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Coordination: Fabien Nogué

Industrial partner: Medicago Inc.

Plants are efficient producers of complex and highly active proteins. Hundreds of different proteins have now been produced using plants as miniature “protein factories” with commercial applications, from enzymes used in industrial processes to vaccines and therapeutic antibodies that advance human health (Yao et al., 2015; Lomonossof and D'Aoust, 2016). However, plant-based biotherapeutic production could be greatly enhanced by their adaptation to fit specific production purposes. Ideotypes are a popular concept for plant breeders, who designate as such the ideal combinations of traits in a particular genotype to reach a pre-set production objective within a given socio-economic context. Genome engineering (genome editing) tools are now available in plants, including major crops, to modify in a predictable manner a given gene. These new techniques have a tremendous potential for a spectacular acceleration of the plant breeding process and the development of new ideotypes. The aim of the GETUP project is to set up gene editing tools that will develop Nicotiana benthamiana ideotypes customized for optimal production of better vaccines and therapeutic proteins. For this purpose, the CRISPR-Cas9 strategy will be used to regulate the expression and/or edit specifically genes involved in the post-translational modification of proteins or in the biotic stress response of N. benthamiana.