Plant starr-seq: high-throughput assay for crop promoter elements
Plant STARR-seq is a modular assay platform that evaluates the activity of regulatory elements in crops, enabling precise gene expression engineering. It leverages high-throughput sequencing and machine learning to design condition-specific elements, validated in transgenic plants.
Overview
Plant STARR-seq is a sophisticated platform designed to revolutionize the understanding and engineering of crop gene expression by assaying the activity of vast numbers of regulatory elements. This high-throughput method allows researchers to evaluate promoters, enhancers, repressors, and terminators in both dicots and monocots. By employing a barcode-based sequencing readout, Plant STARR-seq ensures high replicability and dynamic range, facilitating precise measurements of gene expression variations due to nucleotide changes. The platform's extensive data output supports machine learning approaches for designing species- and condition-specific genetic elements, which have been validated in stable transgenic crops.
Technical specifications
- High-throughput assay: Capable of testing up to 350,000 unique elements, each linked to over 10 barcodes.
- Dynamic range: Utilizes a 6log₂ dynamic range for promoter activity measurement.
- Machine learning integration: Leverages large-scale data to design genetic elements with specific regulatory features.
- Versatility: Applicable to a variety of crops including maize, duckweed, tobacco, canola, soybean, rice, and wheat.
- Validation: Findings are extensively validated using stable transgenics across multiple species and conditions.
Technology readiness level
This innovative platform is currently at Technology Readiness Level 4, indicating that it has been validated in laboratory environments and is poised for further development through partnerships and sponsored research.
About University of Washington
The University of Washington is a large public research university with campuses in Seattle, Bothell, and Tacoma, known for a broad portfolio from fundamental discovery to applied innovation. Industry partners engage through a South Lake Union research campus adjacent to a major life sciences district and through collaboration programs that place faculty and students alongside corporate R&D. The university’s integration with a major academic health system enables clinical translation and large-scale trials. Research is supported by competitive federal funding from NIH, NSF, DOE, and DoD. A dedicated technology transfer office manages IP, licensing, and startup incubation with prototyping resources.
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