IV INCT PlantStress Workshop - 2023
On July 10th and 11th, the IV PlantStress Biotech INCT Workshop took place at Embrapa Genetic Resources and Biotechnology in BrasÃlia, DF. This annual workshop is held for the presentation and discussion of research results carried out by INCT PlantStress.
The research groups involved initially worked prospecting molecules (bioprospecting stage). Then, these same molecules went on to validate their activities, a step that was performed in silico, through the evaluation of data:
from genomes, transcriptomes and proteomes;
by differential expression determination experiments (RT-qPCR);
in vivo, by evaluating the phenotypic effects of gene silencing mediated by interfering RNA (RNAi) in insects, for example;
and/or in planta, through functional complementation in a model plant or in ex-vitro explants, such as in hairy-roots induced by Agrobacterium rhizogenes.
The best prospected biotechnological actives were transferred to elite cultivars of plants of agronomic interest (cotton, soy, corn and rice), using transgenic approaches (overexpression of resistance genes and/or dsRNA molecules) and non-transgenic (topical use of molecules via nanoparticles or knockout of susceptibility genes via genome editing mediated by CRISPR/Cas9 technology).
This last step is an important step both for proof of concept and for the development of biotechnological products. It is worth noting that the pipeline of activities carried out by the INCT PlantStress Biotech is continuous flow, that is, new molecules are being bioprospected at all times, as well as these new molecules are being validated and selected for use in proof of concept at all times. in target plants.
In 2023, the workshop was attended by those responsible for the associated laboratories, scholarship holders and researchers from the work development team.