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於美國北卡羅來納州立大學的研究人員們，使用CRISPR技術培育出木質素含量較低的楊樹，從而實現更高效、可持續的纖維生產。他們的研究可能使紙漿及造紙行業徹底變革，同時減少其碳足跡。他們已經開辨一家初創公司，TreeCo以繼續該項創新研究。
Using CRISPR technology, researchers at North Carolina State University have bred poplar trees with reduced lignin content, leading to a more efficient, sustainable fiber production. Their work could revolutionize the pulp and paper industry while reducing its carbon footprint. They’ve launched a startup, TreeCo, to continue this innovative work.
Researchers at North Carolina State University (NC State) have successfully applied CRISPR gene-editing technology to breed poplar trees with reduced levels of lignin, a significant barrier to the sustainable production of wood fibers.
美國北卡羅萊納州立大學(NC State)的研究人員們，已經成功應用了，群聚、規律性間隔開的短迴文結構複製(CRISPR：Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeat)的基因編輯技術，來培育具有降低了，對可持續生產木纖維，是一項重大障礙之木質素含量的白楊樹。
The research, which offers potential for more efficient, eco-friendly fiber production, was published in the journal Science. The findings hold promise to make fiber production for everything from paper to diapers greener, cheaper, and more efficient.
這項為更高效、更環保的纖維生產提供潛力的研究，發表於《科學》期刊。 此些發現擁有，使從紙張到尿布等，各種的纖維生產，更環保、更便宜且更高效能的指望。
Led by NC State CRISPR pioneer Rodolphe Barrangou and tree geneticist Jack Wang, a team of researchers used predictive modeling to set goals of lowering lignin levels, increasing the carbohydrate-to-lignin (C/L) ratio, and increasing the ratio of two important lignin building blocks – syringyl to guaiacyl (S/G) – in poplar trees.
一支由北卡羅萊納州立大學，CRISPR先驅Rodolphe Barrangou，及樹木遺傳學家Jack Wang領導的研究人員團隊，使用了預測的模型製作，來設定降低白楊樹木質素水平、提高碳水化合物對木質素(C/L)比例，及提高白楊樹中，兩種重要木質素構材(紫丁香基對癒創木脂基(S/G))比例的目標。
These combined chemical characteristics represent a fiber production sweet spot, Barrangou and Wang say.
Barrangou及Wang表示，此些組的合化學特性，代表了一種纖維生產最有效的部分。
“We’re using CRISPR to build a more sustainable forest,” said Barrangou, the Todd R. Klaenhammer Distinguished Professor of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences at NC State and co-corresponding author of the paper. “CRISPR systems provide the flexibility to edit more than just single genes or gene families, allowing for greater improvement to wood properties.”
該篇論文共同通訊撰文人，北卡羅萊納州立大學，食品、生物加工暨營養科學的Todd R. Klaenhammer傑出教授，Barrangou宣稱：「我們正在使用 CRISPR，來打造一種更可持續的森林。CRISPR方法提供了，不僅編輯多於單一基因或基因群的彈性，而且為更大程度改善木材屬性留出餘地。」
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生長於北卡羅來納州立大學溫室中，經CRISPR改造的白楊樹(l)及野生白楊樹。
CRISPR-modified poplar trees (l) and wild poplar trees grow in an NC State greenhouse.
The team utilized a machine-learning model to predict and sort through almost 70,000 different gene-editing strategies targeting 21 important genes associated with lignin production – some changing multiple genes at a time. The process led to the identification of 347 strategies; more than 99% of those strategies targeted at least three genes.
該團隊利用了機器學習模型，來預測及分類近7萬種，鎖定21個與木質素生產相關之重要基因的不同基因編輯策略(有些一次改變多個基因)。此方法導致確定了347種，超過99%，至少鎖定三個基因的策略。
From there, the researchers selected the seven best strategies that modeling suggested would lead to trees that would attain the chemical sweet spot – 35% less lignin than wild, or unmodified, trees; C/L ratios that were more than 200% higher than wild trees; S/G ratios that were also more than 200% higher than wild trees; and tree growth rates that were similar to wild trees.
從那裡，此些研究人員選擇了，模型製作暗示，會引領出能獲得上述化學特性最有效部分之樹木的七種最佳策略。也就是，木質素比野生或未經改造的樹木少35%；C/L的比，比野生樹木高於200%；S/G的比，也比野生樹木高於200%；及類似於野生樹木的樹木生長速度。
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經CRISPR改造的木材顯現出，具野生型白楊木(r)的紅色色澤(l)。
CRISPR-modified wood shows red coloration (l) with wild-type poplar wood (r).
From these seven strategies, the researchers used CRISPR gene editing to produce 174 lines of poplar trees. After six months in an NC State greenhouse, an examination of those trees showed reduced lignin content of up to 50% in some varieties, as well as a 228% increase in the C-L ratio in others.
從這七種策略，研究人員們使用了，CRISPR基因編輯，來產生174個白楊樹種系。於北卡羅萊納州立大學溫室中六個月後，那些樹木的一次檢視顯示了，在某些品種中，降低的木質素含量高達50%，在其他的品種中，於C-L的比率，也增加了228%。
Interestingly, the researchers say, more significant lignin reductions were shown in trees with four to six gene edits, although trees with three gene edits showed lignin reduction of up to 32%. Single-gene edits failed to reduce lignin content much at all, showing that using CRISPR to make multigene changes could confer advantages in fiber production.
引人感興趣的是，此些研究人員表示，具有四到六個基因編輯的樹木中，展現了更顯著減少木質素，雖然具有三個基因編輯的樹木展現了，減少高達32%的木質素。單一基因的編輯，根本無法降低木質素含量。顯示使用 CRISPR來進行多基因改變，在纖維生產上，能帶來諸多優勢。
The study also included sophisticated pulp production mill models that suggest reduced lignin content in trees could boost pulp yield and reduce so-called black liquor, the primary byproduct of pulping. This could help mills increase the production of sustainable fibers by up to 40%.
該項研究也包括，暗示降低樹木中的木質素含量，能提高紙漿產量，並減少所謂黑液(製成紙漿的主要副產品)之複雜紙漿生產廠的模型。這可能有助於工廠，提升可持續纖維的產量，高達40%。
Finally, the efficiencies found in fiber production could reduce greenhouse gases associated with pulp production by up to 20% if reduced lignin and increased C/L and S/G ratios are achieved in trees at industrial scale.
最終，此些在纖維生產上被發現的效率，倘若以工業規模，減少樹木中之木質素，及提高C/L及S/G的比率，則可能減少與紙漿生產有關的溫室氣體，高達20%。
Forest trees represent the largest biogenic carbon sink on earth and are paramount in efforts to curb climate change. They are pillars of our ecosystems and the bioeconomy. In North Carolina, forestry contributes over $35 billion to the local economy and supports approximately 140,000 jobs.
林木是地球上，最大之生物所造成的碳匯(能夠無限期累積及儲存碳化合物(特別是二氧化碳)的天然或人工「倉庫」)。因此，在遏阻氣候變遷的努力上，是至關重要的。它們是咱們生態體系及生物經濟的支柱。在北卡羅萊納州，林業對當地經濟的貢獻超過350億美元，且提供了大約14萬個工作機會。
“Multiplex genome editing provides a remarkable opportunity to improve forest resilience, productivity, and utilization at a time when our natural resources are increasingly challenged by climate change and the need to produce more sustainable biomaterials using less land,” said Wang, assistant professor and director of the Forest Biotechnology Group at NC State and co-corresponding author of the paper.
該篇論文共同通訊撰文人，北卡羅萊納州立大學，助理教授兼森林生物技術組主任，Wang宣稱：「當咱們自然資源日益遭到氣候變遷的挑戰，及需要使用更少的土地，來生產更可持續的生物材料時。多重基因體編輯提供了一種，於一次改善森林復元力、生產力及利用率之引人矚目的機會。」
Next steps include continued greenhouse tests to see how the gene-edited trees perform compared to wild trees. Later, the team hopes to use field trials to gauge whether the gene-edited trees can handle the stresses provided by life outdoors, outside the controlled greenhouse environment.
接下來的步驟包括，持續的溫室測試，以瞭解經基因編輯的樹木與野生樹木相比下的表現如何。隨後，該團隊希望借助野地試驗，來判定經基因編輯的樹木是否能應對，由受控制溫室環境外之戶外生活給予的壓力。
The researchers stressed the importance of multidisciplinary collaboration that enabled this study, encompassing three NC State colleges, multiple departments, the N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative, NC State’s Molecular Education, Technology and Research Innovation Center (METRIC), and partner universities.
此些研究人員強調了，包括北卡羅萊納州立大學的三所學院、多個系、北卡羅萊納州立大學植物科學計劃、北卡羅來納州立大學的分子教育、技術暨研究創新中心(METRIC)及諸多合作大學等，使該項研究成為可能之多學科合作的重要性。
“An interdisciplinary approach to tree breeding that combines genetics, computational biology, CRISPR tools, and bio-economics has profoundly expanded our knowledge of tree growth, development, and forest applications,” said Daniel Sulis, a postdoctoral scholar at NC State and the first author of the paper.
該篇論文首要撰文人，北卡羅萊納州立大學博士後學者，Daniel Sulis宣稱：「一種結合遺傳學、計算生物學、CRISPR工具及生物經濟學之跨學科的樹木育種方法，已經深遠地擴大了，我們有關樹木生長、發育及諸多森林應用的知識。」
This powerful approach has transformed our ability to unravel the complexity of tree genetics and deduce integrated solutions that could improve ecologically and economically important wood traits while reducing the carbon footprint of fiber production.”
此種強有力的方法已經改變了，我們揭露有關樹木遺傳學的複雜性，及推斷能改善生態與經濟上重要木材特質，同時減少纖維生產之碳足跡的能耐。
Building on the long-standing legacy of innovations in the fields of plant sciences and forestry at NC State, Barrangou and Wang created a startup company called TreeCo to advance the use of CRISPR technologies in forest trees.
以北卡羅萊納州立大學，在植物科學及林業領域之經年累月的創新傳統為基礎，Barrangou及Wang創建了一家，名為TreeCo的初創公司，以推展 CRISPR技術，在林木方面的用途。
This collaborative effort led by NC State faculty members aims to combine tree genetic insights with the power of genome editing to breed a healthier and more sustainable future.
該項由北卡羅萊納州立大學，學院成員們領導的合作嘗試，旨在結合樹木的遺傳洞察力與基因體編輯的能耐，來培育一種更健康、更可持續的未來。
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翻譯：許東榮
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