Engineering plants for a changing climate
Special issue of PLOS Biology explores plant engineering as a tool to improve the climate resilience and carbon capture potential of crops
2023-07-20
(Press-News.org) Climate change is affecting the types of plant varieties we can cultivate, as well as how and where we can do so. A new collection of articles in the open access journal PLOS Biology explores the twin challenges of engineering plants for resilience to climate change and enhancing their carbon-capture potential. PLOS Biology Editors Pamela Ronald & Joanna Clarke provide a summary editorial, and details regarding the other papers may be found below.
To meet the agricultural challenges caused by climate change and a growing population, we need to improve crop production. This Perspective from industry leaders including Catherine Feuillet calls for more and better public–private partnerships to accelerate discoveries in crop research.
How can we sustainably feed our growing population as the climate changes? This Perspective from Megan Matthews argues that by engineering photosynthesis to increase carbon capture, we can mitigate climate change and increase food production.
As climate change affects weather patterns and soil health, agricultural productivity could decrease substantially. Synthetic biology can be used to enhance climate-resilience in plants and create the next generation of crops, if the public will accept it, according to this article from Jennifer Brophy.
The microbiome of cropland soils could be manipulated to accelerate soil carbon sequestration. This Perspective from Noah Fierer suggests how this could be achieved and outlines the general steps required to develop, implement, and validate such microbial-based strategies.
Of all crop species, rice has the most genetic potential for adaptation to climate change, and Genebank accessions have been critical in developing improved stress-tolerant rice varieties. This Community Page from Kenneth McNally highlights new tools and resources from the International Rice Research Institute for accelerating the identification and deployment of genes conferring climate-change resilience.
Our basic understanding of carbon cycling in the biosphere remains qualitative and incomplete, precluding our ability to effectively engineer novel solutions to climate change. How can we attempt to engineer the unknown? This Essay from Patrick Shih proposes that the main contributions of plant synthetic biology in addressing climate change will lie not in delivering desired genotypes but in enabling the predictive understanding necessary to design target genotypes in the first place.
Cultivated species have reduced genetic diversity relative to their closest wild relatives. Preserving the rich genetic resources that crop wild relatives offer while avoiding detrimental variants and maladaptive genetic contributions is a central challenge for ongoing crop improvement. This Essay from Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra supports the use of traditional varieties as an intermediate between wild relatives and modern cultivars to increase genetic diversity in crops.
As the climate changes, so too will the relationship between humans and the plants we use for food, medicine, shelter, fuel and clothing. What, how and where we cultivate plants will change, as will the potential biotic and abiotic stresses faced by cultivated plants. This collection of articles explores strategies to help plants adapt to a changing climate, including ancient and modern breeding techniques, genome engineering, synthetic biology and microbiome engineering.
#####
The full Collection is available in PLOS Biology here: https://collections.plos.org/collection/engineering-plants-for-a-changing-climate/
In your coverage, please use these URLs to provide access to the freely available papers in PLOS Biology:
https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3002243
https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3002181
https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3002183
https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3002208
https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3002207
https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3002215
https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3002190
https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3002235
END
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2023-07-20
NEWPORT NEWS, VA – A doctoral dissertation examining the most precise measurement of electron beam polarization ever made was just awarded the prestigious 2022 Jefferson Science Associates (JSA) Thesis Prize. Since 2017, award-winner Allison Zec has been part of a collaboration that ran experiments at the U.S. Department of Energy's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility.
The goal of both the CREX and PREX-II experiments was to run an experiment and its mirror opposite simultaneously to determine ...
2023-07-20
ATLANTA, July 20, 2023 – A new study from researchers at the American Cancer Society (ACS) found that Black cancer survivors in the United States experience a higher risk of dying from cardiovascular disease (CVD) compared with White cancer survivors. The research showed Black cancer survivors carry from 30% up to a three-fold higher mortality risk from CVD, depending on the type of cancer that was diagnosed. Differences in neighborhood socioeconomic status and health insurance between Black and White cancer survivors explained the disparities in cardiovascular death rates between populations, according to the study authors. ...
2023-07-20
Researchers from The University of Tokyo unravel the connection between high body temperature and increased viral resistance.
Clinical evidence suggests that elderly individuals are at a higher risk of contracting viral infections. Quite notably, the older people also have lower mean body temperatures. However, the effects of increased body temperature on fighting viral infections remain largely unexplored. A team of Japanese researchers has now been able to bridge the gap by linking higher body temperature with an increased infection-fighting capability of the gut microorganisms or "microbiota." Their study was published in Volume 14 ...
2023-07-20
People with more positive perceptions of their nation’s institutions are more likely to show favoritism toward fellow citizens, according to new research in Social Psychological and Personality Science. This research suggests that support for national institutions could pose a challenge for establishing trust across borders.
Researchers also found that people who identify strongly with their own nation are likely to favor their fellow citizens, which aligns with previous studies. The possible role of trust in national institutions, however, was an unexpected development for researchers.
“We observed greater favoritism in trust toward fellow citizens ...
2023-07-20
New York, NY – The City University of New York Graduate Center is pleased to announce the appointment of Mark Hauber as the executive director of its Advanced Science Research Center (CUNY ASRC).
Established in 2014, the CUNY ASRC is a world-class STEM research and education institution dedicated to interdisciplinary science that addresses global challenges and develops innovative technologies that will advance the economies of New York State and the nation. Its five research initiatives center on nanoscience, photonics, structural ...
2023-07-20
The proper response to various abiotic stresses is essential for plants’ survival to overcome their sessile nature, especially for perennial trees with very long-life cycles. However, in conifers, the molecular mechanisms that coordinate multiple abiotic stress responses remain elusive.
This article has been published on Horticulture Research with title: An ethylene-induced NAC transcription factor acts as a multiple abiotic stress responsor in conifer.
Here, the transcriptome response to various abiotic stresses like salt, cold, drought, heat shock and osmotic were systematically detected in Pinus tabuliformis (P. ...
2023-07-20
The fastest way to heat food and drink might also rank as the fastest route to ingesting massive quantities of minuscule plastic particles, says new research from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
Experiments have shown that microwaving plastic baby food containers available on the shelves of U.S. stores can release huge numbers of plastic particles — in some cases, more than 2 billion nanoplastics and 4 million microplastics for every square centimeter of container.
Though the health effects of consuming micro- and nanoplastics remain unclear, the Nebraska team further found that three-quarters of cultured embryonic ...
2023-07-20
Cancer is one of the most devastating diseases in the world. In 2023, more than 1.9 million new cancer cases and 609,820 deaths are projected to occur in the United States alone. As efforts are underway to improve diagnostic tools, microRNAs are at the forefront biomedical research.
MicroRNAs, or miRNAs, are a class of small non-coding ribonucleic acids (RNAs), which are essential for all biological functions. The main role of miRNA in the human body is gene regulation. As such, they regulate a variety of biological and pathological processes, including the formation and development of cancer. In fact, many cancers are closely associated with ...
2023-07-20
The majority of older adults with cognitive impairment are still driving, despite concerns raised by caregivers and others, a Michigan Medicine study in a South Texas community finds.
Researchers assessed more than 600 adults over 65 years old in Nueces County, Texas, who had cognitive assessment scores that indicated a likelihood of impairment.
Of those people with cognitive impairment, 61.4% were current drivers, and around one-third of all caregivers had concerns about their care-recipient driving. The results are published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
“It is likely appropriate that some with mild cognitive impairment are ...
2023-07-20
-With pictures-
Over the last 30 years European breeding birds have shifted their range by, on average, 2.4km per year, according to new research.
However, these changes were significantly different from expectations based on changing climate and landcover during that period.
Based on climate alone, the researchers predicted that the average range shifts by species should have been around 50% faster.
The study led by experts from Durham University, UK, used survey data collected as part of two Europe-wide ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Engineering plants for a changing climate
Special issue of PLOS Biology explores plant engineering as a tool to improve the climate resilience and carbon capture potential of crops
