Ondokuz Mayıs University (OMU) Faculty of Agriculture's academics will develop drought-resistant tomato genotypes using CRISPR-Cas9 technology and grafting systems.

OMU Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Agricultural Biotechnology faculty member Assoc. Prof. Dr. Musa Kavas is the coordinator of the project titled "Increasing Drought Tolerance and Lateral Root Number in Tomato Plants Using CRISPR-Cas9 Technology and Grafting System", which aims to grow tomatoes resistant to drought stress.

Funded by TÜBİTAK with 1.65 million Turkish Liras

Supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) with a budget of 1.65 million TL, the project will silence four genes in the tomato plant, enabling the plants to have larger roots and use more water from the soil.

CRISPR-Cas9: Faster, Cheaper, and More Accurate Technology

CRISPR-Cas9 is a genome editing tool that allows geneticists and medical researchers to add, remove, or alter DNA sequences. It is a unique technology that offers faster, cheaper, and more accurate editing than previous methods, with a wide range of applications.

Project Leader Assoc. Prof. Dr. Musa Kavas: "We will make tomato plants drought-tolerant"

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Musa Kavas, who is leading the project titled "Increasing Drought Tolerance and Lateral Root Number in Tomato Plants Using CRISPR-Cas9 Technology and Grafting System," shared, "We aim to develop drought-resistant tomatoes. We plan to intervene in four different genes in the tomato genome using CRISPR-Cas9 technology. Normally, these genes reduce the number or length of roots in developing tomato plants. By silencing these genes using CRISPR-Cas9, we aim to enable genomically edited tomato plants to have larger roots and use more water from the soil. Two other genes increase water loss. By successfully silencing these, we will reduce the number of stomata and create a thicker cuticle layer, minimizing water loss. We anticipate achieving drought-resistant tomato plants by combining all targeted strategies."

"The future needs for plant varieties that consume less water and maintain yield will increase"

Referring to the global climate crisis and its implications, Project Leader Dr. Kavas noted, "As we combat environmental challenges like global warming, reducing factors that negatively affect agricultural production is crucial. The need for plant varieties that consume less water and maintain yield will grow. We are conducting this study on tomatoes, but these techniques can be used globally for different plants. Plant genomes can be edited with CRISPR-Cas9, silencing unwanted genes and enhancing desired ones, allowing the development of new plants."

"We aim to cultivate plants resistant to tomato moth"

Dr. Kavas also highlighted projects targeting tomato pests, "In our TÜBİTAK-funded projects, we are editing the tomato plant genome using CRISPR-Cas9. We are working on three TÜBİTAK projects. Our first project aims to develop tomato varieties that are tolerant to the root-knot nematode, a significant tomato pest. We are trying to increase the expression of various genes in the tomato genome using CRISPR-Cas9. This project is ongoing, and we have achieved partially successful results. In our second project, we aim to develop tomato plants resistant to the tomato moth. We are trying to increase the number of trichomes, spiky structures on tomato leaves, and thicken the cuticle layer. For this purpose, we are using a different version of CRISPR-Cas9. Generally, CRISPR-Cas9 is used to make genetic changes in humans, animals, and other organisms. In this technology, molecular scissors are used to cut a specific gene region, and then the plant tries to repair this area. This way, an unwanted gene can be silenced, or the expression of a low-expressed gene can be increased. This technology, which received the Nobel Prize in 2020, is considered a revolutionary discovery in the field of genetic editing. It can be used to correct or enhance the expression of any gene in any organism. Therefore, in our second project, we aim to make the genes in the tomato plant work more."

Project team member Prof. Dr. Ahmet Balkaya: "We will produce grafted tomato seedlings as part of this study"

Prof. Dr. Ahmet Balkaya, a member of the project team and faculty in the Department of Horticulture at the Faculty of Agriculture, stated, "One of the most current applications worldwide in recent years is grafted seedling production technology. This technology has gained significant importance in combating factors such as climate change and increasing soil-borne diseases and pests, as well as organic and traditional methods. Grafted tomato seedlings are a widely used important solution. In one phase of our project, we plan to produce grafted tomato seedlings and then move to plant production in other phases."

CRISPR-Cas9: Nobel Prize-winning gene-editing method

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded in 2020 to French microbiologist Emmanuelle Charpentier and American biochemist Jennifer A. Doudna for their contributions to developing the CRISPR-Cas9 system that allows cutting and rejoining DNA strands. Known as the "technology that can perform surgery on DNA," CRISPR-Cas9, awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, has created excitement in the scientific world. In short, CRISPR-Cas9 is a genome editing tool that enables geneticists and medical researchers to add, remove, or change DNA sequences, providing a faster, cheaper, and more accurate method than any previously available techniques, with a broad range of applications. CRISPR-Cas9, the simplest, most versatile, and sensitive genetic manipulation method currently available, comprises elements that can be broken down as follows:

CRISPR stands for “Clustered Regularly Interspaced Palindromic Repeats.” CRISPR refers to gene sequences that define the CRISPR locus (the physical location of genes on DNA) on an organism's DNA sequence. These include cas genes, the leader sequence that follows them, and subsequent repeat and spacer sequences. Repeat sequences are entirely identical for an organism, while spacer sequences vary between these repeats. Cas is the general name for the proteins that serve in this immune system.