Centre for Plant Success Webinar Series: Chantelle Beagley and Chamilka Ratnayake

Chantelle Beagley

Dissecting the genetics of domestication in legumes as a contribution towards a comparative understanding of crop evolution.

Crop domestication is a complex process in which wild species become adapted for human use. Many species in the legume family are important global food crops, but compared to other major crops such as cereals, very little is known about the genetic basis for their domestication. This knowledge is critical for understanding of domestication history, conservation of adaptative mechanisms across phylogenies, and trait interaction and trade-offs. It can also inform crop improvement strategies including neo-domestication and the use of diversity from wild relatives.

My PhD examines the genetic basis for domestication in two major crop legumes, common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) and pea (Pisum spp). I will present an overview of work on a number of different traits (including flowering time, seed size and dormancy) and highlight some of the interesting new insights that have emerged.

Chamilka Ratnayake

Anthocyanin – An alternative to conventional reporter systems (Towards a combinatorial strategy for novel regulatory networks and modified metabolic pathways in Nicotiana benthamiana)

Given that many agronomical plants are polyploids, mixing and matching the biochemical pathways in the allotetraploid model plant Nicotiana benthamiana has an enormous potential to contribute towards expanding the metabolic solution space of crop plants. To study the regulation of metabolic pathways of interest at transcriptional level, we are undertaking a transgene-free genome editing approach to engineer the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway, in a way that differently-hued anthocyanins will function as a reporter system to monitor the gene expression of those selected pathways. Through bioinformatic analyses, we have identified the flavonoid hydroxylase genes in N. benthamiana that are responsible for the different shades of anthocyanins. Moreover, we have generated some stable transformants of different anthocyanin shades by silencing the above genes using CRISPR/Cas9 technology. Subsequently, these colours will be linked to specific metabolic pathways of interest through CRISPR/Cas9-mediated homologous recombination. This novel non-transgenic reporter system will help to overcome the limitations of existing transgene-based plant monitoring systems, enabling real time plant monitoring in field through visual cues to detect and assess the activation and deactivation of metabolic pathways. Furthermore, this study aids to address the constraints faced by a conventional plant breeder as well as a synthetic biologist, bridging the gap in-between.

This event is open to Centre Members only. If you are a Centre Member who would like to attend, please contact admin@plantsuccess.org for the Zoom invitation.