Crispr-based crop improvement for enhanced yield in tomato and soybean

Overview

This solution applies advanced CRISPR gene-editing strategies to two major crops—tomato and soybean—addressing key bottlenecks in agricultural productivity. For tomato, the approach targets a genetic deletion associated with delayed flowering in elite domesticated varieties, aiming to increase biomass and assimilate production and ultimately enhance fruit yield. For soybean, the strategy focuses on knocking out the primary positive regulator of Shade Avoidance Syndrome (SAS), a plant response triggered by competition for light in dense planting conditions. By suppressing this response, soybean plants avoid the performance penalties typically associated with high-density cultivation, leading to improved growth and yield.

The combined offering provides a streamlined, time-efficient alternative to conventional introgression breeding, enabling faster development of improved crop varieties with measurable yield gains.

Technical specifications

Tomato improvement:

• CRISPR-based editing to introduce or leverage a deletion linked to delayed flowering
• Expected outcome: increased biomass and assimilate production, leading to higher fruit yield
• Strategic alternative to traditional introgression processes

Soybean improvement:

• Targeted knockout of the primary positive regulator of Shade Avoidance Syndrome (SAS)
• Builds on prior laboratory work showing that overexpressing a transcription factor inhibiting an SAS activator produced an attenuated SAS response
• Validated in both controlled experiments and field conditions, yielding an approximate 10% increase in yield
• Designed to mitigate SAS penalties in high-density planting scenarios

Validation approach:

• Two-phase validation combining bioinformatic analysis with experimental confirmation in modified plants
• Bi-weekly transformation protocols for both crops with approximately 15% success rate per cultivar
• Molecular verification through PCR and sequencing
• Phenotypic assessment of biomass production in tomatoes and SAS response in soybeans under controlled conditions

Technology readiness level

The technology has progressed through both bioinformatic prediction and experimental validation phases, with results supporting the working hypotheses for both crops. In soybean, proof-of-concept has been demonstrated through prior laboratory overexpression work that showed yield improvements of approximately 10% in field conditions. The team possesses all necessary tools and protocols for ongoing project execution, including established transformation procedures and molecular characterization workflows. Continued bi-weekly transformation cycles and phenotypic evaluations are underway to further optimize and validate the CRISPR-based modifications in both crop systems.