Summary:

In the United States, the percent acreage of genetically engineered crops continues to rise. For production of transgenic crops, a large number of different plants must be generated and screened in order to produce an event with consistent and reliable expression of the introduced transgene. Variability in transgene expression/function can occur when the transgene is affected by the host either at the DNA, RNA or protein level. Modulation of the transgene through “RNA silencing” is arguably the main mechanism for instability in transgene expression.

Researchers at The Ohio State University found that specific genes from certain plant viruses can stabilize transgene expression. These viral proteins have previously been identified and are know as “silencing suppressors”. It was found that the form and arrangement of the suppressor, relative to the transgene, is critical for optimum stabilization. Problems with negative effects of these suppressors to native genes are avoided by generating transgene fusions.

Potential Applications:

• Crop Production
• Plant Genetics

Advantages:

Transgenic expressions are stabilized by generating transgene fusions.

Summary:

Researchers at the Ohio State University have developed a real-time PCR-based rapid detection system for Alicyclobacillus spp.; the microbe responsible for about 10% of our food supplies lost every year due to food spoilage. Recently this group of bacteria is receiving great attention from food industry, because of its association with spoilage in processed acid foods such as juices and purees. The first probe-and-primer set for PCR is specific for the genus Alicyclobacillus. Using the above method, the presence of less than 100 cells has been detected in a juice system within hours. Rapid detection system for a major foodborne pathogen is also available.

Potential Applications:

Detecting infestations of Alicyclobacillus spp. to prevent food spoilage and food loss.

Advantages:

Fast and reliable method for detecting the presence of contaminating bacteria.

Summary:

Rice blast is perhaps the most devastating disease of rice because of its wide distribution and its destructiveness. Within the past decade, rice production has been greatly hampered by the large amount of crop losses resulting from rice blast. Rice blast can infect the rice plant at virtually any growth stage. Rice seedlings or plants within the early stages at the time of infection are often completely killed.

To understand the molecular basis of broad-spectrum resistance to rice blast, researchers at Ohio State University have developed unique compositions and methods for creating or enhancing resistance to plant pests by cloning and characterizing the resistance gene Pi2 within rice. The Pi2 gene exhibits highly effective broad-spectrum resistance to a diverse population of blast disease isolates and, consequently, remains effective in a wide range of rice cultivation areas. The methods are useful in controlling plant pests, including fungal pathogens, viruses, nematodes, insects, and the like. The candidate genes from the Pi2 locus are being transformed into a susceptible rice cultivar for disease resistance tests.

Potential Applications:

• Plant Genetics
• Crop Production

Advantages:

Cloning and characterizing the broad-spectrum resistance of gene Pi-2 will enhance resistance in rice crops for against a devastating infection of rice blast.

Summary:

Craving for something indulgent, satisfying, AND healthy?

An Ohio State University Food Science and Technology group has created a treat for you! This frozen product is a mouth-watering grab-and-go banana split formulation. Halved bananas filled with creamy frozen yogurt and whole strawberry pieces are coated with a thin layer of dark chocolate to help satisfy your cravings for an indulgent treat in a nutritious way.

Full of natural antioxidants, probiotics, vitamins, and minerals providing a healthy alternative to regular frozen “ice cream like” products. This product fills a gap in the food market and fits with the current market drivers for new food products which include one or more servings of fruit, convenience and portability. In addition, the USDA encourages the consumption of fruits and yogurt for a healthier population.

Potential Applications:

• Consumer market
• Gourmet ice cream/frozen deserts market

Advantages:

• Bananas are a good a source of potassium, vitamin C, and fiber
• Currently there are limited indulgent frozen fruit products on the market
• Inexpensive to manufacture and would have a competitive price point in the marketplace

Summary:

Researchers at The Ohio State University have developed revolutionary methods for applicable one-step skin removal to a variety of fruits and vegetables. Our methods employ ohmic fields to clearly lyse and separate the skin from the flesh. Unlike other methods that degrade a percentage of the flesh along with the skin and/or require post processing effluent treatment, the OSU methods require significantly less acid for processing, which can be recycled back into the process. Bench-scale prototype has produced successful small scale results.

Potential Applications:

Commercial use for companies in produce processing industry

Advantages:

• Factor of 10 reduction in lye use
• Maintains integrity of produce peeled
• Peel recovered for use in other products
• Reduction in operator hazards and caustic biowaste
• Requires minimum factory retooling and up-front capital

Summary:

Soybean remains one of the most viable targets for modification using transgenic approaches. For successful production of soybean transgenics, genes of interest need to be placed under regulatory control of promoters that drive gene expression in a consistent and tissue-specific manner. Ideally, the promoters should be of plant-origin and native to the plant being modified.

Researchers at Ohio State have identified different promoters from soybean. One of the promoters yields much higher constitutive expression than the standard CaMV35S promoter. Other promoters show root-specific expression, while some appear to express only in early-staged embryos. Promoters, which show some activity in root tissues, could be useful for transgenic approaches to controlling root pathogens or additional abiotic stresses.

Many of these promoters have been additionally modified by truncation and fusion with other promoter/regulatory regions to generate a toolbox of different soybean promoters. All changes utilized soybean promoter sequences. Due to the soybean transformation expertise at The Ohio State University, many of these promoters have been introduced and characterized in transgenic soybean.

Potential Applications:

• Crop Production
• Plant Genetics

Advantages:

Native soybean promoters with different expression profiles.

Summary:

Ohio State Researchers have found a bacterial protein which is able to significantly interfere with bacterial biofilm formation from initiation to detachment in different bacteria. Biofilms are a problem in the food industry because of their resistance to sanitation, stain persistence and their role as a source for secondary contamination.

Current solutions offered are not capable of reducing and/or eliminating biofilms and/or the formation of biofilms on inert and biological surfaces. The protein found by OSU and the method developed is a solution to this persistent problem.

Potential Applications:

• Industrial and municipal water purification
• Food processing
• Medical devices

Advantages:

• Can be easily incorporated into current systems
• Double the effectiveness of current TFC membranes
• Able to work under high-flux conditions
• Less energy required than the TFC membranes