Agricultural biotechnology for sustainable food security

Processes for regulating genetically modified and gene edited plants

Innovation in agriculture has been essential in improving productivity of crops and forages to support a growing population, improving living standards while contributing toward maintaining environment integrity, human health, and wellbeing through provision of more nutritious, varied, and abundant food sources. A crucial part of that innovation has involved a range of techniques for both expanding and exploiting the genetic potential of plants. However, some techniques used for generating new variation for plant breeders to exploit are deemed higher risk than others despite end products of both processes at times being for all intents and purposes identical for the benefits they provide. As a result, public concerns often triggered by poor communication from innovators, resulting in mistrust and suspicion has, in turn, caused the development of a range of regulatory systems. The logic and motivations for modes of regulation used are reviewed and how the benefits from use of these technologies can be delivered more efficiently and effectively is discussed.

Mitigating climate change and pandemic impacts on global food security: dual sustainable agriculture approach (2S approach)

MAIN CONCLUSION

Simultaneous application of two sustainability approaches such as the application of biofertilizers to GM plants and microbe bioengineering to enhance physiological response and beneficial interaction with GM plants may have a significant impact on strengthening global food security amid climate change and the pandemic. The second sustainable development goal (SDG 02, Zero Hunger) aims global agricultural sustainability and food security challenges. The agriculture sector has been an integral part of developing countries for millions of farmers and their families. Their contribution provides stability of raw matter related to food availability. But climate change, higher population growth and worldwide pandemics are the main obstacles to food quality, higher crop productivity and global food security. Scientists are concerned with the manifestation of agriculture sustainability in the modern crop management approach to resolving the issues. It is the only way to higher yield productivity by protecting the environment, conserving natural resources, and slowing climate change. Several strategies can be an option to implement, yet the proposed two sustainability approach or 2S approach will be the significant way toward the goal of zero hunger. The first sustainability approach is an application of genetically modified (S1: GMO) Plants and the other is an application of beneficiary plant growth-promoting microbes (S2: Biofertilizers) to the plants for both higher crops and maintenance of the environment. This study summarizes the essential points of S1 and S2 for the widespread utilization of the 2S approach in agriculture and recommends the potential alternatives to be implemented to produce food for all. Simultaneous application of the 2S approach can defeat all threats to gain sustainability in agriculture.

Multiple challenges in the development of commercial crops using CRISPR/Cas technology

The CRISPR/Cas system is a highly efficient and versatile tool for editing plant genomes, with the potential to accelerate breeding programs and improve the sustainability of food production. Nevertheless, technical limitations delay the rapid spread of the CRISPR/Cas system benefits in agriculture. The natural features of plant species, including reproductive behavior, ploidy levels, genetic diversity, and generation times, can significantly impact the introgression of edited traits into elite germplasms. The production and selection of edited events require the same level of effort as those of their transgenic equivalents. Additionally, edited alleles tend to be recessive or not fully dominant, which differs from dominant transgenic events. To accelerate the introgression of edited events into conventional and transgenic varieties, we suggest utilizing edits on single-copy genes that induce dominant mutations. In the absence of new, simple traits that provide exceptional economic benefits for large companies, like herbicide tolerance in transgenic crops, we propose the emergence of particular public grants for edited variety productions, especially when the introgression shows a high level of technical feasibility. In the context of climate change, these public actions must be taken quickly to alleviate significant reductions in crop production.

The secretome of Agaricus bisporus: Temporal dynamics of plant polysaccharides and lignin degradation

Despite substantial lignocellulose conversion during mycelial growth, previous transcriptome and proteome studies have not yet revealed how secretomes from the edible mushroom Agaricus bisporus develop and whether they modify lignin models in vitro. To clarify these aspects, A. bisporus secretomes collected throughout a 15-day industrial substrate production and from axenic lab-cultures were subjected to proteomics, and tested on polysaccharides and lignin models. Secretomes (day 6-15) comprised A. bisporus endo-acting and substituent-removing glycoside hydrolases, whereas β-xylosidase and glucosidase activities gradually decreased. Laccases appeared from day 6 onwards. From day 10 onwards, many oxidoreductases were found, with numerous multicopper oxidases (MCO), aryl alcohol oxidases (AAO), glyoxal oxidases (GLOX), a manganese peroxidase (MnP), and unspecific peroxygenases (UPO). Secretomes modified dimeric lignin models, thereby catalyzing syringylglycerol-β-guaiacyl ether (SBG) cleavage, guaiacylglycerol-β-guaiacyl ether (GBG) polymerization, and non-phenolic veratrylglycerol-β-guaiacyl ether (VBG) oxidation. We explored A. bisporus secretomes and insights obtained can help to better understand biomass valorization.

Study of Mechanical Response of Paper-Based Microfluidic System as a Potential Milk Tester

Milk is considered a complete meal that requires supervision to determine its suitability for human consumption. The development of sustainable devices that evaluate food properties has gained importance due to the necessity of integrating these instruments into the production chain. However, the materials employed to develop it, such as polymers, semiconductors, and glass, lack sustainability and require specialized equipment to fabricate them. Different chemical techniques have been used to miniaturize these detection systems such as microfluidics, which have been used in milk component detection using colorimetry. In this work, a cantilever beam paper-based microfluidic system is proposed to evaluate differences in milk, according to nutritional information, using its electromechanical response. A 20-microliter milk drop is deposited in the system, which induces hygroexpansion and deflection due to liquid transport within the paper. Likewise, a conductive path is added on the beam top surface to supply a constant current that induces heat to evaporate the solution. According to the results obtained, it is possible to point out differences between trademarks with this microfluidic system. The novelty of this system relies on the paper electromechanical response that integrates the hygroexpansion-induced displacement, which can be used for further applications such as milk microtesters instead of colorimetric tests that use paper as a property-evaluation platform in combination with chemical reactions.