Title: Nano-assisted Genome Editing for Crop Improvement

Biography:

Shailendra Singh Gaurav, Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, Professor & Ex-Head, Department of Genetics & Plant Breeding, Ch. Charan Singh University, Meerut (UP) India has joined this department as Lecturer in December 2001 after completion of his doctoral degree from ICAR- Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa, New Delhi. Currently, he is also Head departments of biotechnology, Seed Science & Technology, Intellectual property Cell, All India Survey on Higher Education Cell as coordinator/nodal officer of this university. Prof.  Gaurav is presently engaged in the research activities are focused on the different areas of Plant Breeding, Seed technology and plant biotechnology to address the local concern of Western UP that  includes morphological , biochemical & molecular characterization and evaluation of genetic diversity, heterosis breeding in various  crops like wheat, rice, lemon grass, basil, chickpea, pea etc.  Recently, Prof. Gaurav & his team have initiated their research work to exploit the possibilities for the development of nano-bio pesticides against early & late blight of potato and white grub of sugar cane crop. Dr. Gaurav is also engaged in teaching of Masters (M.Sc. & M.Phil) and Doctoral programme. His research contributions, he has been able to publish 99 original research papers in peer-reviewed journals of national and international repute and 01 patent credited to him. Apart from this, he has also authored 06 text books, 10 popular articles, 04 book chapters.

Abstract

Current agricultural practices need to be modernized and strengthened to meet the food needs of the growing world population. Hence, new and advanced approaches keep on developing for the crop-improvement. Nano-enabled agriculture is a new such area. Genome editing using nanotechnology is used in agricultural research to improve stress tolerance, targeting, controlled release of pesticides, and improve photosynthetic efficiency. Genome editing is more accurate, faster, and cheaper than other transgenic approaches. Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPRs) using nucleases are a customizable and successful method for genome editing. However, there are some limitations such as time-consuming and complex protocols, inevitable DNA integration into the host genome, potential tissue damage, and low transformation efficiency. To overcome these problems, nanoparticle-mediated gene delivery has emerged as an innovative technology. Combining current technologies such as speed breeding and CRISPR/Cas with nanotechnology can advance crop improvement programs. Recent advances in the development of genome editing tools have revolutionized the ability of researchers to genetically investigate and modify biological systems. However, genetic engineering of mature plants and their plastids remains a challenge due to the various physical barriers. Nanomaterials develop a nanoscale understanding of the mechanisms that can be used to achieve nanoparticle transport across plant cells and chloroplast membranes and identify highly efficient nanoparticle complexes for plant cell internalization. Researchers are creating a nanoparticle platform that enables electrostatic-grafting of genomic biomolecules used to genetically transform mature plants. In addition to the use of magnetic nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes are also an increasingly popular nano-tool for plant transfection. Carbon nanotubes merged with gene fragments have been shown to effectively transport transient and expression genes to the leaves of various plant species, including wheat, cotton, and arugula. Nanotechnology-based genomics is still in its infancy, but it has a promising future for crop improvement and modern agricultural research.