近日，美国斯坦福大学José R. Dinneny、Jennifer A. N. Brophy等研究人员合作发现，合成基因回路可作为重编程植物根系的一种手段。2022年8月11日出版的《科学》发表了这项成果。

研究人员开发了一个植物合成转录调节器的集合，可以汇编成基因回路。这些回路通过执行布尔逻辑运算来控制基因表达，并可用于可预测地改变根系结构。这项工作展示了合成遗传回路在控制各组织的基因表达和重新规划植物生长方面的潜力。

据介绍，植物根系的形状影响着它在土壤中获取基本养分的能力和在干旱时获取水分的能力。为优化水和养分的获取而进行的植物根系工程化，一直受限于人们设计和建立通过可预测的方式改变根系生长遗传程序的能力。

附：英文原文

Title: Synthetic genetic circuits as a means of reprogramming plant roots

Author: Jennifer A. N. Brophy, Katie J. Magallon, Lina Duan, Vivian Zhong, Prashanth Ramachandran, Kiril Kniazev, José R. Dinneny

Issue&Volume: 2022-08-12

Abstract: The shape of a plant’s root system influences its ability to reach essential nutrients in the soil and to acquire water during drought. Progress in engineering plant roots to optimize water and nutrient acquisition has been limited by our capacity to design and build genetic programs that alter root growth in a predictable manner. We developed a collection of synthetic transcriptional regulators for plants that can be compiled to create genetic circuits. These circuits control gene expression by performing Boolean logic operations and can be used to predictably alter root structure. This work demonstrates the potential of synthetic genetic circuits to control gene expression across tissues and reprogram plant growth.

DOI: abo4326

Source: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abo4326