In a webinar organized by the American Society for Horticultural Science, Dr. Abhaya M. Dandekar, Professor in the Plant Sciences Department of University of California Davis, will give a talk called 'Translating Biotechnology of Horticultural Crops in a Post-Genomics Era.'
What is it about?
The sequencing of the human genome ushered in the genomics era with the sequencing of the genomes of many horticultural crops as well as the genomes of many of their pests and pathogens. This view of horticultural metagenome is providing an incredible framework to accurately map biomolecular information allowing the dissection of productivity and quality traits.
The ability to induce somatic embryogenesis and to germinate whole plants from embryonic stem cells that can be vegetatively propagated provides a facile pathway to edit genomic information of many horticultural crops. Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of such somatic embryonic stem cells has enhanced the precision by which functional genetic information can be validated in the laboratory, greenhouse, or at the field level in orchards or vineyards.
The bandwidth of biomolecular information obtained from multi parallel analyses of RNA, proteins, and metabolites clarifies the very complex plant-microbe interactions leading to disease, by mapping this information to the metagenome revealing sources of sensitivity and of resilience. DNA-free genome editing of trait-based information in horticultural crops appears to have a clear pathway to the marketplace unencumbered by federal regulation and the various technologies mentioned above are poised to make this a reality.
The webinar will take place on 8 November 2021, at 11.00 am (EST), and you can register here.
American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS)