Colorado State University Research Foundation

Duke University

Mauricio S Antunes

June I Medford

Kevin J Morey

James Jefferson Smith

Homme W Hellinga

Tessema Kassaw

The present disclosure provides compositions and methods for generating plants that can grow in saline conditions, or remove a salt or other impurity from water, for example plants that can remove sodium chloride from salt or sea water, and plants that can produce purified water from salt or sea water.

Synthetic desalination genetic circuit in plants

A eukaryotic input circuit: computationally designed receptors, synthetic eukaryotic signal transduction pathways, and a synthetic signal sensitive promoter that allow highly specific transcriptional induction in response to an externally provided ligand is disclosed. The input circuit is able to specifically bind a targeted substance and transmit a signal to the nucleus where transcription of a gene is activated. An output circuit serves as a simple readout system of the substance detected by the input circuit. The readout circuit exemplified here is a degreening circuit which causes plants to turn white. Activation of the degreening circuit can be detected by eye, or remotely with a variety of machines (hand-held, aircraft or satellite based) and is also resettable. When linked the input circuit if operably linked to the output circuit, produces a functional plant detector.

Biological systems input-output response system and plant sentinels

Growing community of inventors

Fort Collins, CO, United States of America

Mauricio S Antunes