Gene-edited rice cooks softer without sacrificing yield or protein
Chen Z, Chen Y, Wan G, Dong H, Pan T
Crispr
The stickiness and texture of the rice on your plate comes down to specific proteins in the grain, and tweaking just two of them can make a bowl of rice taste noticeably better without changing how the plant grows in the field.
Rice grains contain a protein called prolamin that makes cooked rice firmer and less tender. Researchers used CRISPR gene editing to dial back two of the main genes that produce this protein, and the resulting rice cooked up softer and more palatable. Impressively, the plants still produced normal amounts of starch, protein, and grain yield, meaning farmers wouldn't have to trade quality for quantity.
Key Findings
Simultaneous editing of two major prolamin-encoding genes was achieved using a single guide RNA in CRISPR/Cas9
Prolamin accumulation was suppressed, reshaping the overall seed storage protein composition
Eating and cooking quality improved while total starch, total protein, and key agronomic traits remained unchanged
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists used CRISPR gene editing to switch off two rice genes that make prolamin, a protein that toughens rice texture, resulting in rice that cooks up softer and tastier without losing yield or nutrition.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Development of low-prolamin rice germplasm via CRISPR/Cas9 editing to improve eating and cooking quality.
Simultaneous editing of two major prolamin-encoding genes in rice using a single-guide RNA suppressed prolamin accumulation and reconfigured seed storage protein composition. This targeted modifica...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
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