SEMINAR: Food or Non-food: Plant Biotechnology is the Future

Guest: Bahar Sogutmaz Ozdemir, Yeditepe University

Title: Food or Non-food: Plant Biotechnology is the Future (BIO, MAT)

Date/Time: Nov 27, 2024, 13:40

Location: FENS G032

Abstract: Plant biotechnology has emerged as a pivotal tool in agriculture and industry, enhancing crop resilience, productivity and nutritional value while also offering sustainable solutions for industrial applications. Techniques such as genetic modification, genome editing, marker-assisted selection and omics technologies facilitate the development of plants with improved biotic and abiotic stress tolerance, including resistance to diseases, drought and salinity. These advancements contribute to food security and sustainable agriculture practices, addressing global challenges like climate change, population growth, and resource scarcity. Additionally, plant tissue culture and cell suspension culture enable large-scale production of valuable plant species, plant-derived extracellular vesicles and bioactive molecules, including secondary metabolites with applications in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and the food industry. Through micropropagation, rapid clonal propagation of elite genotypes and pathogen-free plants are achieved, ensuring uniformity and enhanced yield in crops. Conversely, conserving the gene pool is crucial for advancements in these fields, beyond just achieving uniformity. Therefore, both tissue culture and DNA barcoding play vital roles in supporting biodiversity and conservation efforts. Collectively, these technologies offer transformative solutions to meet global agricultural demands and open new industrial applications, positioning plant biotechnology as a cornerstone of sustainable development. This talk will explore our research into both agricultural and non-agricultural applications of plant biotechnology based on these powerful tools.

Bio: Assist. Prof. Dr. Bahar Soğutmaz Özdemir completed her undergraduate degree with a major in Molecular Biology from the Department of Biological Sciences at Middle East Technical University. She earned her Master’s degree in Plant Biotechnology from METU and her PhD in the same field from the Biological Sciences and Bioengineering Program at Sabancı University. Dr. Soğutmaz Özdemir served as a founding faculty member and vice-chair in the Department of Genetics and Bioinformatics at Bahçeşehir University. Since 2014, she has been working as a full-time faculty member in the Department of Genetics and Bioengineering at Yeditepe University, leading her own research group in Plant Biotechnology. Besides, since 2015, she has been working as a lead scientist in setting up, building and coordination of the facilities, “Plant Biotechnology and Industrial Biotechnology Laboratories” and “Yeditepe University Production and R&D Greenhouses”. Dr. Soğutmaz Özdemir continues her research in plant biotechnology, with specific focus on plant genetics, plant biology, plant tissue culture, and genetic engineering. Her work is centered on the clonal propagation of commercially important plants through tissue culture and the production of bioactive molecules and extracellular vesicles from plant cell suspension cultures. She is also engaged in agricultural improvement for drought and salt stress tolerance using biotechnological tools that integrate various omics levels and genome editing technologies. Together with her team, she also conducts studies on the conservation of genetic resources, and the documentation and molecular identification of plant biodiversity in Turkey.