PubMed · 2026-04-24
Scientists used CRISPR gene editing to knock out a key signaling gene (TaGα) in wheat, discovering it controls both flowering time and organ size in a dose-dependent way. Disabling one copy only caused earlier flowering, while disabling both copies also shortened plant height, leaf length, and grain length.
Knocking out both TaGα gene copies (double mutant) caused early heading time AND reduced plant height, leaf length, and grain length, while single knockouts only triggered early heading.
The effects are strictly dose-dependent: one functional copy is sufficient to maintain normal organ size, but not enough to prevent early flowering.
CRISPR/Cas9 was used to generate targeted loss-of-function mutations in TaGα-7A and TaGα-7D homeologs in the spring wheat cultivar 'Fielder'.
