Virginia, USA
July 17, 2013

http://www.isb.vt.edu/news/2013/Jul13.pdf

Table of Contents

REGULATORY NEWS

GE Wheat Ignites Panic, While Myriad Scores a Victory in Oz and Defeat at Home
Phill Jones
On May 29, the USDA announced that a small number of volunteer wheat plants growing in an Oregon field had tested positive as GE glyphosate-resistant wheat. Further USDA tests pointed to GE wheat as MON71800, a variety developed by Monsanto. The USDA reported that the agency “has neither found nor been informed of anything that would indicate that this incident amounts to more than a single isolated incident in a single field on a single farm. All information collected so far shows no indication of the presence of GE wheat in commerce.”

PLANT NEWS

Current Developments of Intragenic and Cisgenic Crops
Inger Bæksted Holme, Toni Wendt and Preben Bach Holm
Several public surveys have shown that one of the major concerns among the general public is the combination of genetic elements derived from different organisms that cannot be crossed by natural means. Intragenesis and cisgenesis are two transformation concepts developed to meet this concern. In contrast to transgenesis where genes and DNA sequences are moved between any species, cis-/intragenesis is based on genetically engineering using only the plants own genetic material or genetic material from closely related species that can be intercrossed.

Using Synthetic Biology to Retarget Biosynthetic Pathways to the Chloroplast for Direct Access to the Products of Photosynthesis
Poul Erik Jensen, Lærke Marie Münter Lassen, Thiyagarajan Gnanasekaran, Agnieszka Zygadlo Nielsen and Birger Lindberg Møller
In the course of plant evolution, the energy generation and biosynthetic capacities of high-value natural products have been compartmentalized. Photosynthesis is located in the chloroplast, whereas cytochrome P450 monooxygenases are located in the endoplasmic reticulum. We have recently demonstrated that it is possible to break the evolutionary compartmentalization of energy generation and P450-catalyzed biosynthesis by relocating an entire P450-dependent pathway to the chloroplast and driving the pathway by direct use of the reducing power generated by photosynthesis in a light-dependent manner.
 

Website: http://www.isb.vt.edu

Published: July 17, 2013