Citrus Transformation Facility remains integral part of the efforts to combat HLB disease through production of transgenic Citrus plants

Citrus Transformation Facility remains integral part of the efforts to combat HLB disease through production of transgenic Citrus plants

Report Date: 10/15/2020
Project: 18-066C   Year: 2020
Category: Plant Improvement
Author: Vladimir Orbovic
Sponsor: Citrus Research and Development Foundation

Within the third quarter of 2020, the Juvenile Tissue Citrus Transformation Facility (JTCTF) has operated at about 40% of its capacity. In accordance with regulations established by the University of Florida (UF) as a response to COVID19 epidemic, JTCTF transitioned to Phase3 during this period. We have started doing new transformation experiments to the extent allowed by the available labor force and starting material. No new orders for production of transgenic citrus were received.Transition of the JTCTF to the Phase3 meant that there could two employees in the lab at the time. According to UF regulations, there can be one person per 150 ft2 of working space. Surface area of the JTCTF is such that allows only two employees to be there at the same time. Labor force of JTCTF includes two employees who work on USDA grants and they also had to be included into the work schedule. As a result, number of experiments that can be done per week is lower than the usual output of JTCTF. Another factor that affected productivity was available starting material. The fruit we had stored in the packing house has gone bad much faster than usual because the cold room broke down at one point during summer. Seeds extracted form fruit that is going bad were also bad and germinated seedlings carried endopathogens. This led to contamination of material used in transformation experiments and loss of data. Sixteen transgenic plants were produced this quarter. These plants included 14 Duncan grapefruit and two Valencia oranges. These plants were the results of work on eight different orders/vectors: BB3, BB4, ZM15-2, ZM16, HGJ87, HGJ88, JJ8, and NADR2.I continued to work on the development of the EBA form. After multiple meetings with the CREC leadership and other participants in the process of transition of service labs to EBA units, the EBA form was completed. It was submitted to IFAS personnel responsible for the first step evaluation. There were no changes in the JTCTF staff. 


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