Researchers at the University of California, Davis, successfully developed wheat plants that can produce their own fertilizer. This breakthrough, reported in the Plant Biotechnology Journal, could help reduce air and water pollution and lower farming costs. The research team, led by Prof. Eduardo Blumwald from the Department of Plant Sciences, used the CRISPR gene editing tool to make a naturally occurring chemical. When the plant releases the excess chemical into the soil, it stimulates soil bacteria to undergo nitrogen fixation. Through this process, the nitrogen in the air is converted into a form that can be used by the plants to grow.

This study applied CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing to inactivate soybean agglutinin, a well-known antinutritional factor in legume seeds, aiming to improve grain digestibility for animal feed. The Le1 gene (Glyma.02G012600), which encodes the major lectin in soybean seeds, was specifically targeted in the soybean cultivar BRS 537. To achieve this, a binary vector delivered via Agrobacterium tumefaciens transformation method was employed, carrying two gRNAs that generated 20 independent events and achieved an editing efficiency of 10%.

Researchers from Himachal Pradesh University, ICAR-Central Potato Research Institute, and ICAR-Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research in India have successfully developed high-amylose potatoes using CRISPR-Cas9. The team targeted two starch-branching enzyme genes, SBE2.1 and SBE2.2, in the widely grown potato variety Kufri Chipsona-I to increase its resistant starch content.