Tackling Climate Change Through Carbon Sequestration: Enhancing Photosynthesis and Plant Root Architecture
Peggy G. Lemaux, Professor of Cooperative Extension
Plant and Microbial Biology
Open. Apprentices needed for the fall semester. Enter your application online beginning August 21st. The deadline to apply is Monday, August 31st, 4pm.
New approaches are needed to capture larger amounts of atmospheric carbon with the goal of reducing atmospheric CO2 and slowing or perhaps even reversing global warming. Plants are a proposed scalable solution, with the potential to both capture atmospheric carbon through photosynthetic CO2 fixation and store it through carbon sequestration in their roots. To increase the likelihood of success, several studies have shown that photosynthesis is underachieving, and engineered improvements in photosynthesis have demonstrated this.
The goal of our project, in collaboration with Professors David Savage in MCB and Krishna Niyogi in PMB, is to accelerate the process of identifying genetic fixes that improve CO2 fixation. Part of achieving this goal is through the use of a novel screening approach that will lead to the identification and prioritization of promising gene overexpression and editing approaches, and through searching the literature to discover genes that might have been identified in other crops to have positive effects on photosynthesis or root biomass.The primary target of our carbon sequestration efforts is Sorghum bicolor, the fifth most widely grown cereal crop worldwide. In the U.S., sorghum is primarily used for animal feed, forage and biofuels, but it is an important food crop in other countries. Advantages of sorghum for biofuels include its use of the more efficient C4 photosynthetic pathway and its drought and flood tolerance, traits important for addressing climate change.
To date, we have focused on two genes, a MADS-box transcription factor and a zinc-finger homeobox gene. Cnstructs were created to overexpress those two genes, introduced into the RTx430 sorghum genotype, and T2 and T0 transgenic plants were generated, respectively.
Essential to these efforts are effective methods to transform sorghum. Improving knockout and editing efficiencies is vital to easily generating sufficient numbers of genome-engineered and -edited plants. From a 1-3% transformation efficiency, using a classical immature embryo transformation method, we moved to a nearly 50% efficiency, utilizing the developmental genes, Baby Boom (Bbm) and Wuschel (Wus) (Aregawi, Shen et al. 2021. Plant Biotech J doi: 10.1111/pbi.13754). By modifying various components of a previously used construct, we achieved a 100% and 95.7% CRISPR/Cas9 editing and knockout efficiency, respectively, in the T0 generation. This approach will be used to improve C4 photosynthesis and root system architecture.
Role: The duties and goals of the student will depend on their skill level. The student might care for plants, plant seeds, harvest seeds, perform in vitro tissue culture and transformation for overexpression/editing outcomes and conduct biochemical and molecular studies on the transformed plants. The student may also be involved in preparing materials for the various analyses that will be performed. The student may also care for plants in growth chambers and the greenhouse, collecting experimental materials and data when necessary. The student will work directly with the Staff Research Associate, postdoctoral fellows, other undergraduates and the Principal Investigator. Students will participate in lab meetings and be expected to contribute to presentations and publications, as appropriate. The time commitment required will be negotiated with the student.
Qualifications: Enthusiasm for research is necessary; previous laboratory experience outside the classroom is desirable. Care-to-detail and commitment to scheduled work times are critical.
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Kiflom Aregawi, Staff Researcher
Hours: to be negotiated
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Biological & Health Sciences