Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee Approves Genetically Modified Mustard for Environmental Release

 Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee Approves Genetically Modified Mustard for Environmental Release

India’s apex Biotech regulator, Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), has recommended indigenously developed India’s first-ever transgenic food crop genetically modified mustard containing two alien genes isolated from non-pathogenic soil bacterium called Bacillus amyloliquefaciens. The transgenic mustard variety DMH – 11 was developed by Dr. Deepak Pental, and his colleagues from the Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants at the University of Delhi, South Campus.

GM mustard DMH – 11 was created through transgenic technology involving the Bar, Barnase, and Barstar gene systems. The Barnase gene confers male sterility, while the Barstar gene restores DMH – 11’s ability to produce fertile seeds. The insertion of the third gene Bar enables DMH – 11 to produce phosphinothricin-N- acetyl-transferase, the enzyme responsible for Glufosinate resistance. Glufosinate resistance is due to an enzyme expressed by the Bar (Bialaphos resistance) gene. The cloned Bar gene (derived from Streptomyces hygroscopicus) encodes for the synthesis of phosphinothricin-N- acetyl-transferase (PAT). PAT enzymes produced by the Bar gene, deactivate Bialaphos (the tripeptide precursor to phosphinothricin) through acetylation to form an inactive, non-toxic product. This enzyme is responsible for detoxifying the active ingredient in the herbicide Glufosinate-phosphinothricin. Phosphinothricin’s mechanism of action involves the inhibition of Glutamine synthetase, which prevents the detoxification of ammonia and subsequently causes toxic buildup within plant cells. Inhibition of glutamine synthetase also leads to an overall reduction in Glutamine levels. In plants, Glutamine acts as a signaling molecule, and as a major amino acid donor for nucleotide synthesis. Hence, this GM mustard DMH – 11 is Glufosinate tolerant, and therefore it is thought to encourage farmers to liberally spray the herbicide upon commercialization.

So far, India has not approved any commercial cultivation of transgenic food crops. It will be the first GM food to be approved by Govt of India for commercial cultivation. This approval for GM mustard was a long wait but better late than never. Transgenic Bt-cotton was allowed for cultivation by the Government of India in the year 2002. The decision comes on the backdrop of soaring edible oil prices in the past few years. India meets 70 percent of its domestic cooking oil demand by importing a variety of oils such as sunflower, soybean, and palm. Still, we are continuing to import larger volumes of GM soybean oil from USA, Brazil, and Argentina. India has imported 4.1 million tonnes of GM soybean oil in 2021-22. The decision by GEAC was taken during its 147th meeting held on October 18, 2022. The regulator recommended the “environmental release of mustard hybrid DMH-11 for its seed production and testing as per existing ICAR guidelines and other rules/regulations before proper commercial release. GM mustard was found not to pose any food allergy risks and has demonstrated increased yields over existing mustard varieties. Conflicting details and results regarding the field trials and safety evaluations conducted on GM mustard have delayed its approval for commercial cropping.

In 2017, GEAC has recommended the commercial release of GM mustard but due to objections from Swadeshi Jagran Manch, an affiliate of RSS, the Govt. of India has put it on hold. Similarly, transgenic brinjal was put on indefinite moratorium in 2010 by then environment minister Jairam Ramesh. GM mustard technology will now accelerate mustard breeding programs for bringing a new revolution in mustard farming by enhancing edible oil production in the country. The project to develop DMH – 11 received funding from the National Dairy Development Board of India and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT).

AI in Agriculture - Global Artificial Intelligence Summit & Awards 2021

https://youtu.be/MkoxdhH2hCs

The potential of Smart Agriculture Technology through Public Partnership Programmes (PPPs)

The potential of Agriculture Technology via Public Partnership Programmes (PPPs)

The centre and state governments are interested to deliver hi-tech services to farmers through PPPs. This model can play an important role for creating a viable ecosystem for smart futuristic agriculture technology.

For more information, please browse the link:

https://www-thehindubusinessline-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/unlocking-the-potential-agri-tech/article65255349.ece/amp/

For example:

Use of Drone to spray pesticides and fertilizers

(Photo Credit:Siva Saravanans)

Smart Intelligent Agriculture: Applications of Recent Nanosensors Technology

  Smart Intelligent Agriculture: Applications of Recent Nanosensors Technology

Agriculture requires technical solutions for increasing production while lessening environmental impact by reducing the application of agrochemicals and increasing the use of environmentally friendly management practices. Both biotic and abiotic stresses lead to a massive loss in crop yield, leading to a decrease in agricultural production worldwide. The loss of agricultural products can be minimized by adopting modern technology such as smartphones with nanosensors to detect crop stress at an early stage. Smart and precision agriculture are emerging areas where nanosensors and electronic devices can play an important role for improving crop productivity by monitoring crop health status in real-time. Various types of nanosensors have been reported for detection and monitoring plant signal molecules and metabolic contents related with biotic and abiotic stresses. Nanobiosensors are customized using various properties of nanomaterials to combat various challenges of contemporary techniques.  Nanobiosensors have unprecedented levels of performance for sensing ultra-trace amount of various analytes for in vivo measurement. These nanosensors communicate with and actuate electronic devices for agricultural automation. Thus, both biotic and abiotic plant stresses and nutritional deficiency are monitored in real-time to report crop health status for precise and efficient use of resources. 

For more information, please click the following presentation:

Smart Agriculture

Deciphering the mode of interactions of nanoparticles with mung bean (Vigna radiata L.)

Interactions of Nanoparticles with Mung Bean (Vigna radiata L.)

Deciphering the mode of interactions of nanoparticles with mung bean (Vigna radiata L.): (2017). Deciphering the mode of interactions of nanoparticles with mung bean (Vigna radiata L.). Israel Journal of Plant Sciences. Ahead of Print.

Nanotechnology: Characterization of Nanomaterials using Single-Particle Inductively Coupled Plama Mass Spectrometry

The term ‘nanotechnology’ was introduced in 1974 by Japanese scientist Norio Taniguchi but the  original concept behind this massively developed field of science was introduced by Richard Feymman in his 1959 speech titled “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom.”  Since its initial introduction into the world, the application of nanotechnology has found an ability to revolutionize and improve almost every technology of world today.  The National Nanotechnology Initiative defines nanomaterials as those with dimensions of 1-100 nm. Due to their unique properties, nanomaterials have found their way into many everyday consumer products. Products based on nanotechnology are already manufactured in the field of electronics, pharmaceutical industry, food associated industries, agriculture, consumer products The widespread application of nanomaterials has inevitably led to their release into the environment, which raises concern about their potential adverse effects on the ecosystems and their impact on health.  The measurement and characterization of nanoparticles is therefore critical to all aspects of nanotechnology. Complete characterization of nanomaterials is important for interpreting the results of toxicological and human health studies. Metal-containing nanoparticles are particularly significant class because their use in consumer and industrial applications makes them the fastest growing category of NPs. Hence, innovative analytical approaches are essential for monitoring the presence of nanomaterials in environmental and biological media, assessing their potential impact and supporting regulations.

Many analytical techniques are available for nanometrology, only some of which can be successfully applied to environmental health studies. Methods for detecting, quantifying and characterizing these materials in complex matrices are critical for the eventual understanding of their implications to environmental quality and human health. Methods for assessing particle size distribution include electron microscopy, chromatography, laser-light scattering, ultrafiltration and field-flow fractionation. Common approaches used to characterize nanomaterials include optical properties methods e.g. dynamic light scattering (DLS) and microscopy based methods e.g. transmission electron microscopy (TEM). One more technique that is proving invaluable for detecting and sizing metallic nanoparticles is single-particle-Inductively coupled mass-spectrometry (SP-ICP-MS) as shown in figure 1.

 Figure 1.  The process of nanoparticle sizing using SP-ICP-MS

Source: http://alfresco.ubm-us.net/alfresco_images/pharma

Its combination of elemental specificity, sizing resolution and unmated sensitivity makes it extremely applicable for the characterization of nanoparticles which have been integrated into larger products such as foods, consumer goods, personal care products, and pharmaceuticals. Generally, SP-ICP-MS is used to characterize populations of nanoparticles suspended in aqueous solutions. SP-ICP-MS takes advantage of the well-established elemental techniques of ICP-MS but performing measurements on ‘particle by particle’ basis as shown in figure 2. Single particle analysis using ICP optical emission spectrometry was first reported in 1986. This technique was initially adopted for analysis of aerosol and airborne particles.  Subsequently, this methodology was implemented for study of colloidal and microparticle suspensions.

Figure 2.  Measurement of nanoparticle under the single particle mode of SP-ICP-MS

Source : https://www.agilent.com/en/newsletters/accessagilent/2013/sep/nanoparticles

SP-ICP-MS is an emergent ICP-MS method for detecting, characterizing and quantifying nanomaterials.  This can be considered one of the innovative and emerging analytical approaches to provide information about the elemental chemical composition of noncarbon nanomaterials as well as their number concentration, size and number size distribution. Its combination of elemental specificity, sizing resolution, and unmatched sensitivity makes it extremely applicable for the characterization of nanoparticles containing elements such as titanium, gold, silver, silicon, which have been integrated into larger products such as foods, consumer goods, personal care products and pharmaceuticals.

The basic assumption behind SP-ICP-MS is that each recorded pulse represents a single nanoparticle.  A very dilute suspension is introduced into the ICP-MS instrument, such that statistically only one nanoparticle at a time enters the plasma. The plasma atomizes and ionizes the constituents of the nanoparticle, which are then quantified using the mass spectrometer. The parameters of the nanoparticle population than can be measured include the mean size, size distribution, NP number concentration and NP mass concentration. The frequency of the pulses is directly related to the number concentration of NPs and the intensity of each pulse is proportional to the mass of elements, in fact to the number of atoms, in each detected nanoparticle.  SP-ICP-MS involves introducing nanoparticle-containing samples of environmentally significant concentrations into the ICP-MS system and collecting time-resolved data.  Due to the very low elemental concentrations and the transient nature of ionized nanoparticle, very short measurement times and high sensitivity are essential to ensure the detection of individual particles as ion pulses. The number of observed pulses at the detector is related to the nanoparticle concentration by the nebulization efficiency and the total number of nanoparticles in the sample, while the size of the nanoparticle is related to the pulse intensity.

A strength of SP-ICP-MS is that no instrument modifications is required i.e. it can be performed using off-the-shelf ICP-MS. But, as the development in SP-ICP-MS techniques is taking place, additional or uncommon instrument capabilities such as very short detector dwell times in the range of microseconds, automated data reduction software and hyphenation with front-end separation techniques (field-flow fractionation) are being viewed as necessary improvements by the instrument manufactures. Second important strength is its excellent detection capability in terms of nanoparticle number or mass concentration. However, there are some demerits of SP-ICP-MS also. For example, the technique can measure only one or at most two, isotopes in a single analysis using quadrapole instruments, the most common type of ICP-MS instrument. The detection power in terms of nanoparticle size is still somewhat lacking, with typical limits of detection ranging from 10 nm to 20 nm (spherical diameter) for monoisotopic NPs. Samples must be prepared or altered in such way to be compatible with ICP-MS sample introduction system.  While considerable progress and much advancement have been made, the SP-ICP-MS is still best considered an emerging technique in understanding the environmental, health and safety implications of nanoparticles.

References

1.      Deguldre C, Favarger PY. Colloid analysis by single particle inductively coupled plasma mass       spectrometry: a feasibility study. Colloid Surf A. 2003; 217:137-42.
2.      Laborda F, Bolea E, Jimenz-Lamana J. Single particle inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry: a powerful tool for nanoanalysis. 2014; 86:2270-78.
3.      Bustos ARM, Winchester MR. Single-particle –ICP-MS advances. 2016; 408:5051-52.
4.      Stephan C, Thomas R. Single-particle ICP-MS: A key analytical techniques for characterization nanoparticles. Spectroscopy, 2017; 32:12-25.
5.      http://alfresco.ubm-us.net/alfresco_images/pharma
6.      https://www.agilent.com/en/newsletters/accessagilent/2013/sep/nanoparticles

Intelligent Nano-Fertilizers

Intelligent Nano-Fertilizers

The plant needs different amount of nitrogen depending on its growth stage. Nitrogen-use efficiency for most crops ranges from 30 to 50 percent. A new generation of fertilizers will increase this efficiency from 30 percent to upwards of 80 percent. Smart biosensors and smart delivery systems will help in enhancing productivity in agriculture. Intelligent nano-fertilizers can reduce the amount of nitrogen lost during the crop production. 

http://www.biotecharticles.com/Nanotechnology-Article/Intelligent-Nano-Fertilizers-3544.html