Seminar

New Plant Breeding Techniques (NPBTs): the single-cell gene editing

Seminario rivolto agli studenti del corso di laurea magistrale in Agrifood Innovation Management
23 May 2022
Start time 
2:00 pm
Stanza 6202 Palazzo della Ricerca e della Conoscenza, via Mach 1, San Michele all'Adige
Organizer: 
prof.ssa Stella Grando
Target audience: 
UniTrento students
Attendance: 
Free
Contact person: 
prof.ssa Stella Grando
Speaker: 
dott. Umberto Salvagnin, CIVIT - Consorzio Innovazione Vite

The gene editing technology allows the modification of cellular DNA in crop plants with a high level of precision, creating an alternative route to the classic crossbreeding and to the modern transgene-based approach.
In particular, the use of plant protoplasts (i.e. plant cells in which the cell wall has been removed enzymatically) is characterized by unique opportunities such as the possibility of doing transient and DNA-free transformations with high efficiency, and the possibility to create non-chimeric plants with desirable genetic modifications in elite genotypes.
However, there are also unique challenges that need to be solved before the use of the single cell becomes widely adopted in plant breeding, especially those linked to the in vitro culture and plant regeneration.
Moreover, being a very recent biotechnological approach, the legal framework is still evolving (especially in Europe), adding thus a bit of uncertainty to the future of the technique.
During the seminar, two case studies will be used to better illustrate the topics discussed.

Bio
Umberto Salvagnin got his MSc in Biotechnology at the University of Padova in 2011 and his PhD at the Free
University of Bolzano in 2017. He has worked in plant genetic modification for studies of chemical ecology,
functional genomics, and plant secondary metabolism (terpenes). Currently, he is working in gene editing in
grapevine to create disease-tolerant varieties.

Il seminario è organizzato nell';ambito dell’attività didattica “Improvement in Crop Production - New plant breeding techniques” del corso di Laurea magistrale in Agrifood Innovation Management