Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Wolffia, a minimalist plant and synthetic biology chassis

Journal Article · · Trends in Plant Science
 [1];  [2]
  1. Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, NJ (United States); OSTI
  2. Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA (United States)
A highly simplified species for genome engineering would facilitate rational design of a synthetic plant. A candidate species is the aquatic, non-grass monocot wolffia (Wolffia australiana) in the Lemnaceae family. Commonly known as watermeal, wolffia is a rootless ball of several thousand cells the size of a pinhead and the fastest growing plant known on Earth. Its extreme morphological reduction is coupled to transposon-mediated streamlining of its transcriptome, which represents a core set of nonredundant protein coding genes. Despite its body plan and transcriptome being highly specialized for continuous growth, wolffia retains cell types relevant to higher plants. Finally, systems level studies with this species could enable the creation of a defined biological chassis for synthetic plant construction.
Research Organization:
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Cold Spring Harbor, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0018244
OSTI ID:
1977692
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1863146
Journal Information:
Trends in Plant Science, Journal Name: Trends in Plant Science Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 27; ISSN 1360-1385
Publisher:
Cell PressCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (53)

Expression of anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) single-chain variable fragment (scFv) in Spirodela punctata plants transformed with Agrobacterium tumefaciens: Transgenic S. punctata Expressing Anti-TNFα scFv journal July 2015
Duckweed in bloom: the 2nd International Conference on Duckweed Research and Applications heralds the return of a plant model for plant biology journal January 2014
Frond transformation system mediated by Agrobacterium tumefaciens for Lemna minor journal October 2018
Understanding the molecular mechanisms of trade-offs between plant growth and immunity journal July 2020
How fast can angiosperms grow? Species and clonal diversity of growth rates in the genus Wolffia (Lemnaceae) journal September 2015
High Saccharification, Low Lignin, and High Sustainability Potential Make Duckweeds Adequate as Bioenergy Feedstocks journal November 2020
Nutrient removal and starch production through cultivation of Wolffia arrhiza journal January 1999
HBI1 Mediates the Trade-off between Growth and Immunity through Its Impact on Apoplastic ROS Homeostasis journal August 2019
Targeted De Novo Centromere Formation in Drosophila Reveals Plasticity and Maintenance Potential of CENP-A Chromatin journal April 2020
Towards Building a Plant Cell Atlas journal April 2019
Single-Cell Transcriptomics: A High-Resolution Avenue for Plant Functional Genomics journal February 2020
Technology used to build and transfer mammalian chromosomes journal March 2020
In vitro Control of Flowering in Wolffia microscopica journal April 1963
How to build a genome journal February 2020
Synthetic chromosome arms function in yeast and generate phenotypic diversity by design journal September 2011
Redox rhythm reinforces the circadian clock to gate immune response journal June 2015
The Spirodela polyrhiza genome reveals insights into its neotenous reduction fast growth and aquatic lifestyle journal February 2014
Selective inheritance of target genes from only one parent of sexually reproduced F1 progeny in Arabidopsis journal June 2021
Underwater CAM photosynthesis elucidated by Isoetes genome journal November 2021
Total synthesis of Escherichia coli with a recoded genome journal May 2019
Variation in genome size, cell and nucleus volume, chromosome number and rDNA loci among duckweeds journal March 2019
Chromosome-scale genome assembly for the duckweed Spirodela intermedia, integrating cytogenetic maps, PacBio and Oxford Nanopore libraries journal November 2020
Genome of the world’s smallest flowering plant, Wolffia australiana, helps explain its specialized physiology and unique morphology journal July 2021
Engineered Minichromosomes in Plants journal May 2010
Improved Spirodela polyrhiza genome and proteomic analyses reveal a conserved chromosomal structure with high abundance of chloroplastic proteins favoring energy production journal January 2021
PLAZA 4.0: an integrative resource for functional, evolutionary and comparative plant genomics journal October 2017
Return of the Lemnaceae: duckweed as a model plant system in the genomics and postgenomics era journal July 2021
SCRaMbLE generates designed combinatorial stochastic diversity in synthetic chromosomes journal November 2015
Genome and time-of-day transcriptome of Wolffia australiana link morphological minimization with gene loss and less growth control journal December 2020
Mechanisms to Mitigate the Trade-Off between Growth and Defense journal March 2017
A Series of Fortunate Events: Introducing Chlamydomonas as a Reference Organism journal June 2019
The Moss Physcomitrium ( Physcomitrella ) patens : A Model Organism for Non-Seed Plants journal March 2020
Sphingolipids: towards an integrated view of metabolism during the plant stress response journal July 2019
Characterisation of circadian rhythms of various duckweeds journal June 2014
Comprehensive definition of genome features in Spirodela polyrhiza by high-depth physical mapping and short-read DNA sequencing strategies journal February 2017
Enhanced Fitness Conferred by Naturally Occurring Variation in the Circadian Clock journal November 2003
Creation of a Bacterial Cell Controlled by a Chemically Synthesized Genome journal May 2010
Drosophila CENH3 Is Sufficient for Centromere Formation journal November 2011
Calibrating Duckweeds: Light, Clocks, Metabolism, Flowering journal August 1976
Design and synthesis of a minimal bacterial genome journal March 2016
Design of a synthetic yeast genome journal March 2017
Synthesis, debugging, and effects of synthetic chromosome consolidation: synVI and beyond journal March 2017
The genetic and epigenetic landscape of the Arabidopsis centromeres journal November 2021
Optimization of protoplast regeneration in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana journal February 2021
The first draft genome of the aquatic model plant Lemna minor opens the route for future stress physiology research and biotechnological applications journal November 2015
Network Discovery Pipeline Elucidates Conserved Time-of-Day–Specific cis-Regulatory Modules journal January 2008
Holocentric chromosomes journal July 2020
Global Profiling of Rice and Poplar Transcriptomes Highlights Key Conserved Circadian-Controlled Pathways and cis-Regulatory Modules journal June 2011
Cooperation and Conflict in the Plant Immune System journal March 2016
Development of Efficient Protocols for Stable and Transient Gene Transformation for Wolffia Globosa Using Agrobacterium journal June 2018
Development of Wolffia arrhiza as a Producer for Recombinant Human Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor journal July 2018
Expression of LamB Vaccine Antigen in Wolffia globosa (Duck Weed) Against Fish Vibriosis journal August 2020
The transcriptional regulator BZR1 mediates trade-off between plant innate immunity and growth journal December 2013