Editing several rice yield genes at once gives surprising, mixed results
Janthabut T, Pongjaroenkit S, Khemkladngoen N, Lithanatudom SK, Chanchay P
Crispr
Bigger grains sound like an easy win, but the rice in these trials showed that a plant which puts everything into fat seeds can end up shorter, with fewer tillers and less grain overall, a trade-off any seed-saver selecting for large seed will recognize.
Scientists used gene-editing scissors to change up to six growth genes in one rice variety, and four of them were successfully altered. Stacking changes didn't just add up: one combination kept yield steady while reshaping the leaves, and another made fatter grains but stunted the plant and cut total harvest. The type of edit and the mix of genes mattered more than the number of edits.
Key Findings
Of 28 first-generation plants, edits were detected in GS3 (35.71%), GW2 (10.71%), ROC5 (7.14%) and Gn1a (3.57%); TAD1 and LARGE2 showed no edits at this stage.
The gs3-13d frameshift allele increased tillering and panicle number but reduced grain length and yield, showing strong pleiotropic effects; the recovered GW2 alleles were intronic and left the coding sequence unchanged.
The roc5-7d gw2-8d gs3-3i triple mutant kept wild-type yield with altered leaf architecture, while gw2-8d gs3-3i large2-10d had higher grain width, thickness and 1000-grain weight but severe drops in height, tillering, seed setting and yield per plant.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Researchers edited several yield-related genes at once in the rice variety Kasalath and found that the results depend on which genes and which kinds of changes are combined, not on simple addition. One triple-edited line kept normal yield, while another gained bigger grains but lost plant height and total yield.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Multiplex CRISPR/Cas12a editing of ROC5, GS3, GW2, and LARGE2 reveals effects on yield-related traits in rice cultivar Kasalath.
Sustainable improvement of rice yield requires coordinated modification of multiple agronomic traits, yet the agronomic outcomes of multiplex genome editing remain difficult to predict. Here, we ap...
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