Plant Breeding Seminar - April 24th, 2024 3:10 room 2020 Agronomy Hall 

Join us (2020 Agronomy Hall) for a presentation by Raquel Chan

Title: “Translational research focused on HD-Zip I transcription factors. From a model plant grown in a culture chamber to crops in field conditions and back to fundamental science”

Raquel Chan is currently a Senior Researcher at CONICET-Argentina, Senior Lecturer at UNL, and Director of the Agrobiotechnology Institute. Her research focuses on plant adaptation to environmental stress, starting from molecules as transcription factors until modified crops in field trials. She completed her degree at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1981) and her Ph.D. (1988) at CEFOBI (CONICET-UNR). She did a post-doc at the IBMP (Strasbourg-France, 1988-1992) and then joined the Molecular Biology Institute (Rosario-Argentina, 1993) as a CONICET career member. In 1999 she moved to the Coastal National University. She is co-author of 102 international articles published in prestigious journals, nine book chapters, dozens of science divulgation articles, and co-inventor of ten patents involving biotechnological tools for crop improvement. She received recognition and awards, such as Jorge Sábato (2013), Konex Foundation (2013 and 2023), Rosario city - IBR Foundation (2019), and was selected by the BBC together with IANAS as one of the ten women who lead science in Latin America (2013), nominated by Crop Life International (2019) as Female Food Hero, Ada Byron prize to women in technology (2022), and Bunge and Born prize in Agrobiotechnology (2023), among others. She became a full member of the Santa Fe Academy of Medical Sciences (2020), the National Academy of Sciences (Argentina, 2021), the Latin-American Academy of Science (2021), and the National Agronomy and Veterinary Academy (2023).

Abstract: Worldwide research on Plant Molecular Biology has often been performed working with model species like Arabidopsis thaliana, Nicotiana benthamiana, or Oryza sativa, grown in culture chambers or greenhouses. However, there is a long way to traverse from the model to the crop and from the laboratory to the field. Even though models are very useful to acquire knowledge faster, the truth is that more frequently than desired, the observations done with such species were not reproduced in field conditions where a complex stress mix occurs.

Sunflower exhibits several divergent transcription factors (TFs). Among them, HaHB4 and HaHB11 belong to the HD-Zip I family. HaHB4 conferred drought and salinity tolerance to Arabidopsis, whereas HaHB11 improved yield and flooding tolerance in such a model. We did genetic constructs able to express these TFs and used them to transform soybean, maize, rice, and wheat. We conducted culture chamber, greenhouse, and field trials in different environments, and notably, the results indicated that crops partially conserved the beneficial traits observed in the model. After long regulatory processes in several countries, HaHB4 soybean and wheat became rare successful cases commercially released in 2022. In field assays, where a severe drought occurred, transgenic HaHB4 outyielded the commercial line by 26%-95%. HaHB11 was able to confer tolerance to flooding and defoliation and increased yield to the three crops in four campaigns. 

A careful analysis of these and other transformed plants exhibiting enhanced yield as a shared trait lead us to develop a mechanical treatment allowing to enlarge the stems, conducting to improve the production and health of tomatoes, bell pepper, chia, strawberry, and other species. The development of this manual technique, useful in family agriculture and small farmers, exemplifies how science is only one, and the connection from fundamental research to its application is a two-way road. Even though failures are more frequent than successes, basic research is essential to reach innovative applications.

Zoom link: https://iastate.zoom.us/j/94094044904?pwd=S2tsV29zbmE0bHpBeFZvdlRtYWlkUT09