Image courtesy of Flickr.
Nightshades refer to a group of flowering plants that grow year-round, ranging from herbs to small trees. Some are dangerous—the toxic belladonna, poisonous angel’s trumpet, and alluring red-berried bittersweet—and some are consumed by people all the time—tomatoes, potatoes, and eggplants. These staple crops belong to the Solanum genus, part of the Solanaceae (nightshade) family. While some nightshades have thorns, the Solanum crops we encounter in the supermarket don’t. But could even these harmless nightshades become problematic by also turning prickly?
Prickles are not the same as those classic thorns seen on roses. Prickles come from the epidermis or cortex of the plant, whereas thorns are modified stem tissue. The purpose of prickles in plants ranges from climbing and defense to water retention. It is from the genus Solanum that prickles emerged about six million years ago. Specifically, disruption in LONELY GUY (LOG) genes, which encode enzymes that aid in cytokinin biosynthesis—the production of plant hormones that contribute to development—has been associated with prickle loss. LOG genes play a part in cell proliferation and differentiation. When these genes or other prickle-related genes are affected or mutated, the result is a prickle-less phenotype.
A Science article published in August details how scientists used CRISPR-Cas9 to assess the possibility of editing the LOG gene so that the plants artificially lack prickles. This could be beneficial to farmers who do not want to grow crops with prickles. By genetically engineering these nightshade plants, the food we buy will be harmless, and farmers will no longer need to worry that the eggplants they grow will hurt their customers.