Potato is one of the most important food crops in the world, but it faces a serious threat from potato late blight, a disease caused by a fungus-like organism called Phytophthora infestans.
This disease can cause severe losses in yield and quality, and requires intensive use of chemical pesticides to control.
However, researchers have made a breakthrough in fighting this disease using a gene editing technology called CRISPR/Cas.
CRISPR/Cas: a powerful tool for crop improvement
MARTIN BUREAU/AFP via Getty Images
CRISPR/Cas is a technology that allows precise and targeted modification of the DNA of living organisms.
It can be used to introduce beneficial traits or remove undesirable ones in crops, such as resistance to diseases, pests, drought, or salinity.
It can also be used to enhance the nutritional content, flavor, or shelf life of crops, as per Phys.org.
One of the advantages of CRISPR/Cas is that it can edit genes that are native to the crop, without introducing foreign DNA from other species.
This means that the edited crops are not considered genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in some countries, such as the US and Japan.
However, in Europe, CRISPR/Cas-edited crops are subject to the same strict regulation as GMOs, which limits their development and adoption.
The oomycete pathogen Phytophthora infestans, which resembles a fungus, is responsible for late blight.
P. infestans can infect other solanaceous plants, such as tomatoes, petunias, and hairy nightshade, in addition to potatoes, which are the disease's main host.
These diseased species can serve as a source of potato inoculum.
A researcher from Wageningen University & Research (WUR) in the Netherlands, Daniel Moñino-López, used CRISPR/Cas to make potato plants resistant to late blight.
He did this by modifying non-functional resistance genes from susceptible potato varieties into functional gene variants that are found in wild potato relatives, which are naturally resistant to Phytophthora infestans.
By doing so, he created potato plants that can recognize and defend themselves against the pathogen, without the need for chemical pesticides.
This could reduce the environmental impact and economic cost of potato production, and ensure food security for millions of people who depend on this crop.
The future of CRISPR/Cas-edited crops
Moñino-López defended his Ph.D. thesis on April 14 at WUR. His research was funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) and the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment.
He hopes that his work will contribute to the development and acceptance of CRISPR/Cas-edited crops in Europe and beyond, as per Seed Today.
He advises the European Commission to regulate gene editing on a product basis, using scientific evidence of the biosafety of the new variety, rather than on a process basis, which is ambiguous and inconsistent.
The researcher argues that gene editing is a fast, precise, and safe way to improve popular varieties and lower their environmental footprint.
He also suggested that more public awareness and engagement are needed to inform consumers and stakeholders about the benefits and risks of gene editing technology and to address ethical and social concerns.
Moñino-López believes that gene editing has the potential to change the food and agricultural industries for the better, by providing sustainable solutions for major challenges, such as climate change, population growth, and food security.
