Improving adaptability and resilience of perennial ryegrass for safe and sustainable food systems through CRISPR-Cas9 technology - EditGrass4Food

About this project

<p>Due to an increase in the consumption of food, feed, fuel and to meet global food security needs for the rapidly growing human population, there is a necessity to breed for high yielding crops that can adapt to future climate changes. Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) is the dominant forage grass species in Europe due to its high regrowth capacity, rapid establishment, tolerance to frequent cutting and grazing, and high nutritive value for ruminant livestock. However, perennial ryegrass exhibits poor performance under unfavorable environmental conditions compared to other cool season forage grass species, thus the changing climate pose a substantial challenge to perennial ryegrass cultivation in the Baltic/Nordic region. In this project, we intend to utilize unique pre-breeding material, developed by the members of our consortium in the ongoing Nordic/Baltic Public-Private Partnership project on pre-breeding of perennial ryegrass and CRISPR-based editing to validate candidate genes involved in northern adaptation of perennial ryegrass. We will focus on genes involved in the mechanisms of freezing tolerance and biomass growth under water deficit. Moreover, we will investigate changes during abiotic stress periods at the transcriptome level to reveal gene regulatory pathways and networks. This project aims at improving perennial ryegrass for winter hardiness, persistence and biomass formation under water-limited conditions. This will enable us to utilize the gained information in future genomic selection programs to develop ryegrass cultivars with improved freezing and drought tolerance and persistence. It will also help breeders and agriculture in general in the Nordic/Baltic region to prepare for meeting new demands due to climate change and changing societal demands. Importantly, by improving forage production, dairy and meat industries will directly benefit and therefore this project contributes to safe and sustainable food systems.</p>

Bilateral cooperation results

Implementation of the EditGrass4Food project facilitated collaboration among NMBU, LU, LAMMC and TalTech and, thus, contributed towards the objectives of the Baltic Research Program by reducing social and economic disparities in Baltic countries compared to Nordic region through advancing research collaboration between Norway and the Baltic States. Intensive communication between partners made it possible to match expectations with capabilities and set feasible project objectives. We conducted regular meetings (on- and off-line), as well as student exchanges. In parallel to the EditGrass4Food project, TalTech coordinated an EMP Research and Education project (EE-RESEARCH-0019) with NMBU entitled “An innovative platform for Estonia-Norway research-based teaching in bioinformatics and gene editing” (Dec 2021 - Nov 2023). At the beginning of the project COVID-19 pandemic limited the possibility for partners to meet face-to-face, while Russia’s invasion in Ukraine created additional stress and increased project costs. At the same time, these challenges created additional opportunities in the area of communication. It should be noted that the Baltic Research Programme provided an opportunity to financially support an Ukrainian scientist, which enabled the project to involve a specialist with significant experience in plant genetic transformation. Project team will continue to explore possibilities for further collaboration, e.g., through the European Plant Science Organization or COST Actions. The phenotypic characterization of genome edited plants will be continued in collaboration with LAMMC using their advanced phenotyping facility. This collaboration will be funded by internal LU and LAMMC funds, but further possibilities for funding will be sought in various national and international projects.

Project partners

• Norwegian University of Life Sciences Donor project partner· Norway
• Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry Project partner· Lithuania
• Tallinn University of Technology Project partner· Estonia