Engineering plant architecture via CRISPR/Cas9-mediated alteration of strigolactone biosynthesis

• Published in: BMC plant biology Vol. 18; no. 1; p. 174
• Main Authors: Butt, Haroon, Jamil, Muhammad, Wang, Jian You, Al-Babili, Salim, Mahfouz, Magdy
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central 29-08-2018; BMC
• Subjects: Agricultural production; Architectural engineering; Architecture; Biosynthesis; Carotenoid cleavage dioxygenases; Carotenoids; CRISPR; CRISPR/Cas9; Cytochrome; Dioxygenase; Engineering; Enzymes; Exudates; Exudation; Feasibility studies; Genome editing; Genomes; Germination; Hormones; Liquid chromatography; Mass spectrometry; Mass spectroscopy; Mutagenesis; Mutants; Mutation; Oryza sativa; Plant architecture; Rice; Strigolactones; Plant architecture; Carotenoids; CRISPR/Cas9; Carotenoid cleavage dioxygenases; Rice engineering; Crop improvement; Strigolactones; Genome editing; CCD7
• ISSN: 1471-2229; 1471-2229
• DOI: 10.1186/s12870-018-1387-1

Precision plant genome engineering holds much promise for targeted improvement of crop traits via unprecedented single-base level control over the genetic material. Strigolactones (SLs) are a key determinant of plant architecture, known for their role in inhibiting shoot branching (tillering).
We used CRISPR/Cas9 in rice (Oryza sativa) for targeted disruption of CAROTENOID CLEAVAGE DIOXYGENASE 7 (CCD7), which controls a key step in SL biosynthesis. The ccd7 mutants exhibited a striking increase in tillering, combined with a reduced height, which could be rescued by application of the synthetic SL analog GR24. Striga germination assays and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis showed that root exudates of ccd7 mutants were also SL deficient.
Taken together, our results show the potential and feasibility of the use of the CRISPR/Cas9 system for targeted engineering of plant architecture and for elucidating the molecular underpinnings of architecture-related traits.