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Agronomy
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Risk Assessment, Regulation and Opportunities of Crops Modified by Modern...
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Risk Assessment, Regulation and Opportunities of Crops Modified by Modern Biotechniques

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Crop Breeding and Genetics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 December 2021) | Viewed by 11483

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Muhammad Amjad Nawaz

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Laboratory of Supercritical Fluid Research and Application in Agrobiotechnology, The National Research Tomsk State University, 36, Lenin Avenue, 634050 Tomsk, Russia
Interests: germplasm evaluation; germplasm conservation; soybean; wild soybean; plant genetic diversity; plant genetics and genomics; environmental impacts; isoflavones; secondary metabolites; cereal breeding; omics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Kirill S. Golokhvast

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
1. Siberian Federal Scientific Center of Agrobiotechnology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 633501 Krasnoobsk, Russia
2. Laboratory of Supercritical Fluid Research and Application in Agrobiotechnology, Tomsk State University, 634050 Tomsk, Russia
3. Vavilov All-Russian Institute of Plant Genetic Resources, 190000 Sankt-Petersburg, Russia
4. Institute of Life Science and Biomedicine, Far Eastern Federal University, 690922 Vladivostok, Russia
Interests: ecotoxicology, sustainability; environmental protection
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Gyuhwa Chung

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biotechnology, Chonnam National University, Yeosu, Chonnam 59626, Korea
Interests: abiotic stresses: biotic stresses; cereals; legumes; climate change; climate smart crops; new breeding technologies; speed breeding; yield improvement; yield gap
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Aristidis M. Tsatsakis

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Laboratory of Toxicology, Medical School, University of Crete, Voutes, 700 13 Heraklion, Crete, Greece
Interests: biomonitoring and risk assessments of xenobiotics; biomarkers of exposure and of effects for various chemicals; pesticide toxicology; epidemiology and hygiene
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Michael N. Antoniou

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics, King’s College London, London SE1 9RT, UK

Special Issue Information

Dear colleagues,

2021 marks the 27th year of the cultivation of genetically modified (GM) plants. The development and approval of GM crop plants have been significantly increased, and nearly 500 plants have been released for commercial cultivation across the globe. This increasing number of approvals indicates that either the trust by farmers and the public has been increased or the regulatory and risk assessment processes have been eased. This phenomenon is also associated with developments in genetic modification techniques such as genome-editing with site-directed nucleases, e.g., CRISPR, transcription-activator-like effector nuclease (TALEN), zinc-finger nucleases (ZNFs), RNA directed DNA methylation, Cisgenesis and intragenesis, use of GM-rootstocks, RNA-editing, and gene transfer via gene gun or agro-infiltration. Currently, there is debate as to whether the regulatory process of GM plant approval should be simplified. On the contrary, whether the regulatory processes have been modified in parallel to recent developments has been questioned. In order to arrive at a conclusion or a balance between risk assessment and approval and technological advancements in genetic modification, key steps must be established. For example, we must determine whether GM plant regulation should be globalized or not?

For this Special Issue, we invite researchers to submit articles, reviews, opinions, and short communications that aim to answer these or related questions. Studies that involve the development, risk assessment, and regulation of GM plants are of interest Additionally, studies that use or improve genetic modification and genome-editing techniques are welcome.

Dr. Muhammad Amjad Nawaz
Prof. Dr. Kirill Golokhvast
Prof. Dr. Gyuhwa Chung
Prof. Dr. Aristidis M. Tsatsakis
Dr. Michael N. Antoniou
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • genetically modified plants
  • genome-editing
  • cisgenesis
  • intragenesis
  • GM regulation
  • GM risk assessment
  • GM plant approval

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 6356 KiB  
Article
Investigation of the Effects of Probiotics on Sub-Chronic Neonicotinoid Toxicity in Rats
by Cigdem Sevim, Erol Akpinar, Aristides Tsatsakis, Serkan Yildirim, Manolis Tzatzarakis, Alexander I. Vardavas, Constantine I. Vardavas, Mehtap Kara and Zulfiye Gul
Agronomy 2021, 11(10), 2003; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11102003 - 3 Oct 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2257
Abstract
Probiotics have been shown to have positive effects when it comes to combating various health issues when consumed, preventing even the absorption of environmental toxins. One of the main environmental toxins encountered today is pesticide residues. Neonicotinoids, widely applied today in countries that [...] Read more.
Probiotics have been shown to have positive effects when it comes to combating various health issues when consumed, preventing even the absorption of environmental toxins. One of the main environmental toxins encountered today is pesticide residues. Neonicotinoids, widely applied today in countries that have approved of them, are a known class of insecticides with an excellent and effective potency. Neonicotinoids have been shown to cause various toxic effects, either acutely or chronically, on human health and on beneficial insects when exposed. To clarify the assumption that probiotics could counteract these toxic effects, especially on vital organs, the probiotic yeast “Saccharomyces boulardii” (S. boulardii) was tested against the neonicotinoids, acetamiprid (ACE) and imidacloprid (IMI), as it has outstanding physiological and metabolic properties. The results obtained from the studies indicated that although ACE and IMI induced liver, kidney, brain and bowel damage, there was a considerable level of protection by the dietary supplementation of S. boulardii, as it reduced the absorption of these insecticides. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Risk Assessment, Regulation and Opportunities of Crops Modified by Modern Biotechniques)
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20 pages, 2973 KiB  
Article
Development and Yield Traits Indicate That the Constitutive Wound Response Phenotype of Prosystemin Overexpressing Tomato Plants Entails No Fitness Penalty
by Mariela Luna-Martínez, Norma Martínez-Gallardo, Kena Casarrubias-Castillo, Simona M. Monti, Mariangela Coppola, Rosa Rao and John P. Délano-Frier
Agronomy 2021, 11(6), 1148; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11061148 - 3 Jun 2021
Viewed by 3270
Abstract
Systemin is a peptide hormone that regulates the wound response in tomato plants. Consequently, the overexpression of its prosystemin (ProSys) precursor protein leads to a resource-demanding constitutive activation of tomato’s wound-response. According to the growth vs. defense resource allocation premise, ProSys overexpression should [...] Read more.
Systemin is a peptide hormone that regulates the wound response in tomato plants. Consequently, the overexpression of its prosystemin (ProSys) precursor protein leads to a resource-demanding constitutive activation of tomato’s wound-response. According to the growth vs. defense resource allocation premise, ProSys overexpression should negatively affect the physiological fitness of tomato plants. The present study was performed to explore why the opposite effect was steadily observed, instead. It was based on the premise that a better understanding of this unexpected outcome could help establish improved wound and related defense responses without negatively affecting crop productivity. To this effect, an experimental strategy was deployed to measure various physiological, biochemical and molecular parameters associated with either development, productivity, defense or in combination in untransformed (WT) and ProSys overexpressing (ProSys-OE) tomato plants. Thus, the chlorophyll fluorescence data obtained from plants grown under greenhouse experiments indicated that photosynthetic performance was not affected in ProSys-OE plants which also grew 7–14% taller than WT plants. Moreover, they showed accelerated flowering and yielded fruits of increased size (7–16% taller and wider) and weight (16–58% heavier), with modified fruit quality in terms of firmness (28% higher), titratable acidity (27–32% higher) and chemical composition. These findings suggest two complementary possibilities: (i) systemin is able to modulate both the wound response and plant development through the activation of jasmonic acid biosynthesis and signaling, and (ii) ProSys, an intrinsically disordered protein, acts as a signaling hub to regulate development and defense programs. These results shed light on the understanding of this plant regulatory mechanism and further suggest that systemin/ProSys-based regulation is central to control the defense-development balance in tomato. This knowledge could eventually lead to improved and more environmentally sound agricultural production practices. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Risk Assessment, Regulation and Opportunities of Crops Modified by Modern Biotechniques)
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Review

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15 pages, 329 KiB  
Review
Applications of CRISPR/Cas9 System in Vegetatively Propagated Fruit and Berry Crops
by Anastasia Fizikova, Nadezhda Tikhonova, Yulia Ukhatova, Roman Ivanov and Elena Khlestkina
Agronomy 2021, 11(9), 1849; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11091849 - 15 Sep 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 4359
Abstract
Fruit and berry crops, as well as grapes, are important parts of the human diet and, at the same time, significant objects of genetic, breeding, biochemical and nutritional research. Traditional approaches of crop research and improvement are now complemented by effective modern genetic [...] Read more.
Fruit and berry crops, as well as grapes, are important parts of the human diet and, at the same time, significant objects of genetic, breeding, biochemical and nutritional research. Traditional approaches of crop research and improvement are now complemented by effective modern genetic technologies. In this review, we analyze and summarize the achievements in genome editing of fruit, berry crops and grapes. New approaches accelerate the improvement of genotypes for many groups of traits: plant resistance to unfavorable environmental factors, flowering and ripening time, plant architectonics, fruit shelf time and biochemical composition. Genome editing using the CRISPR/Cas9 system has been successfully tested on the most important vegetatively propagated fruit and berry crops (apple, pear, orange, kumquat, grapefruit, banana, strawberry and kiwi) and grapes. About 30 genes of these crops have been used as targets for the introduction of desired mutations using the CRISPR/Cas9 system. The most valuable results are the improvement of important agronomic traits. For 24 genes it has been shown that their knockout can result in the improvement of varieties. In addition, the review pays attention to the comparative analysis of the explant types of vegetatively propagated crops used for the delivery of editing genetic constructs, as well as the comparison of the editing efficiency depending on the variation of the objects used, delivery methods, etc. The article discusses the existing limitations that need to be overcome for a wider application of genomic editing in order to improve varieties of fruit and berry crops, as well as grapes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Risk Assessment, Regulation and Opportunities of Crops Modified by Modern Biotechniques)
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