Plant Industrial Biotechnology

Lectures will include a detailed analysis of the most recent technologies for crop plant transformation and protocols for the genetic and molecular analysis of the transgenic lines. The course will provide an overview of the different strategies used for altering gene function in planta including silencing and genome editing.
The cultivation, distribution and marketing of the most broadly diffused transgenic crops (herbicide-tolerant and Bt-crops) will be described, together with a critical analysis of their environmental impact. Finally, the most advanced application of the transgenic approach to food quality improvement (functional food), environment protection (phytoremediation) and to the production of bio pharmaceuticals.
The laboratory course will focus on technical aspects related to transient and stable plant transformation, the use of histochemical approaches to reveal promoter activity in vivo, the study of silencing effects, and the use of virus-derived suppressors of silencing.

First part
Introduction
· Origin of agriculture, domestication and green revolution
· Plant genetic improvement: concepts about selection, crossing, mutagenesis
· Genetically modified plants: breeding vs. genetic engineering
· Impact of biotechnology on society and the economy
Methods of plant transformation and genome editing
· Plant transformations approaches (shotgun, Agrobacterium-mediated)
· DNA engineering for plant transformation: techniques and strategies
· Marker selection and reporter genes (their use and advantages)
· Alternative methods of transformations (e.g. chloroplast), advantages and disadvantages
· Molecular and genetic analysis of transgenic plants
· Identification and use of constitutive, inducible, tissue- and cell- specific promoters (in vivo screes via gene trap, enhancer trap).
· Silencing of the transgenes and implications
· Exploiting silencing mechanisms in plants (RNA interference)
· Definition of microRNA and their engineering
· Genome editing approaches and applications

Part two
Transgenic plants for herbicide tolerance and resistance to insects
· Soya Roundup Ready
· Maize Bt
· Impact on agronomy and on the environment
Transgenic plants for growth on marginal lands
· Drought tolerant plants
· Salt tolerant plants
· Phytoremediation for growth on polluted soils
Molecular farming - Transgenic plants as bio reactors to produce molecules of industrial and pharmaceutical interest (e.g. vaccines, antibodies, drugs, bioplastic )
Metabolic engineering in ornamental plants
Genetic improvement of the shelf-life of fruits
Bio fortification of crops (e.g. Golden rice)
Nutritional improvement of plants to produce functional food and supplements

Lab work
Growth of Agrobacterium tumefaciens, and transient transformation
Visualising gene silencing using reporter plants and suppression of silencing: quantification in planta
Genome editing and molecular approaches to detect edited genomes