La ingeniería genética de las plantas cultivadas, clave para mejorar la nutrición y la salud humanas­

To collect wild type plants, to isolate plant natural products or to produce molecules of phamacologycal interest by means of the so called molecular farming techniques with genetically engineered plants represent different approaches to the use of plants for human benefit. Here we show the isolation of the protein END1 and the corresponding coding gene, including its promoter region by means of the monoclonal antibody A1 which recognizes END1 expression in anthers of Pisum sativum plants. The ability of the END1 promoter region to drive the expression of the cytotoxic gene barnase specifically to the anthers of different plant species is demonstrated. This allowed us to obtain male sterile plants needed to give rise to hybrid seeds characterized for producing plants more productive than their parental lines. Using the same biotechnological tools we have produced parthenocarpic tomato fruits of interest for farmers, industries, and consumers. These results are discussed in the frame of the current and future perspectives of plant biotechnology to improve human nutrition and health.La recolección de simples, el aislamiento de productos naturales o las técnicas de la agricultura molecular, que permiten la modificación de las plantas mediante ingeniería genética para convertirlas en biofactorías de productos de interés farmacológico, constituyen distintas aproximaciones para utilizar las plantas en beneficio del hombre. En este trabajo se muestra la utilización del anticuerpo monoclonal A1, que reconoce la proteína específica de las anteras de flores de guisante (Pisum sativum L.) END1, para aislar el gen correspondiente y caracterizar su región promotora. Se muestra la capacidad de dicha región para dirigir la expresión del gen citotóxico barnasa específicamente a las anteras de distintas especies vegetales y construir plantas transgénicas androestériles que son la base para la producción de semillas híbridas generadoras de plantas con mayor vigor que las líneas parentales. Mediante dicha tecnología se han producido también frutos partenocárpicos de tomate de interés para la agricultura, la industria, la tecnología culinaria y el consumidor. Todo ello se enmarca en la situación actual y las perspectivas futuras que presenta el uso de la biotecnología vegetal en el campo de la nutrición y la salud

The impact of the european green deal from a sustainable global food system approach

The Green Deal made public by the European Com-mission includes the Farm to Fork strategy, which aims to implement actions for a transition towards more environmentally friendly agricultural systems, capable of adapting to climate change and, as far as possible, contributing to its mitigation. A really am- bitious goal, clearly aligned to a more than necessary green transition, raises a series of challenges and doubts that should at least be pondered. One of the many uncertainties raised by the Green Deal is whether this new strategy will allow the maintenance of the productivity of agricultural systems and en- sure the caloric needs of a European population that, despite the health crisis caused by COVID-19, does not stop growing gradually. The EU's food self-sufficiency is an issue that to date has not been studied with the necessary atten- tion. That is why the ‘Triptolemos Foundation’ has recently promoted the realization of a study, in the process of publication, which aims to give an answer to this issue with the maximum precision possible. Following the documentonthis matterof the ‘Trip- tolemos Foundation’ we have scrutinized and evalu- ated the impact of the Green Deal from holistic con- ception of a sustainable global food system which is defined in four interrelated axes: 1) availability and accessibility, 2) economy, 3) legislation and regula- tions and 4) knowledge, behaviour and culture. The four axes are aligned with the 17 Sustainable Devel- opment Goals (SDGs)47. The challenges identified in this article will only be resolved if they are ap- proached holistically as a food system, considering all its variables and not just the economic and envi- ronmental ones. The equilibrium will work, as hap- pens in biological systems, when there is no domi- nance of any of the factors over the rest. If there is dominance of any factor, the stability is terminated. We must act in coordination, with commitment and with a global projection in the four axes to achieve a sustainable and socially balanced global food system. The EU cannot act in isolation. Acting on only one or some of the axes, either out of inter- est or ignorance, unbalances the system, with seri- ous consequences, which, as we can see, this implies. The success of the Green Deal will depend on the proper harmonization of all these elements: this is a challenge.Article signat per 30 autors/es: José Pío Beltrán, Julio Berbel, Isabel Berdaji, Rodolfo Bernabéu, Carolina Boix Fayos, Ramon Clotet Ballús, Yvonne Colomer Xena, María Dolores del Castillo Bilbao, Xavier Flotats Ripoll, Joan Carles Gil, Mª del Carmen Gómez Guillén, Luís González-Vaqué, Diego S. Intrigliolo, Amaia Iriondo de Hond, Eusebio Jarauta-Bragulat, Abel Mariné, Rosa M. Martin Aranda, Francisco José Morales Navas, Olga Moreno, Luís Navarro, Dionisio Ortíz, Diego Orzáez Calatayud, Ana Palli, Juan Reca, Francesc Reguant, Ignacio Romagosa, Alberto Sanz-Cobeña, Robert Savé Montserrat, José María Sumpsi, Mª Carmen VidalObjectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::13 - Acció per al ClimaObjectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::12 - Producció i Consum ResponsablesPostprint (published version

Sesión Necrológica en Homenaje al Excmo. Sr. Don Eduardo Primo Yúfera

The Dr. Eduardo Primo Yúfera was born on April 1, 1918 in Mazarrón, Murcia. Took possession as Academician of Honor on December 12, 2002. Died on October 28, 2007. The Necrological Session was celebrated on April 17, 2008, coordinated by the Academic Ana M ª Pascual-Leone Pascual, Vice-president of the Royal National Academy of Pharmacy, with the intervention of the Prof- Jose Pío Beltrán Porter, D. Vicente Conejero Tomás, D. Juan Juliá Igual and the Academic Ana M ª Pascual-Leone Pascual. It was presided by the Academic Maria Teresa Miras Portugal, Chairwoman of the Royal National Academy of Pharmacy.El Excmo. Señor Don Eduardo Primo Yúfera nació el 1 de abril de 1918 en Mazarrón, Murcia. Tomó posesión como Académico de Honor el día 12 de diciembre de 2002. Falleció el día 28 de octubre de 2007. La Sesión Necrológica se celebró el día 17 de abril de 2008, coordinada por la Excma. Sra. Dña. Ana Mª Pascual-Leone Pascual, Vicepresidenta de la Real Academia Nacional de Farmacia, con la intervención de los señores D. José Pío Beltrán Porter, D. Vicente Conejero Tomás, D. Juan Juliá Igual y de la Excma. Sra. Dña. Ana Mª Pascual-Leone Pascual. Fue presidida por la Excma. Señora Doña María Teresa Miras Portugal, Presidenta de la Real Academia Nacional de Farmacia

Production of engineered long-life and male sterile Pelargonium plants

[EN] Background: Pelargonium is one of the most popular garden plants in the world. Moreover, it has a considerable economic importance in the ornamental plant market. Conventional cross-breeding strategies have generated a range of cultivars with excellent traits. However, gene transfer via Agrobacterium tumefaciens could be a helpful tool to further improve Pelargonium by enabling the introduction of new genes/traits. We report a simple and reliable protocol for the genetic transformation of Pelargonium spp. and the production of engineered long-life and male sterile Pelargonium zonale plants, using the pSAG12::ipt and PsEND1::barnase chimaeric genes respectively. Results: The pSAG12::ipt transgenic plants showed delayed leaf senescence, increased branching and reduced internodal length, as compared to control plants. Leaves and flowers of the pSAG12::ipt plants were reduced in size and displayed a more intense coloration. In the transgenic lines carrying the PsEND1::barnase construct no pollen grains were observed in the modified anther structures, which developed instead of normal anthers. The locules of sterile anthers collapsed 3¿4 days prior to floral anthesis and, in most cases, the undeveloped anther tissues underwent necrosis. Conclusion: The chimaeric construct pSAG12::ipt can be useful in Pelargonium spp. to delay the senescence process and to modify plant architecture. In addition, the use of engineered male sterile plants would be especially useful to produce environmentally friendly transgenic plants carrying new traits by preventing gene flow between the genetically modified ornamentals and related plant species. These characteristics could be of interest, from a commercial point of view, both for pelargonium producers and consumers.This work was funded by grants AGL2009-13388-C03-01 and BIO2009-08134 from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN). We acknowledge support of the publication fee by the CSIC Open Access Publication Support Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI). In the past five years we have received funding from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN) and the article-processing charge will be pay with funds from two granted projects. The authors received salaries from two different institutions: The Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) or the High Spanish Council of Scientific Research (CSIC). We are not currently applying for a patent related with the content of this manuscript. All the mentioned organisms/institutions do not gain or lose financially from the publication of this manuscript either now or in the future.García Sogo, B.; Pineda Chaza, BJ.; Roque Mesa, EM.; Antón Martínez, MT.; Atarés Huerta, A.; Borja, M.; Beltran Porter, JP.... (2012). Production of engineered long-life and male sterile Pelargonium plants. BMC Plant Biology. 12:156-171. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2229-12-1561561711

Androesterilidad inducida mediante ingeniería genética en plantas: fundamentos y aplicaciones biotecnológicas

The availability of male-sterile plant varieties is relevant for obtaining of hybrid plant lines which are more vigorous than the corresponding parental pure lines because the phenomenon known as heterosis. Moreover, the use of male-sterile plants prevents undesirable horizontal gene transfer. We have developed biotechnological tools to obtain androsteryle lines of plants with agronomic interest such as tomato, tobacco, rape seed and wheat. This is accomplished by the use of the promoter region of the PsEND1 gene to drive the expression of cytotoxic agents, such as barnase, to the structural tissues of the anthers. The male-sterile transgenic plants obtained live longer and show a higher number of branches and flowers than the corresponding wild type plants. This will allow plant breeders to incorporate those valuable characteristics to increase the number of flowers of plants already displaying new colours, shapes and fragrances. These new ornamental plants are environmental friendly since horizontal gene transfer can not take place.La disponibilidad de genotipos de plantas androestériles es crucial para la obtención de semillas híbridas y abre la posibilidad del manejo de las plantas de forma más respetuosa con el medio ambiente. Nosotros hemos desarrollado herramientas biotecnológicas para la producción de plantas androestériles de interés agronómico (tomate, colza, tabaco) mediante el uso de la región promotora del gen PsEND1 de guisante para dirigir la expresión de agentes citotóxicos específicamente a los tejidos estructurales de las anteras para producir su ablación genética. En las plantas androestériles obtenidas mediante ingeniería genética, hemos observado que se produce un mayor número de ramas y consecuentemente una mayor producción de flores. Además, la vida útil de estas plantas se prolonga de forma notable. Estas características son de interés para el sector de la floricultura, ya que actualmente se están produciendo híbridos mediante mejora convencional con flores muy vistosas y colores novedosos, pero con escasa producción de flores por planta. Por otra parte, la introducción en la planta modificada genéticamente de un gen que le confiera androesterilidad, es otra característica deseable en el campo de las plantas ornamentales ya que evitaría la transferencia horizontal de transgenes al medio ambiente y a especies sexualmente compatibles

The DOF Transcription Factor SlDOF10 Regulates Vascular Tissue Formation During Ovary Development in Tomato

The formation of fruits is an important step in the life cycle of flowering plants. The process of fruit development is highly regulated and involves the interaction of a complex regulatory network of genes in both space and time. To identify regulatory genes involved in fruit initiation in tomato we analyzed the transcriptomic profile of ovaries from the parthenocarpic PsEND1:barnase transgenic line. This line was generated using the cytotoxic gene barnase targeted to the anthers with the PsEND1 anther-specific promoter from pea. Among the differentially expressed genes we identified SlDOF10, a gene coding a DNA-binding with one finger (DOF) transcription factor which is activated in unpollinated ovaries of the parthenocarpic plants. SlDOF10 is preferentially expressed in the vasculature of the cotyledons and young leaves and in the root tip. During floral development, expression is visible in the vascular tissue of the sepals, the flower pedicel and in the ovary connecting the placenta with the developing ovules. The induction of the gene was observed in response to exogenous gibberellins and auxins treatments. To evaluate the gene function during reproductive development, we have generated SlDOF10 overexpressing and silencing stable transgenic lines. In particular, down-regulation of SlDOF10 activity led to a decrease in the area occupied by individual vascular bundles in the flower pedicel. Associated with this phenotype we observed induction of parthenocarpic fruit set. In summary, expression and functional analyses revealed a role for SlDOF10 gene in the development of the vascular tissue specifically during reproductive development highlighting the importance of this tissue in the process of fruit set