Foreword
Contents
Part I The Tools for Engineering Plants
1 The Evolution of Agriculture and Tools for Plant Innovation
1.1 Multiple Origins of Agriculture
1.1.1 Emergence of Agriculture
1.1.2 The ‘Domestication Syndrome’
1.2 The Toolbox of Crop Improvement: Hybrids and First Biotechnologies
1.2.1 Hybridization (Crosses Between Plants or Species)
1.2.2 Chemical- and Radiation-Induced Mutagenesis
1.2.3 Other Techniques: In Vitro Techniques, Genome Sequencing and Gene Mapping
1.2.4 The Green Revolution
1.3 Advanced Breeding Techniques: Genetic Modification Technologies
1.3.1 Genetic Engineering Technologies
1.3.2 Traits Expressed by the Genetic Engineering Technologies
1.3.3 Development of New Breeding Techniques
1.4 How to Meet 70% More Food by 2050?
References
2 Techniques and Tools of Modern Plant Breeding
2.1 Plant Breeding and Plant Ideotypes
2.2 Plant Breeding Exploits Phenotype and Genotype
2.3 Molecular Markers and Plant Breeding
2.4 Recombinant Inbred Lines for Plant Breeding
2.5 Plant Breeding with Haploids
2.6 Speed Breeding
2.7 Genome Wide Association Mapping in Plants
2.8 Availability of Sequenced Genomes of Field Crops
2.9 Plant Breeding and Gene Expression Techniques
2.10 Forward Genetics for Plant Breeding
2.11 Reverse Genetics Tools
2.12 Targeted Genome Editing Technology
References
3 Genomic Methods for Improving Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Crops
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Limitations of Conventional Breeding Methods Based on Phenotypic Evaluations of Stress Tolerance
3.2.1 Difficulties in Improving Abiotic Stress Tolerance Trait
3.2.2 Some Basic Concepts of QTL Analysis and Marker-Assisted Selection Performed at Gene Level
3.3 Genomic Methods Are Available for Gene Discovery and Increasing Breeding Efficiency
3.3.1 Next Generation Sequencing (NGS)
3.3.2 Association Analysis
3.3.3 Genome-Wide Selection
3.3.4 Omics
3.4 Conclusions
References
4 New Technologies for Precision Plant Breeding
4.1 Plant Breeding, Then and Now
4.2 DNA Double-Strand Break (DSB) Induction
4.3 Non-Homologous End Joining (NHEJ)—Induction of Targeted Mutations
4.4 Gene Targeting
4.5 Inter-Homologs Recombination
4.6 Conclusion
References
5 CRISPR Technologies for Plant Biotechnology Innovation
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Genome Editing Technologies: Historical Perspective and the Rise of Genome Editing Tools
5.3 CRISPR/Cas-Based Genome Engineering
5.4 Various CRISPR/Cas-Based Tools and Their Utilities
5.4.1 Multiplex Editing
5.4.2 Transcriptional Activation and Repression
5.4.3 Epigenome Editing
5.4.4 Base Editing
5.4.5 Prime Editing
5.5 Better Crops with CRISPR/Cas Techniques
5.5.1 Rapid Domestication of Crops
5.5.2 Improving Disease Resistance
5.5.3 Developing Climate-Smart Crops
5.5.4 Quality Enhancement
5.5.5 Yield Improvement
5.5.6 Early Disease Detection in Plant
5.5.7 Controlling Invasive Species in Agri Field
5.5.8 Weed Management
5.6 Genome Edited Versus Transgenic Crops
5.7 Concluding Remarks
References
Part II Contributions to the Society
6 Intellectual Property Protection of Plant Innovation
6.1 Why Protect Intellectual Property?
6.2 Protection of Plant Innovation in Europe
6.2.1 Protection of Plant Varieties
6.2.2 Protection of Biotechnological Inventions
6.2.3 The Saga of the Broccoli, Tomato and Pepper Cases
6.2.4 The Balance Between the PVP and the Patent
6.3 The Protection of Plant Innovation in the USA
6.4 An Overview of the Situation in Some Other Countries
6.4.1 The Least Advanced Countries
6.4.2 Some Other Countries
6.5 Conclusions
Reference
7 Environmental Impacts of Genetically Modified (GM) Crop Use: Impacts on Pesticide Use and Carbon Emissions
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Environmental Impacts of Insecticide and Herbicide Use Changes
7.2.1 GM HT Crops
7.2.2 GM IR Crops
7.2.3 Aggregated (Global Level) Impacts
7.3 Greenhouse Gas Emission Savings
7.3.1 Reduced Fuel Use
7.3.2 Additional Soil Carbon Storage/Sequestration
7.4 Conclusions
References
8 Is It Possible to Overcome the GMO Controversy? Some Elements for a Philosophical Perspective
8.1 A Dispute that is Not Just a Scientific Controversy
8.2 An Overview of Various Modes of Thought
8.2.1 The ‘Modern’ Thought
8.2.2 The ‘Environmentalist’ Thought
8.2.3 The ‘Postmodern’ Thought
8.2.4 Religious Views on GMOs
8.3 Why is There No Consensus on GMOs?
References
Part III Sustainable Management
9 Sustainable Management of Insect-Resistant Crops
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Insect Resistance Traits
9.3 Insecticides and Their Integration into IPM
9.4 Emergence of Insect-Resistant Crops, Pyramids, Stacks, and Coupled Technologies
9.5 Sustainable Management of Insect-Resistant Crops
9.6 Adoption Patterns
9.7 Insecticide Use
9.8 Areawide Effects
9.9 Evolution of Populations Resistant to GE Crops
9.10 Summary
References
10 Effects of GE Crops on Non-target Organisms
10.1 Introduction
10.2 Insect-Resistant Crops
10.3 The IPM Context
10.4 What Is a Non-target Organism?
10.5 Effects on Non-target Organisms
10.5.1 How to Characterize Risk
10.5.2 General Non-target Effects
10.5.3 Non-target Pests
10.5.4 Valued Non-target Organisms
10.5.5 Non-target Effects on Arthropod Natural Enemies
10.5.6 Effects on Biological Control Function
10.6 Conclusion
References
11 Virus-Resistant Crops and Trees
11.1 Introduction
11.2 What are Plant Viruses, and do Plant Viruses Differ from Animal Viruses?
11.3 Can Plants Defend Themselves Against Viruses?
11.4 Are Cultivated Plants More Susceptible to Viruses Than Their Wild Relatives?
11.4.1 Examples of Natural Resistance
11.4.2 Examples of Transgenic Resistance
11.4.3 A New, Nucleic Acid Sequence-Based Inducible Defense Mechanism
11.5 How Does RNAi Work?
11.6 How Can We Manipulate RNAi to Induce Virus Resistance in Plants?
11.7 Does RNAi ALWAYS Involve the Use of Transgenic Plants?
11.7.1 Issues Linked with VIGS and RNAi
11.7.2 Modification of the RNAi Strategy: RNAi, or Gene Silencing, Can Be Used, for Instance, to Affect Insect Vector Performance
11.8 Future Perspectives
References
Part IV Sustainable Environment
12 Root Traits for Improving N Acquisition Efficiency
12.1 N-Efficient Crops are Needed in Global Agriculture
12.2 Physiological Mechanisms of N Uptake
12.3 Root Ideotype for Improved Acquisition of N
12.4 Root Architecture Ideotype for Improved Acquisition of N
12.5 Root Anatomical Ideotype for Improved Acquisition of N
12.6 Root Phene Synergisms for N Capture
12.7 Dimorphic Root Phenotypes for N Capture
12.8 Root Phenes Have Plastic Responses to N
12.9 Genetic Variation for Root Phenes and Breeding Strategies
12.10 Future Perspectives
12.11 Conclusion
References
13 Sustainable Soil Health
13.1 Introduction
13.2 Definition of Soil Health
13.3 The Soil Resource
13.4 Global Soil Classification
13.5 Soil Degradation
13.6 Roles of Inherent and Alterable Soil Properties in Enhancing Soil Health
13.7 Why Organic Matter Enhances Soil Health
13.8 Bio-Based Tools for Evaluating Soil Health
13.8.1 Visual and Manual Assessments in the Field
13.8.2 Wet Laboratory Methods
13.8.3 Advanced Biotechnologies
13.9 Management Practices to Improve Soil Health
13.9.1 Crop Diversification and Nitrogen Nutrition
13.9.2 Reduced Tillage
13.9.3 Microbial Augmentation
13.10 Conclusions
References
14 Environmental Phytoremediation and Analytical Technologies for Heavy Metal Removal and Assessment
14.1 Introduction
14.2 Phytoremediation Techniques for Heavy Metal Removal
14.3 Atomic Spectroscopic Techniques for Assessing Heavy Metal Stressors
14.3.1 Flame Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (FAA)
14.3.2 Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (GFAA)
14.3.3 Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES)
14.3.4 Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS)
14.3.5 Atomic Fluorescence Spectroscopy (AFS)
14.3.6 X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (XRF)
14.4 Conclusion
References
Part V Contributions to Food, Feed, and Health
15 Production of Medicines from Engineered Proteins in Plants
15.1 Introduction
15.2 Technologies Used to Produce Plant-Based Pharmaceuticals
15.3 Vaccines Produced in Plants
15.3.1 Plant-Made Vaccines for Human Papillomavirus (HPV)
15.3.2 Plant-Made Vaccine for Cholera
15.3.3 Plant-Made Vaccines for Influenza Virus
15.4 Antibodies to One Health Diseases Produced in Plants
15.4.1 Ebola Virus
15.4.2 Plant-Made Antibodies to HIV
15.4.3 Plant-Made Vaccines to Dengue and West Nile Virus
15.5 Plant-Made Therapeutic Agents
15.6 Plant Virus Nanoparticles to Combat Cancer
15.7 Conclusions
References
16 Low Gluten and Coeliac-Safe Wheat Through Gene Editing
16.1 Wheat
16.1.1 History
16.1.2 Diversity of Wheat Species
16.2 Wheat Gluten
16.2.1 Complexity
16.2.2 Versatility and Functionality of Gluten in Food Products
16.3 Human Health
16.3.1 Positive Effects of Wheat Consumption
16.3.2 Negative Effects of Wheat Consumption
16.3.3 Coeliac Disease Epitopes
16.4 Wheat Breeding
16.4.1 Aims
16.4.2 Coeliac-Safe Wheat
16.4.3 Removing or Silencing Gluten Genes
16.5 Gene Editing
16.5.1 CRISPR/Cas9 Gene Editing
16.6 Perspectives of Coeliac-Safe(r) Wheat
16.6.1 The Gluten-Free Market
16.6.2 Gene Editing Products as Non-GM
16.6.3 Labelling
16.6.4 Production Chain
16.7 Conclusions
References
17 Near-Isogenic Lines as Powerful Tools to Evaluate the Effect of Individual Phytochemicals on Health and Chronic Diseases
17.1 Plant-Based Diets and Human Health
17.2 Current Challenges in Assessing Health-Promoting Properties of Phytochemicals
17.3 The Importance of Near-Isogenic Lines
17.4 The Development of Near-Isogenic Lines
17.4.1 Isogenic Food Materials Developed Through Selective Breeding
17.4.2 Isogenic Food Materials Developed Through Genetic Engineering
17.5 Application of Near-Isogenic Lines in Diet Experiments
References
Part VI Contributions of Genome Editing to Agriculture
18 Policies and Governance for Plant Genome Editing
18.1 Outdated Laws for New Techniques Provide Room for Uncertainty
18.2 The Global Regulatory Status of Genome Edited Plants in 2020
18.2.1 Latin American States
18.2.2 United States of America
18.2.3 Canada
18.2.4 Israel
18.2.5 Japan
18.2.6 Australia
18.2.7 New Zealand
18.2.8 European Union
18.2.9 China
18.2.10 Russian Federation
18.2.11 India
18.2.12 Switzerland
18.2.13 Norway
18.2.14 Developments in Global Organizations
References
19 Exploring the Roots of the Old GMO Narrative and Why Young People Have Started to Ask Critical Questions
19.1 Introduction
19.2 Historical Context
19.2.1 The Green Revolution
19.2.2 The End of the Cold War and Its Negative Impact on International Agricultural Research
19.2.3 The Legacy of Monsanto
19.3 Gene-Editing as GMO 2.0?
19.3.1 The Popular Established Narrative of Precaution
19.3.2 Gene-Editing: What It Does, How It Evolves and Who Owns It
19.3.3 Improved Access to Advanced Biological Discovery Platforms
19.3.4 Gene Editing for the Genetic Improvement of Orphan Crops
19.4 The Challenge of Regulation
19.4.1 United States: Prior Experience with GMO Determines Regulation of Gene-Editing
19.4.2 EU: Stuck in the Past
19.4.3 New Zealand: A Powerhouse of Agricultural Innovation Strangled by Regulation
19.4.4 The Impact of Regulation on Innovation
19.5 Challenged by the Young Generation
19.5.1 If You Want to be Rebel, Just Act the Way We Did, When We Were Young!
19.6 The Landscape of Intellectual Property Has Changed and No One Seems to Have Noticed
19.6.1 Harnessing the Technology as a Tool of Empowerment
19.6.2 The Need to Rethink Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS)
19.6.3 More Creative Solutions to Protect the Public Interest While Enabling Innovation
19.7 Concluding Remarks
References