Development of fragrant broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) via CRISPR/Cas12i.3-mediated genome editing.
Bai Y, Li B, Peng J, Bai Y, Liu S
Crispr
Broomcorn millet is one of the oldest drought-tolerant crops humans ever cultivated — and now gene editing can unlock flavor traits that traditional breeding spent centuries struggling to combine with high yield.
Broomcorn millet is an ancient grain that some varieties make naturally fragrant, producing a pleasant popcorn-like smell. Researchers found the genes that normally block that fragrance and used a cutting-edge editing tool — like molecular scissors — to snip them out. The result is a new millet variety that smells great and still grows just as well as the original.
Key Findings
Editing two genes (PmBADH2a and PmBADH2b) simultaneously using CRISPR/Cas12i.3 produced double-mutant plants with significantly elevated levels of 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, the aroma compound behind the characteristic fragrance.
The fragrant double-mutant plants showed no significant compromise in major agronomic traits such as plant height, tillering, or yield.
This is among the first applications of the CRISPR/Cas12i.3 system in broomcorn millet, demonstrating its effectiveness for multiplex gene editing in this underutilized crop.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists used a precise gene-editing tool to create a fragrant variety of broomcorn millet by knocking out two genes responsible for suppressing a popcorn-like aroma compound. The resulting plants smell better and retain normal growth and yield.
Abstract Preview
Co-editing the broomcorn millet PmBADH2a and PmBADH2b genes using CRISPR/Cas12i.3 generated double mutants with significantly increased 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline content, producing fragrant broomcorn mi...
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Panicum miliaceum is a grain crop with many common names, including proso millet, broomcorn millet, common millet, hog millet, Kashfi millet, red millet, and white millet. Archaeobotanical evidence suggests millet was first domesticated about 10,000 BP in Northern China. Major cultivated areas in...