New breakthrough in crop science

A gene amplification method has been shown to be successful at analysing the development of transgenic crops, enabling easier investigation of gene uptake.

Digital drop PCR (ddPCR) was used to test if genes had been successfully introduced into plant genomes.

Professor Stephen Long, from the University of Illinois, said: "For plants with long life cycles, such as our food crops, this will greatly speed the time between genetic transformation or DNA editing, and development of pure breeding lines.”

This mechanism addresses a challenge for scientists involved in developing crops with higher yields and greater resilience to pests or environmental challenges. The Southern blot technique is often used by researchers but has been described as “slow and unwieldy”.

Originally, researchers looked at the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) but found imprecise data could be collected if the different DNA samples grew at different rates. Then they settled on a specific form of PCR – ddPCR – which would not be affected by this potential bias.

After first sorting out individual DNA fragments, the fragments are then amplified until the DNA can be easily identified and the number of reactions needed until that stage is counted. As this separates the growth step from the counting process, it allows for more precise measurements to be taken.

Professor Long said he believed as ddPCR is reliable, fast and a high throughput technique that it would become the new standard for developing transgenic crops. Although ddPCR is more expensive than other methods, the cost was predicted to drop quickly by the professor.

The research was published in Plant, Cell and Environment.