Written by: Dr. Siti Nurbaiti
From Monday, January 27 to Friday, February 21, 2025, the research team from the Pigmented Rice Research Group, Prof. Dr. Yekti Asih Purwestri, who also serves as the Head of the Research Center for Biotechnology UGM, and Dr. Siti Nurbaiti, participated in the “Gene Editing for Indica Rice and Excellence Through Stewardship” training at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Baños, the Philippines. This activity is part of the KONEKSI partnership program between Australia and Indonesia, titled “Building a Sustainable Future: Developing Nutritious and Climate-Resilient Crop Varieties.” Previously, in June of the preceding year, the team had the opportunity to attend training and workshops at The ARC Training Center for Future Crops Development, The Australian National University, and The University of Adelaide, and now this collaboration enabled Prof. Yekti and Dr. Baiti to undertake a four-week genome editing training program at IRRI, the Philippines.
In general, genome editing activities at the Rice Breeding Innovation Department of IRRI involve two main laboratories: the Gene Editing and Transformation Lab (GETL), led by Dr. Inez Slamet-Loedin’s team, and the Gene Identification and Validation Lab (GIV), managed by Dr. Sung Ryul Kim’s team. Before engaging directly in laboratory activities, both researchers completed a Good and Safe Laboratory Practice course and studied aspects of Stewardship, Biosafety, and regulations on plant products derived from Plant Breeding Innovations (PBIs) in the Philippines. The initial stages that involved the construction of binary vectors and their transformation into Agrobacterium, were conducted at the GIV Lab. The subsequent phases included plant transformation followed by genotyping and phenotyping analysis, under the supervision of the GETL Lab team. Prof. Yekti and Dr. Baiti also explored seed management, from harvesting to storage techniques, ensuring seed viability is maintained for both daily use and long-term preservation.
The participants also had the opportunity to visit various units and facilities at IRRI, including IRRI Genebank, which houses a diverse collection of cultivated rice varieties as well as wild rice species; Speed Breeding Facilities, which enable studies on rice growth and development under controlled environmental conditions; Regulated greenhouse and screen house facilities, used for genome-edited plants, also non-regulated facilities. Additionally, Prof. Yekti and Dr. Baiti had the chance to engage in discussions with experts in various fields, including Dr. R. Mauleon and Dr. Dmytro Chebotarov in bioinformatics, Dr. Amelia Henry in root system research, and rice breeders from Korea.
As a research center focused on biotechnology, the Research Center for Biotechnology UGM hopes that the knowledge gained from this training can be applied to the development of genome editing research and innovation at UGM. With the continuous advancement of genome editing technology, this program has been highly beneficial in strengthening human resource capacity and biotechnology research infrastructure in Indonesia. Moving forward, the collaboration between The ARC Training Center for Future Crops Development at ANU, UGM, IRRI, and BRIN is expected to continue and expand, particularly in genome editing research for food security and sustainable crop development. Moreover, this initiative paves the way for more partnerships, further enhancing the capacity of Indonesian researchers and supporting the advancement of agricultural biotechnology on a global scale.
