Minimizing the time and cost of production of transgenic alfalfa libraries using the highly efficient completely sequenced vector pPZP200BAR

pBAR-H3.2, a native-optimized binary vector to bypass transgene silencing in alfalfa

KEY MESSAGE

A novel genetic tool to bypass transgene silencing in alfalfa.

Maximizing the expression of transgenic traits into elite alfalfa germplasm using a supertransgene configuration in heterozygous conditions

A novel process for the production of transgenic alfalfa varieties. Numerous species of legumes, including alfalfa, are critical factors for agroecosystems due to their ability to grow without nitrogen fertilizers derived from non-renewable fossil fuels, their contribution of organic nitrogen to the soil, and their increased nutritional value. Alfalfa is the main source of vegetable proteins in meat and milk production systems worldwide. Despite the economic and ecological importance of this autotetraploid and allogamous forage crop, little progress has been made in the incorporation of transgenic traits into commercial alfalfa. This is mainly due to the unusually strong transgene silencing and complex reproductive behavior of alfalfa, which limit the production of events with high transgene expression and the introgression of selected events within heterogeneous synthetic populations, respectively. In this report, we describe a novel procedure, called supertransgene process, where a glufosinate-tolerant alfalfa variety was developed using a single event containing the BAR transgene associated with an inversion. This approach can be used to maximize the expression of transgenic traits into elite alfalfa germplasm and to reduce the cost of production of transgenic alfalfa cultivars, contributing to the public improvement of this legume forage and other polyploid and outcrossing crop species.

A functional zeaxanthin epoxidase from red algae shedding light on the evolution of light-harvesting carotenoids and the xanthophyll cycle in photosynthetic eukaryotes

The epoxy-xanthophylls antheraxanthin and violaxanthin are key precursors of light-harvesting carotenoids and participate in the photoprotective xanthophyll cycle. Thus, the invention of zeaxanthin epoxidase (ZEP) catalyzing their formation from zeaxanthin has been a fundamental step in the evolution of photosynthetic eukaryotes. ZEP genes have only been found in Viridiplantae and chromalveolate algae with secondary plastids of red algal ancestry, suggesting that ZEP evolved in the Viridiplantae and spread to chromalveolates by lateral gene transfer. By searching publicly available sequence data from 11 red algae covering all currently recognized red algal classes we identified ZEP candidates in three species. Phylogenetic analyses showed that the red algal ZEP is most closely related to ZEP proteins from photosynthetic chromalveolates possessing secondary plastids of red algal origin. Its enzymatic activity was assessed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analyses of red algal pigment extracts and by cloning and functional expression of the ZEP gene from Madagascaria erythrocladioides in leaves of the ZEP-deficient aba2 mutant of Nicotiana plumbaginifolia. Unlike other ZEP enzymes examined so far, the red algal ZEP introduces only a single epoxy group into zeaxanthin, yielding antheraxanthin instead of violaxanthin. The results indicate that ZEP evolved before the split of Rhodophyta and Viridiplantae and that chromalveolates acquired ZEP from the red algal endosymbiont and not by lateral gene transfer. Moreover, the red algal ZEP enables engineering of transgenic plants incorporating antheraxanthin instead of violaxanthin in their photosynthetic machinery.

Microevolution Rather than Large Genome Divergence Determines the Effectiveness of Legume-Rhizobia Symbiotic Interaction Under Field Conditions

Despite the vast screening for natural nitrogen-fixing isolates by public and private consortia, no significant progresses in the production of improved nitrogen-fixing inoculants for alfalfa production have been made in the last years. Here, we present a comprehensive characterization of the nitrogen-fixing strain Ensifer meliloti B399 (originally named Rhizobium meliloti 102F34), probably the inoculant most widely used in alfalfa production since the 1960s. Complete nucleotide sequence and genome analysis of strain B399 showed that the three replicons present in this commercial strain and the model bacterium Ensifer meliloti 1021 are extremely similar to each other in terms of nucleotide identity and synteny conservation. In contrast to that observed in B399-treated plants, inoculation of plants with strain 1021 did not improve nitrogen content in different alfalfa cultivars under field conditions, suggesting that a small genomic divergence can drastically impact on the symbiotic phenotype. Therefore, in addition to the traditional screening of natural nitrogen-fixing isolates, the genome engineering of model strains could be an attractive strategy to improve nitrogen fixation in legume crops.