Researchers from Cranfield University have recently published a new method of editing the DNA of raspberries, with the goal of creating more sustainable raspberry production and less food waste.
The new study details a novel method for the isolation of single cells (protoplasts) from the leaf tissue of raspberry micro-plants grown in sterile tissue culture. The protoplasts were then gene-edited with CRISPR-Cas9, a revolutionary biotechnology that can be programmed to target any region of the genome and introduce changes to the DNA. This study is the first time CRISPR gene-editing has been validated in red raspberry (Rubus idaeus) in a peer-reviewed publication.
The researchers say that DNA-free gene-editing could enable much faster, more efficient and precise breeding of new raspberry cultivars with enhanced traits, such as tastier and more sustainable raspberries. One of the genes edited in the study, NPR1, when edited in tomato, resulted in increased resistance to grey mould, suggesting that it may also be possible to create raspberry varieties with longer shelf-life, reducing food waste and improving sustainability. These techniques could also lead to raspberry fruits that are sweeter, larger, seedless, or enable higher crop yields and greater resilience to heatwaves arising from climate change.
Gene editing has the potential to speed up the development of new raspberry varieties, but the final step is to find ways to regenerate whole raspberry plants from the gene-edited single-cell protoplasts, which is possible in many crops, but can be tricky in others. The regenerated plants would then go on to produce gene-edited raspberries with beneficial traits like greater resistance to mould.
“Precision breeding techniques are essential for tackling food waste, improving food sustainability and nutrition, and lowering the cost of food,” said Ryan Creeth, the PhD student who developed the new method alongside study co-authors Dr Zoltan Kevei and Prof. Andrew Thompson. “It’s really important that we fully utilise cutting-edge techniques like DNA-free gene-editing in a wider variety of crop species to successfully transfer research from academia into the real world. More research is required, particularly with the regeneration of gene-edited raspberry plants. But it is a promising start for one of the nation’s favourite soft-fruits”.
