The MOBILES consortium will be represented at the 10th European Society for Evolutionary Developmental Biology (EURO EVO DEVO) meeting, where Cristina Caissutti (IRET‑CNR) will present innovative work on plant‑based biosensing for environmental monitoring.
Developing a Visually Detectable Biosensor in the Fern Pteris vittata to Monitor Soil Arsenic Contamination
Cristina Caissutti – IRET‑CNR
Arsenic (As) contamination is a persistent global challenge
affecting ecosystems, food safety, and human health. While current detection
methods are reliable, they are often too slow, expensive, or technical for
large‑scale environmental use. This work explores a radically different
approach: using living plants as self‑reporting biosensors capable of
signalling contamination through a visible colour change.
The fern Pteris vittata, naturally able to thrive in
arsenic‑rich soils, offers a promising platform for such a tool. Building on
its unique tolerance, this work aims to engineer a colour‑based As sensor by
coupling a yeast‑derived detection system with the RUBY reporter, enabling
tissues to shift from green to red when As is present.
A key achievement has been establishing reliable in vitro propagation protocols that support nearly the full fern life cycle, creating the foundation needed for genetic engineering. While traditional transformation methods proved challenging, the successful induction of callus tissue now enables alternative strategies used in other fern models.
These advances lay the groundwork for creating a robust plant‑based biosensor capable of supporting real‑time monitoring of As in contaminated soils.
We invite EURO EVO DEVO attendees to visit the poster session, meet Cristina Caissutti and explore how plant developmental biology and synthetic biology can converge to create innovative environmental biosensors.
10th European Society for Evolutionary Developmental Biology
