From the heading "Man of Sciences"

Text: Anastasia Fortuna. Photo: Konstantin Melnitsky, 66.ru 

Portal 66.ru continues a series of publications about scientists of the Ural Federal University. They were not awarded the Nobel Prize, but many of them received awards no less prestigious in their field, but less promoted in the unscientific environment. These people are not just moving forward domestic science. Their inventions will help us and our descendants to make the world cleaner, more comfortable and clearer.

In a new series of our project, biotechnologist and plant physiologist Alexander Yermoshin will debunk myths about the harm of genetically modified vegetables and tell you which plant can save soils contaminated with heavy metals.

What is GMO and whether it is necessary to fight it

Alexander looks like a biologist from blockbusters - young, tall, ironic. And he works for the FBI. However, this is not American intelligence: Alexander is a lecturer at the Department of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry of UrFU – students have shortened its name to the FBI. The topic that the young candidate of biological sciences is engaged in is also quite suitable for a blockbuster: his dissertation was devoted to the cultivation and study of transgenic plants.

– Alexander, the abbreviation GMO for a person far from science sounds scary. The inscription "GMO-free" is now put on almost any food label. Products that do not have this patch are suspicious. How dangerous is it really? 

– Genetically modified plants are created by transgenesis. This is not some invention of scientists – transgenesis exists in nature. Agrobacterium tumefaciens bacteria live in the soil. By their nature, they are parasites: they exist due to the fact that they inject part of their genes into plants, forcing them to synthesize substances necessary for bacteria. We work with plants using these microorganisms. Geneticists simply take their plasmid - a small DNA molecule physically separate from chromosomes– cut it in a strictly defined place with molecular scissors, then insert a gene with the desired properties and glue it together with molecular glue. A new genetic construct is injected into the bacterium again. And she doesn't care which genes to transfer – her own or someone else's. So the necessary properties are transferred to plants.

– What does it look like in practice? 

– Pieces of plants are soaked in a suspension of bacteria, and they transfer the gene design. Then, from the pieces where the genes we need are already present, we regenerate the whole plant. We drop him off. At the same time, optimal conditions for growth are created – the so–called selective environment, where the transgenic plant begins to dominate over nontransgens - so we select the necessary lines.

In UrFU laboratories, the process of transgenesis is studied on tobacco. Among these bushes there are ordinary plants and those whose properties have been artificially changed. It is impossible to distinguish one from the other at first. They won't twist cigars from tobacco grown by Alexander and his colleagues, no matter how much the students want it. The plants will be dried, powdered, extracted, prochromatographed – the properties of transgenic tobacco will be investigated in a variety of ways. As a result, not even dust will remain from them.

– What properties are you trying to give to this tobacco? 

– We started working on these plants with our colleagues from the Ufa Institute of Biochemistry and Genetics. They introduced into the design the genes responsible for the growth process, for the size of cells, and we have sprouted this tobacco and are now watching it. Transgenic plants will be taller than their usual counterparts and with a larger leaf. Then we will investigate how these signs are inherited, under what conditions they manifest themselves most fully. And then these structures can be attached to other plants, primarily agricultural crops – potatoes, tomatoes.

– In other cultures, will the properties manifest themselves in the same way as in this tobacco? 

– Yes, of course. Imagine that you have two books in front of you, both in Russian, but one is, say, a volume of Pushkin, the other is a manuscript of some professor. Knowing the Russian alphabet, you will be able to read both. It's the same with plants. The genes responsible for growth will increase both the tobacco leaf and the tomato fruit.

– If all this is so natural and safe, how do you tell why there is so much negativity around genetically modified products? 

– There are several reasons. The first and, perhaps, the main one is people's conservatism, fear of the new. Previously, nuclear power was so opposed, but now it is clear that there is no cleaner energy, at least at the moment. In addition, transgenics are a product of high technology, and this obliges. You know how it is with a TV: there is no difference whether you have a tube device or a plasma with a smart hub, if you only watch the First channel. You need to be able to handle transgenic plants. If it is said that they need to be watered twice a month with a certain amount of certain substances, then this is how it should be done.

Another reason why GMOs are talked about in a negative way is the economy. With transgenics, the yield increases, this will lead to its cheapening. And in Europe, for example, it is unprofitable to produce cheaper food. It will just undermine the market. When farmers faced this, they started protesting. A kind of agricultural lobby has appeared, which constantly exaggerates the idea of the harm of transgenics. But a whole generation has already grown up on such products! The first genetically modified plants appeared back in 1994! And today we know much more about transgenic plants than about those that just grow nearby.

– Do we have a lot of similar products in our country? 

– No, not much, mainly two crops – soybeans and corn. Maybe a couple of potato varieties. And everything. Maybe our developments will allow us to bring out new varieties – when people will not shy away from the word GMO so much. But if this happens, it won't happen in five or even ten years.

Yes, it is the most modern and relevant, it is easier to get grants for these studies. However, there are also classical approaches.

This is not a refrigerator, as it may seem at first glance, but a special climate chamber used primarily for microclonal reproduction technology. Optimal conditions for plants are created here. The day lasts 16 hours – the lights are on, the temperature is maintained at 25 degrees. 8 o'clock – night: the light is turned off, the air is cooled to 22 degrees. Humidity is always at the same level.

– Microclonal reproduction is another area of biotechnology. Plants are planted on special nutrient media in which a certain amount of sucrose, micro- and macro-salts. The main condition is sterility. No microorganisms – unless, of course, it is provided by the parameters of the experiment. In such conditions, we can vegetatively propagate even those plants that are not cuttings in the usual environment – for example, conifers or an orchid cymbidium. Since there are no harmful substances here, a very high-quality and very homogeneous planting material is obtained. In a year, if I try very hard, I can get up to 10 thousand plants from one seed. Elite potato varieties are propagated in this way.

– What does the laboratory specialize in: genetic engineering or microclonal reproduction? 

– Frankly speaking, we do not focus on genetic engineering. We do not create our own gene constructs – we exchange them with colleagues from Bashkiria and Pushchino near Moscow for joint work. Yes, we grow such plants, yes, we study their properties. In microclonal reproduction, which we have been doing for a long time, we have achieved more significant results. And our main specialization is cell selection.

– Judging by the name, it is a mixture of traditional breeding with modern cellular technologies…

– How is the classical selection going? We take a field, plant it with culture, then select samples with the properties we need. We re-plant them. And so for several generations. But the field is a big space. In addition, it is difficult to talk about the purity of the experiment in this case – too many extraneous factors affect the plant. Add to this the duration – one vegetation per year, we do not live in Brazil. And if it is a perennial plant? That is, with classical breeding, varieties are obtained for a very long time.

– Does this pathway shorten with cellular selection? 

– Significantly. Look at this – it's a Petri dish. Its area is several tens of square centimeters. And there are as many cells growing on it as there are in the field of plants. At the same time, the cells divide very quickly – I can get 12 generations in a year.

What dozens of people do in the field for a decade, one person can do in a Petri dish in a year.

Ode to clover

What is the first thing that comes to mind with the word "selection"? Most of them, most likely, remember Michurin and his gardens. Ivan Vladimirovich brought out more than 300 varieties of apples, pears, plums, grapes, apricots, blackberries, currants.

– Do you also grow fruit? Any fruits with a fur skin for the conditions of the Far North? 

– The option is interesting, but meaningless (laughs, – editor's note). Our department solves more practical problems. The Urals are characterized by contamination of the soil with heavy metals, especially copper. The issue of land reclamation and their return to crop rotation is acute. We are trying to get plants resistant to copper and other metals. We took clover for our research.

Among the plants in the climate chamber there is also a clover grown by cell selection. With the help of this technology, scientists create crops capable of cleaning those Ural soils that have been polluted by metallurgical production for several centuries.

– Why clover? 

– This is a very interesting plant. Firstly, clover is a cosmopolitan species, it grows literally all over the planet, in almost all climatic zones. Secondly, it is a legume, and crops of this species can grow on nitrogen-poor soils, that is, on any dumps. At the same time, legumes themselves enrich the soil with nitrogen – due to the fact that they can enter into symbiotic relationships with bacteria. Thirdly, clover has a developed root system. After all, dumps are quite loose lands, the slightest wind carries dust from them to neighboring territories, polluting them. Clover can prevent this. Another plus of clover is that, as a legume, it contains a lot of protein and is therefore considered a valuable fodder crop. In addition, clover is a honey plant. Well, from a purely aesthetic point of view – clover is good for the lawn. A smooth green lawn with white and pink flowers instead of dusty black dumps – such a prospect pleases the eye (smiles, – editor's note). But this is a lyric. The most important thing for us in clover is its reaction to heavy metals. Botanists know that in relation to these harmful substances, all variations can be divided into three groups. In the first there will be exceptional plants. Germinating on polluted soils, they do not accumulate heavy metals in their tissues. That is, there are almost kilograms of harmful substances in the soil, and the grass grows environmentally friendly.

– It turns out that the "exclusives" kill several birds with one stone: they enrich the soil with nitrogen, like all legumes, strengthen it, preventing harmful dust from spreading around the neighborhood, give humus. Can they also go to feed cattle? 

– They don't kill hares, but on the contrary, they save them (laughs, – editor's note). But in fact everything is true. The second type of reaction to heavy metals can be observed in plants, which are called indicators. In such a clover, the content of harmful substances is approximately the same as in the ground where they grew. We are almost not interested in them. Well, except to enrich the soil with nitrogen and fix the substrate. And finally, the third type is hyperaccumulative plants. They contain many times more metals in their tissues than the soil around them. They just pump them out of the ground. In a few years, we can completely remove harmful substances from a certain area, make it clean, suitable for further agricultural use.

– And what to do with such plants in autumn? After all, the humus from them will also be infected? 

– Yes, they cannot be left on the field, they can only be burned on a special site. At the same time, the ash turns out to be very toxic, contains a huge amount of harmful substances. But in this case, it can be considered as a plus: modern technologies allow us to process this ash, extracting the same metals from it. It is unlikely that it will be copper, but the same indium may well be.

– When will it be possible to see the first ingot of indium extracted from infected clover? 

– Indies are not mined in the Urals. And we do not plan to get any other metal from plants – we do not have such a task. Our goal is to clean the soil. We are developing this topic for the second year. We accumulated knowledge, studied the mechanisms: why in one case indicator plants are obtained, in another, say, exclusives. Now our department has moved from the study of clover to the creation of hyperaccumulative plants. And we will create them using all the biotechnologies that I have told you about.

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09.10.2015