Modern genetic techniques can make tomatoes more robust, and legislation should be loosened to allow these innovations to flourish, according to a group of biotechnology researchers.
Approaches which focus on improvement and not redesign of tomatoes, including breeding using recombinant DNA, CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing and RNA interference (RNAi) can result in better tolerance of environmental stressors, said the scientists, in a review of progress to date.
These technologies can improve systems and pathways that are already present in plants through what are known as biomimetic biotechnological approaches, or BBA.
Augmenting natural plant defences
The researchers pointed to a number of examples of research resulting in the regulation and overexpression of tomato genes which have improved tomatoes’ ability to withstand drought, temperature extremes and salinity.
Target genes for such work include that which controls the production of mannitol, a sugar-alcohol which can improve outcomes in the face of drought, salinity and chilling, as well as those which influence the production of heat shock proteins and antioxidants, the latter which can help in the case of excessive UV exposure.
Lighter regulation urged
Current legislation around genetically-modified organisms in the EU means that tomatoes developed using the technologies cited in the review would need to go through stringent safety checks before they could be used commercially, they noted.
The same is true regardless of whether “classic genetic transformation”, where DNA from outside a species is inserted into its genome, or biomimetic techniques are used.
“Rather than focusing on the technique that alters the DNA or the source of the genetic material, a less stringent legal framework and a less complex and onerous authorization procedure can be perhaps granted for organisms modified using BBA,” the scientists wrote in the journal Plants.
“This approach can better achieve the development of modified varieties within the functional range potentially obtainable by conventional methods or classic mutagenesis.”
Biomimetic approaches could potentially open new dialogue and cultural exchange around different types of genetic changes which are possible to achieve in important crop plants, they added.
