Genotype-specific optimization of in vitro regeneration and Agrobacterium-mediated transformation in indica rice with 35S:RUBY and CRISPR/LbCas12a system.
Sarki YN, Keot AK, Marwein R, Singha DL, Gogoi DJ
Crispr
Rice on your dinner plate — especially fragrant varieties like jasmine-style Indian rices — could soon be bred to resist disease, survive drought, and yield more, thanks to this genetic toolkit that finally works on the stubborn indica subspecies most of the world eats.
Most of the rice eaten worldwide belongs to the indica group, but this type of rice has been notoriously difficult to modify in the lab, making it hard to study or improve. Researchers in India cracked the code for three local rice varieties by carefully tuning the lab conditions and using two cutting-edge tools: one that makes transformed cells glow red so scientists can spot successes easily, and one (CRISPR) that can snip specific genes with precision. This now opens the door to developing better-yielding, more resilient versions of these varieties without decades of traditional breeding.
Key Findings
Callus induction frequency (the first step in lab-based plant regeneration) reached up to 90% for Kon Joha aromatic rice using optimized hormone concentrations of 3.0–3.5 mg/L
The 35S:RUBY reporter system was successfully used as a visual screening tool to confirm successful genetic transformation in indica rice, providing a clear red pigment marker
A CRISPR/LbCas12a gene-editing system was validated as functional in all three indica cultivars — Ranjit, Mahsuri, and Kon Joha — which had previously resisted such techniques
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists developed a reliable method to genetically modify three Indian rice varieties — including a prized aromatic landrace — using both a visual marker system and precision gene-editing tools, overcoming a long-standing barrier to improving indica rice through biotechnology.
Abstract Preview
This study establishes a genotype-specific transformation system for indica rice cultivars Ranjit, Mahsuri, and Kon Joha using 35S:RUBY and CRISPR/LbCas12a constructs, enabling functional genomics ...
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