in the Philippines using an extended Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) framework informed by a food systems governance perspective. Survey data from 333 Filipino adults recruited through purposive sampling were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. The model examined the relationships of Informational Promotion (IP), representing communication-related conditions relevant to trust and information credibility, and Marketing Interventions (MI), representing perceived market-access conditions, with TPB constructs. Both IP and MI were positively associated with attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control. Attitude and perceived behavioral control were stronger predictors of behavioral intention than subjective norm, while behavioral intention was strongly associated with measured Golden Rice acceptance. These findings indicate that acceptance is associated not only with individual evaluations and perceived social expectations but also with perceptions of information and access conditions. The study contributes a governance-informed extension of TPB by interpreting informational promotion through the lens of epistemic governance, concerning the communication and credibility of information, and marketing interventions through material governance, concerning practical access conditions. This integrated perspective provides a framework for examining how trust-related communication and perceived accessibility intersect with individual decision-making in biofortified food systems. Because the study used cross-sectional, non-probability survey data, its findings do not establish causal effects, nationally representative levels of acceptance, or actual purchasing, consumption, and sustained adoption of Golden Rice.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21645698.2026.2753262#abstract
Dolezel, M., Miklau, M., Heissenberger, A. et al. (2026): Complex genetic modifications in plants call for new assessment
tools for persistence and invasiveness risks. Environ Sci Eur | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12302-026-01517-2
New molecular tools are increasingly assisting with the design of genetically modified (GM) plants with complex traits including novel metabolic pathways and stress-tolerance. This includes modifying plant taxa beyond common crops, such as orphan crops, crop-wild relatives or wild plants. Current environmental risk assessment (ERA) practice relies on a comparative assessment (CA) approach and the concept of familiarity. Based on three case examples, de-novo domesticated wild tomato, drought-tolerant maize and oil-modified camelina, we analyse the lack of equivalence and/or familiarity and the limited usefulness of a CA approach in ERA. To overcome this limitation, we support a stand-alone assessment approach to conclude on persistence and invasiveness risks of novel ecological phenotypes by use of modelling tools to predict population dynamics and persistence in but also beyond the cultivated field. To do so, life-history data of the respective GM plant obtained from field experiments in managed and non-managed environments would be required as well as further guidance for operationalization. In addition, the definition of familiarity of the parental plant of a GM plant should include ecological criteria and information on its potential invasiveness in EU environments. For risk management, acceptability criteria of GM plant population persistence in different environments, including protected habitats, need to be discussed.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12302-026-01517-2
Ferrari A., Dumont A.F., Moreno F.J., Terron A. et al. (2026): Expanding the weight of evidence for insecticidal protein risk
assessment. Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology 172, 106223 | 10.1016/j.yrtph.2026.106223
Insecticidal proteins expressed in genetically modified (GM) crops represent a sustainable and effective alternative for controlling insect and nematode pests and constitute a significant portion of the GM crop portfolio. Proteins derived from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) are currently the most extensively studied and widely used, particularly those belonging to the Cry class.
In addition to Cry proteins, other insecticidal proteins from different classes have been developed. However, for many of these, information on their mode of action (MoA) and host receptors remains limited.
Over the past two decades, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has evaluated more than 70 applications for GM crops expressing 24 different insecticidal proteins. These proteins belong to various classes, and the level of available information regarding their MoA varies considerably.
This review aims to summarise the evidence currently available to EFSA on the MoA of insecticidal proteins expressed in GM crops. It also seeks to identify areas where further understanding of receptor binding and protein function could support the continued development of safety assessment strategies, with the goal of reducing reliance on animal studies as part of a more refined risk assessment approach.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0273230026001960
Jin, Y., Liu, Y., Shen, S. et al. (2026): Development of diagnostic marker for functional Lr21 and its validation in pyramiding
with Pm36 in bread wheat. BMC Plant Biol | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12870-026-10232-2
Background: Wheat leaf rust, caused by the obligate biotrophic fungus Puccinia triticina (Pt), poses a major threat to global wheat production. This makes screening and utilizing effective leaf rust resistance genes key to controlling the disease.
Results: Twenty-five wheat cultivars previously reported to carry Lr21 were assayed for the hypersensitive response (HR) to the AvrLr21 protein, and none exhibited HR, indicating that all carry non-functional Lr21 alleles. Sequence comparison further classified these non-functional alleles into two distinct haplotypes, H1 (14 cultivars) and H2 (11 cultivars), and identified six polymorphic sites that distinguish functional from non-functional Lr21 alleles. Based on these sites, a CAPS marker for functionality and four SSP markers for H1/H2 haplotypes were developed, confirming that all twenty-five cultivars carry non-functional haplotypes. Through pedigree tracing of these twenty-five cultivars identified eight core parental germplasm accessions carrying only non-functional Lr21 haplotypes, indicating that functional Lr21 has never been deployed in wheat breeding. To utilize functional Lr21, TcLr21 was crossed with ZKPm36 to pyramid Lr21 with Pm36, yielding F2 progeny with the expected 9:3:3:1 segregation ratio. Resistance assays showed that the pyramided lines exhibited moderate resistance to leaf rust, high resistance to powdery mildew, and moderate resistance to root rot.
Conclusions: Collectively, we developed diagnostic markers discriminating functional from non-functional Lr21 haplotypes, and validated their utility in pyramiding Lr21 with Pm36, providing both tools and genetic materials for marker-assisted selection (MAS) and further improvement of multi-disease resistance in wheat.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12870-026-10232-2
Khanal, D., Chapagain, S., Yadav, S. P. S., Poudel, K. et al. (2026): Engineering rice for enhanced abiotic stress tolerance
using genome editing. Frontiers in Plant Physiology, 4, 1969774. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphgy.2026.1969774
Rice productivity is increasingly constrained by drought, salinity, heat, cold, submergence, heavy metal toxicity, and herbicide-related stresses. Although conventional breeding has improved stress tolerance, progress remains limited by the complex, polygenic, and environment-dependent nature of abiotic stress responses. Genome-editing technologies, including CRISPR/Cas systems, TALENs, ZFNs, base editors, prime editors, and CRISPR-Combo, provide precise approaches for modifying stress-responsive genes and regulatory pathways. This review summarizes recent genome-editing advances in rice for major abiotic stresses, highlighting validated targets involved in ROS homeostasis, ABA signaling, calcium/MAPK cascades, transcriptional regulation, ion transport, epigenetic control, and cross-stress signaling networks. It also discusses key limitations, including off-target effects, delivery constraints, low knock-in efficiency, genotype-dependent transformation, and regulatory challenges. Overall, genome editing offers a powerful strategy for developing climate-resilient rice cultivars, particularly when integrated with multiplex editing, precision allele engineering, and modern breeding approaches.
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-physiology/articles/10.3389/fphgy.2026.1969774/full
Gao, G., Jiang, C., Wu, W. et al. (2026): A conserved flowering-time module underlies double-season cropping.
Nature | DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-11187-y
Adapting crops to intensive cultivation systems under climate change requires varieties that combine yield potential with optimized flowering and maturation1,2. In central and eastern China, barley has long been cultivated in a double-season cropping system, in which early flowering and maturation are critical for escaping presummer terminal heat stress and enabling flexible rotation with summer crops3,4. Here we trace the genomic footprints of 80 years of modern breeding in China using 505 representative cultivars and identify a flowering-time module defined by a single amino acid substitution in PHYTOCHROME C in combination with a winter-type VERNALIZATION 1 haplotype that underpins this adaptation. The derived allele accelerates heading and maturity, and its frequency has risen sharply in modern autumn-sown varieties. Using base editing in barley and wheat, we confirm causality and demonstrate that this flowering-time combination module, PhyC–VRN1, is functionally conserved across Triticeae. Our results identify and experimentally validate a breeding-relevant flowering-time module that has been selected during modern breeding to enable intensive crop rotations, as well as demonstrate how precision genome editing can be used to reconstruct such adaptive modules for climate-resilient crop design.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-11187-y
Arra, Y., Loo, E.P.I., Blasco, C. et al. (2026): Rapid development of durable bacterial blight resistance in African rice through
marker-assisted pyramiding of four resistance genes. Rice | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12284-026-00960-2
Bacterial blight of rice causes substantial crop losses in Asia and Africa. The recent introduction of Asian strains into African countries has led to two independent outbreaks detected in 2019, causing severe damage in Madagascar and Tanzania. The strains are highly virulent on local rice varieties and rapidly spread from Tanzania to neighboring countries. Multiplex genome editing of effector-binding elements in the promoter of rice SWEET has successfully generated elite rice lines with broad-spectrum resistance against bacterial blight. While genome-edited crops can be released in countries with genome editing regulations, their use in countries that have yet to establish regulations, e.g., Tanzania and Madagascar, is hindered. To circumvent this, marker-assisted breeding (MAB) of the African elite varieties KombokaP, FARO-44, and NERICA-4 was adopted to introgress resistance genes to confer resistance to Xoo strains identified in Tanzania (iTz) and Madagascar (iMg). We hypothesized that xa13 and Xa21 can confer resistance to the introduced strains, and that a combination of R genes would enhance durability. Resistance gene pyramiding, namely the endogenous Xa1, Xa4 with xa13, and Xa21 genes in the elite rice varieties KombokaP, FARO-44 and NERICA-4 conferred resistance to the introduced iTz and iMg strains as well as select Asian and West African Xoo strains. Our study presents one potential solution by providing rice breeders in East Africa with robust bacterial blight resistance in three local rice varieties for field trials, line registration, and deployment.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12284-026-00960-2
Zhong, V., Jones, M.A., Cabales, A. et al. (2026): Genetic code expansion enables plant-directed control of bacterial activity.
Nat Biotechnol | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-026-03360-5
Microorganisms have the potential to deliver growth-promoting benefits to plants and crops; however, to be useful in a field setting, their gene expression should be programmable and restricted to specific plant hosts and conditions. Here, using O-methyl-L-tyrosine (OMY) as a model compound, we establish noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs) as a tool for plant-based control of associated microbial activity. We use genetic code expansion to engineer OMY-dependent control of protein synthesis in the soil bacterium Bacillus subtilis. Engineered B. subtilis strains express an orthogonal aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase and tRNA pair that, upon provision of OMY, results in suppression of in-frame amber stop codons in target transcripts. We engineer Arabidopsis, tomato and poplar to biosynthesize OMY, showing that plant-derived OMY can stimulate gene expression in both model and wild soil bacteria. This demonstrates that inducible and tissue-specific expression of a single biosynthetic enzyme by the plant enables on-demand control over microbial activity, establishing ncAAs as a tool for programming plant–microorganism partnerships.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41587-026-03360-5
EFSA
FEZ Panel (2026): Safety evaluation of the food enzyme glucan endo-1,3-β-d-glucosidase from the genetically modified Streptomyces
violaceoruber strain pGlu. EFSA Journal, 24(11), e10398. https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2026.10398
https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.2903/j.efsa.2026.10398
FEZ Panel (2026): Safety evaluation of the food enzyme glucan 1,4-α-glucosidase from the non-genetically modified Aspergillus niger
strain AN-SHGA-100. EFSA Journal, 24(11), e10404. https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2026.10404
https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.2903/j.efsa.2026.10404