Potential uses of transactivators
Gain of Function
Transactivation can induce the expression of a gene or genes that wouldn't normally be expressed in a particular plant organ or developmental stage. This is referred to as "ectopic" expression.
Loss of Function
Transactivation can also be used to suppress expression of certain genes in some plants, plant organs or developmental stages. Transactivation might be used to bind and down-regulate a gene that is necessary for the synthesis of toxic byproducts, for example.
Coordinated Expression of Multi-Gene Pathways
One of the most exciting potential applications of transactivation is the cumulative effect of several improvements within the same plant line. Genes in a biosynthetic pathway may be introduced or up-regulated in a coordinate manner while by-product genes may be simultaneously down-regulated.
Aspects relevant to all of the above
After a transactivation sequence has been shown to be active in a particular way, several generations of crosses can be done into lines containing a UAS with various specific genes to create progeny with a combination of characteristics. This approach has been validated throught three generations in Ph.D. student work recently completed at CAMBIA.
Through transactivation-mediated gene expression one possibility of interest to CAMBIA is apomixis - the creation of a crop capable of asexual reproduction. Another is the bioindicator project - the creation of crops that can signal farmers regarding the needs for inputs such as fertiliser, to avoid over-input and waste of resources by enabling timely decisions by the farmers themselves.
Through BiOS-compliant agreements, improvements in the constructs to better accomplish any of these goals can be shared for the benefit of all in the protected commons, while the commercialisation of trait genes used to make products is not restricted by any of these agreements (see BiOS Agreements Frequently Asked Questions).
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