Archive by category | Research

Medicago’s proteomic profile

Medicago's proteomic profile

Legumes have the unusual ability to make their own fertilizer. They do this by associating with nitrogen-fixing bacteria, which take nitrogen from the air and convert it to ammonia that can be used by the plant to make proteins, nucleic acids and other essential molecules. Understanding the biology underlying the association between legumes and their symbionts could enable these concepts to be adopted in other types of crops as well. In a paper recently published in Nature Biotechnology, Joshua Coon and colleagues report the proteomic profile of the organs of a model legume, Medicago truncatula, and its collaborative partner, Sinorhizobium meliloti. Analyzing the proteomic atlas they generated together with transcriptome and genomic data, the researchers show how this resource can be used to discover new biological insights surrounding nitrogen fixation that may one day be useful for future crop engineering efforts.  Read more

Mitochondrial protein functions

Mitochondrial protein functions

Mitochondria are energy-generating organelles that carry a portion of their own DNA. Mutations in mitochondrial proteins are associated with metabolic disorders, neurodegenerative diseases and a variety of malignancies. Joshua Coon, David Pagliarini and their colleagues generated proteomic, lipidomic and metabolomic data on 174 strains of yeast, each carrying a mutation in a different protein implicated in mitochondrial function. In their paper in the November issue of Nature Biotechnology, they show how connections among these different data sets can be exploited to reveal new insights into the biosynthesis of coenzyme Q, an essential lipid required for oxidative phosphorylation. Their paper can be found here.  Read more

Biotech, and pathogen resistance

KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA

Plant pathogens cause global crop losses of 15% every year, and are managed either by the use of resistant varieties or by pesticides. A trio of papers from The Sainsbury lab in the UK provides evidence that biotech approaches to engineering pathogen resistance could underpin sustainable genetic solutions to crop pests and pathogens. In one report, soybean is made resistant to Asian soybean rust using a gene cloned from the orphan legume pigeonpea. This finding is notable because Asian soybean rust resistance is absent from all commercially grown soybean lines. Plus, finding disease resistance genes that work in soybean in pigeonpea means that legumes could contain a reservoir of pathogen-resistance genes. In two accompanying reports, resistance genes for potato late-blight and wheat stem rust were identified by developing rapid resistance-gene cloning methods.  Read more

A Cassava Genome Resource

A Cassava Genome Resource

Cassava is an important (but poorly performing) staple crop in Africa and other tropical countries. Although cassava can outcross, most cultivated cassava is clonally propagated, owing in part to long breeding cycles. Cassava is susceptible to disease, but the available germplasm is of limited diversity, so breeders need genomic sources of diversity to improve this vital crop. Daniel Rokhsar (University of California, Berkeley and DOE JGI), Steve Rounsley (Dow Agrosciences) and colleagues sequenced nearly 60 cultivated cassava and wild relatives and genotyped more than 250 African accessions to provide a Cassava genome resource that will support genome-enabled improvement. Their paper can be found here online, and in the coming May issue of Nature Biotechnology.  Read more

Most cited papers: bioengineering and agbiotech

Most cited papers: bioengineering and agbiotech

We list below the highest-cited papers focusing on bioengineering (metabolic engineering, synthetic biology and bioengineering) and agbiotech from the past 20 years. We recognize there are many more ways to assess the quality/impact of the research published in our pages than citations, but we hope our readers find this of interest. Do you see any higher citing papers we missed in each of these areas? Comments below, or tweet at us: @naturebiotech.  Read more