Tang Y, Wang C, Wang F, Li M, Fang Y, Ji Z, Zhao K. Development of Designer Transcription Activator-Like Effector-Based Plant Growth Regulator for Higher Yield in Rice.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2022;
13:924645. [PMID:
35774805 PMCID:
PMC9237611 DOI:
10.3389/fpls.2022.924645]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2022] [Accepted: 05/19/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Recent studies have shown that reprogramming of gene expression in a genome can induce the production of proteins enabling yield increase. The transcription activator-like effectors (TALEs) from several species of bacterial Xanthomonas have been extensively studied, and a series of research tools, such as genome editing tool TALENs and gene expression activators, have been developed based on the specific protein-nucleic acid recognition and binding mechanisms of TALEs. In this proof-of-principle study, we designed and constructed a designer TALE (dTALE), designated as dTALE-NOG1, to specifically target the promoter of OsNOG1 gene in rice, and demonstrated that this dTALE can be used as a new type of plant growth regulator for better crop growth and harvest. In doing so, the dTALE-NOG1 was transferred into the non-pathogenic Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) strain PH to generate a genetically engineered bacteria (GEB) strain called PH-dtNOG1. Functional verification showed that dTALE-NOG1 could significantly induce the expression of OsNOG1. By spraying cell suspension of PH-dtNOG1 on the rice plants during the tillering stage, the transcription level of OsNOG1 was highly enhanced, the grain number of rice plants was increased by more than 11.40%, and the grain yield per plant increased by more than 11.08%, demonstrating that the dTALE-NOG1 was highly effective in enhancing rice yield. This work provided a new strategy for manipulating agronomical traits by reprogramming gene expression in a crop genome.
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