STTR Phase I: Genome Editing in Loblolly Pine for Sustainable Fiber Production in the Southern United States

这一小型企业技术转让(STTR)项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是通过生物研究支持国内木材行业，特别是火炬松。拟议的项目将林业纳入了具有强大影响的新兴基因组编辑科学的范围。增强的特性使纸浆和造纸制造的商业实体能够节省能源和化学成本；纸浆和造纸设施可能会降低高达6%的成本，对于一个以微薄的利润率提供日常用品(如卫生纸巾和纸板供递送)的行业来说，这是特别的。此外，树木在固碳方面发挥着重要作用，但它们需要在温度变化和潜在的侵扰中生存下来。随着拟议技术的进步，森林编辑最终可能被接受为生物资源可持续性和碳封存的重要途径。拟议的项目将树木遗传学的洞察力与基因组编辑的力量相结合，以产生具有改善树木生长、加工和可持续性的功能属性的增强基因类型。根据对相关物种具有商业价值的表型负责的基因的综合预测模型，有可能选择导致表型增强的基因组编辑目标组合，例如木质素含量和丁香基/愈创木基比率，以调节树木的组成，以增加它们的加工倾向、环境适应能力或有价值的商业特征。使用基于CRISPR的基因组编辑技术，该项目将同时以这些基因序列为目标进行多路复用，以产生预期的基因改变组合，利用交付具有商业意义的精英种质的专业知识。林业中的传统育种是缓慢和繁琐的，因为树木的长世代时间需要每个育种周期几十年。目前还没有替代技术可以加速林木的遗传改良。有了这项拟议的技术，一年生作物可以按两年或一年的周期进行高效培育，并具有与传统种植作物相同或改进的特性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) project is to support the domestic lumber industry, specifically for loblolly pine, through biological research. The proposed project brings forestry within the scope of the emerging science of genome editing with powerful impacts. Enhanced traits allow commercial entities in pulp and paper manufacturing to save energy and chemical costs; a pulp and paper facility can potentially reduce costs by up to 6%, exceptional for an industry that provides everyday items, such as hygienic tissue and cardboard for deliveries, at thin profit margins. Furthermore, trees play an important role in carbon sequestration, but they need to survive the temperature changes and potential infestations. With the advance of the proposed technology, editing forests could eventually gain acceptance as a significant avenue to bioresource sustainability and carbon sequestration.The proposed project combines the insights of tree genetics with the power of genome editing to generate enhanced genotypes with functional attributes that improve tree growth, processing and sustainability. Based on an integrated predictive model of genes responsible for phenotypes of commercial interest in relevant species, it is possible to select combinations of genome editing targets responsible for enhanced phenotypes, such as lignin content and syringyl/guaiacyl ratio, to modulate the composition of trees as to increase their propensity for processing, their environmental resilience, or valuable commercial features. Using CRISPR-based genome editing technologies, the project will multiplex target these genetic sequences concurrently to generate the intended genetic alteration combinations, using expertise in delivery to commercially relevant elite germplasm. Conventional breeding in forestry is slow and cumbersome because the long generation time of trees requires decades per breeding cycle. No alternative technology is currently feasible for accelerated genetic improvement of forest trees. With the proposed technology, annual crops can be efficiently bred on biannual or annual cycles with the same or improved properties as their conventionally-bred counterparts.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.