LAUSR

The shape of a plant’s root system influences its ability to reach essential nutrients in the soil and to acquire water during drought. Progress in engineering plant roots to optimize water and nutrient acquisition has been limited by our capacity to design and build genetic programs that alter root growth in a predictable manner. We developed a collection of synthetic transcriptional regulators for plants that can be compiled to create genetic circuits. These circuits control gene expression by performing Boolean logic operations and can be used to predictably alter root structure. This work demonstrates the potential of synthetic genetic circuits to control gene expression across tissues and reprogram plant growth. Description Synthetic gene circuits Synthetic engineering offers the opportunity to build new functional circuits into existing developmental programs. Brophy et al. have now designed a collection of synthetic regulatory elements that they can use to control gene expression (see the Perspective by Alamos and Shih). A design-build-test strategy optimized function. With these synthetic regulatory elements, the authors redesigned root development in the model plant Arabidopsis, quantitatively controlling lateral root density. The approach developed here may be useful for generating precise changes in a variety of phenotypes and organisms. —PJH Precise control over spatial patterns of gene expression can be used to modify individual aspects of a plant’s form.