Transgene free gene editing in plants via nanoparticles.

CRISPR/CAS9基因编辑和几项密切相关的技术在过去十年中已经成为生命科学中的一个极其强大的工具，使精确和有针对性的植物和动物基因组编辑成为可能。标准基因编辑的结果与自然发生的遗传变化类型难以区分，而传统育种方法可能在更长的时间范围内产生这些类型的基因变化。这项强大的技术有可能帮助交付耐压力或耐疾病的作物，去除过敏原，并增加食物的营养价值。为了认识到这一承诺，英国政府最近宣布，将更容易地种植用于研究和开发的基因编辑植物，这些植物引入的基因变化本来可以通过传统育种实现。它还预计，基因编辑将在“帮助我们应对粮食系统挑战、气候变化和生物多样性丧失……保护我们的环境，并帮助实现我们在净零排放和气候适应方面的雄心”方面发挥关键作用。虽然基因编辑在作物发展中显示出很大的前景，但有两个关键限制，这两个都是由于植物细胞壁，这使得在正确的时间将所需的成分运送到正确的地点具有挑战性。首先，植物中的大多数基因编辑需要将编码编辑机器的外来DNA整合到植物基因组中，使植物“转基因”，直到这种机器被移除。其次，一种更精确的基因编辑形式--提供模板序列来产生准确的编辑--在植物中是不可行的。纳米颗粒是一种潜在的手段，可以解决这些限制并改变植物的基因编辑。最近的研究表明，磁性纳米颗粒可以通过花粉外壳上自然形成的小孔或“小孔”有效地将DNA输送到植物花粉中，同时保持花粉的活力。这个博士项目将建立在这一理解的基础上，开发适用于广泛物种的植物基因编辑的变革性技术。学生将在阿伯里斯特威斯大学学习尖端基因编辑技术、分子和细胞生物学以及超分辨率荧光显微镜。他们将建立能够快速评估基因编辑效率的植物品系，并使用这些品系来优化植物基因编辑。该学生还将在贝尔法斯特女王大学药学院与纳米科学和应用化学专家合作，合成并表征具有植物基因编辑正确特征的纳米颗粒。该项目提供分子植物遗传学、生物技术和应用化学的多学科培训，为您在大学或工业的一系列科学学科的成功研究生涯做好准备。您将在Aberystwyth大学接受最先进的CRISPR/Cas9基因编辑、分子植物遗传学和超分辨率荧光显微镜以及贝尔法斯特女王大学研究实习期间的纳米颗粒合成方面的高级培训。在课程期间，你还将在Aberystwyth攻读一系列研究生课程，帮助发展广泛的可转移技能。你将进行具有实际影响的研究，开发新的变革性技术来推动作物发展，并将受益于一支由不同背景和专业知识的优秀导师和合作者组成的团队。你还将有机会向科学界展示你的研究，并为参加至少两次国际会议提供资金。

CRISPR/CAS9 gene editing, and several closely related technologies, have emerged in the last decade as an extremely powerful tool in the life sciences, allowing precise and targeted editing of plant and animal genomes. The results of standard gene editing are indistinguishable from the types of genetic changes that occur naturally and that could be generated over much longer time frames by conventional breeding approaches. This powerful technology has the potential to help deliver stress or disease tolerant crops, remove allergens, and increase the nutritional value of foods. In recognition of this promise, the UK government has recently announced it will be making it easier to grow gene edited plants for research and development where the genetic changes introduced could have been achieved by traditional breeding. It also anticipates that gene editing will be vital in "helping us tackle food system challenges, climate change and biodiversity loss... protect our environment and help meet our ambitions on Net Zero and climate adaptation".While gene editing shows much promise in crop development, there are two key limitations, both due to the plant cell wall which makes it challenging to deliver the required components to the right place at the right time. Firstly, most gene editing in plants requires foreign DNA encoding the editing machinery to be integrated into the plant genome making the plants "Genetically Modified" until this machinery can be removed. Secondly, a more precise form of gene editing - where a template sequence is provided to generate exact edits - is not feasible in plants.Nanoparticles are a potential means to solve both of these limitations and transform plant gene editing. It has recently been shown that magnetic nanoparticles can efficiently deliver DNA into plant pollen through small naturally occurring holes or "apertures" in the pollen coat, while maintaining the pollen's viability. This PhD project will build on this understanding to develop transformative techniques for gene editing in plants applicable across a wide range of species.The student will be based at the University of Aberystwyth, learning cutting edge gene-editing techniques, molecular and cell biology and super-resolution fluorescence microscopy. They will establish plant lines that enable quick assessment of gene editing efficiencies and use these lines to optimise plant gene editing. The student will also spend time in the School of Pharmacy at Queen's University Belfast working with experts in nanoscience and applied chemistry to synthesise and characterise nanoparticles with the right characteristics for plant gene editing.This project offers multidisciplinary training in molecular plant genetics, biotechnology, and applied chemistry, equipping you for a successful research career in range of scientific disciplines either at a university or in industry. You will receive advanced training in state-of-the-art CRISPR/CAS9 gene editing, molecular plant genetics and super-resolution fluorescence microscopy at Aberystwyth University and nanoparticle synthesis during research placements at Queen's University Belfast. You will also undertake a number of post-graduate courses at Aberystwyth during the programme, helping develop a wide set of transferrable skills.You will be conducting research with real-world impact, developing new transformative technology to advance crop development and will benefit from a fantastic team of supervisors and collaborators with diverse backgrounds and expertise. You will also have the opportunity to showcase your research to the scientific community with funding provided to attend at least two international conferences.