UNH researcher to develop new gene editing tools

DURHAM — A researcher at the University of New Hampshire has received a USDA grant to develop new gene editing tools that could help scientists unravel how certain bacteria — which were previously understudied — promote growth in plants and protect them from environment stress. The tools are a critical step in better understanding the dynamics of bacteria-plant interactions that benefit plants and crops, and could advance global efforts to clean contaminated soils, reduce pollution, and tolerate salt in soil.

New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station researcher Louis S. Tisa, professor of microbiology and genetics, has received a grant for $283,550, to develop tools using CRISPR-Cas9 for gene editing in Frankia. Frankia is a nitrogen-fixing actinobacteria that lives in soil and grows in the roots of a diverse group of woody plants, called actinorhizal plants. These plants—including alder, bayberry, and sweet fern — are found worldwide and are economically significant with respect to land reclamation, reforestation, bioremediation of contaminated environmental sites, pollution reduction, soil stabilization, fuel and as a food source for animals.