Researchers at PSBA Adelaide University are developing a new genetic transformation system for duckweed that could open up applications in sustainable biomanufacturing and space exploration.
The project, led in partnership with Professor Matthew Tucker at the University of Adelaide and the ARC Centre of Excellence in Plants for Space, aims to establish a reliable method for genetically transforming Lemna minuta, a species of duckweed. There are currently no reported methods for producing transgenic Lemna minuta using Agrobacterium tumefaciens, limiting its potential as a platform for producing valuable molecules and compounds.
Duckweed grows rapidly and has potential applications in food production, biotechnology and sustainable agriculture. Developing the ability to genetically modify the plant could enable researchers to enhance its nutritional properties or engineer it to produce useful compounds, including for future space missions where sustainable food and resource production will be critical.
PSBA Adelaide University contributed expertise in tissue culture, plant regeneration and genetic transformation, including sterile frond culture, callus induction and Agrobacterium-mediated transformation.
The team successfully demonstrated DNA transfer into duckweed tissue, with expression of a scorable gene detected eight days after transformation and maintained for six weeks.
Next steps will investigate alternative culture conditions and gene transfer methods, as well as transformation approaches in the related species Wolffia australiana.