[3S01e] 09. GteX - Part 3

5:00 PM - 5:30 PM JST(8:00 AM - 8:30 AM UTC)

[3GteX-13] Synbryo: when synthetic biology meets bryophytes

○Eftychios Frangedakis¹ (1. Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (Japan))

Keywords:

bryophytes,marchantia,hornworts,synbio,engineering biology

Plant synthetic biology aims to redesign and reprogram plant systems to address pressing challenges such as climate change and food security. Breakthroughs in modular cloning, gene circuit engineering, genome editing, and synthetic genomics have expanded the field beyond traditional single-gene approaches. However, these efforts remain largely focused on angiosperms, limiting both the exploration of plant diversity and the development of broadly applicable engineering strategies due to the inherent complexity of these systems. In this talk, I will highlight the potential of simpler, underutilized plant lineages, particularly bryophytes, as versatile platforms for synthetic biology. These systems can support rapid tool development and provide a foundation for establishing universal and synergistic bioengineering approaches across plant lineages. I will focus on recent advances in liverworts and hornworts, with particular emphasis on Marchantia polymorpha as a leading model system.