19 June, 2019
A new platform for speeding up and controlling the evolution of proteins inside living plants has been developed by a KAUST-led team.
Previously, this type of directed evolution system was only possible in viruses, bacteria, yeast and mammalian cell lines. The Saudi research—part of KAUST’s Desert Agriculture Initiative—has now expanded the technique to rice and other food plants. It means that plant breeders now have an easy way to rapidly engineer new crop varieties capable of withstanding weeds, diseases, pests and other agricultural stresses.
“We expect that our platform will be used for crop bioengineering to improve key traits that impact yield and immunity to pathogens,” says group leader Magdy Mahfouz. “This technology should help improve plant resilience under climate change conditions.”