CRISPR–Cas9-mediated promoter editing of FERONIA-Like receptor 13 increases plant growth and disease resistance in rice

Yanan Guo, Yinyao Qi, Kai Liu, Xiao Luo, Weiyu Xiao, Xiaonan Qiang, Junjie Xing, Feng Yu, Zhenghong Zhao, 

Long Wang, Lifeng Wang

The Crop Journal; 17 November 2024; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cj.2024.09.019

Abstract

Receptor kinases play a pivotal role in detecting environmental signals, and consequently, gene pleiotropy is frequently observed within this family. However, the trade-off in trait expression resulting from gene pleiotropy poses a constraint on the utilization of such genes in agricultural breeding. In this study, we identified the receptor kinase gene FERONIA-Like Receptor 13 (FLR13) as a pleiotropic gene influencing plant height, tillering, grain yield, and disease resistance. Using promoter editing, we generated novel alleles (FLR13^T5T6-1, FLR13^T5T6-2) that confer resistance to rice blast and increase per-plant yield. The knockout of the T5T6 segment alleviates the inhibitory effects of two transcription factors, OsGBP1 and OsWRKY53, on FLR13 expression. In summary, our study presents a promising avenue for enhancing the pivotal attributes of receptor-like kinases through a promoter-editing strategy.

See https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214514124002150

Figure 1: Phenotypic analysis of the flr13 mutants and FLR13-RNAi plants. (A) Plant height and tiller phenotype of cas9-flr13 mutant and wild type. (B) Plant height and tilling number in cas9-flr13 mutant and wild type, n = 10. (C) Plant height and tiller phenotype of FLR13-RNAi and wild type. (D) Plant height and tilling number in FLR13-RNAi (n = 12) and wild type (n = 15). (E) Tillers of FLR13-RNAi and wild type. (F) Yield per plant of FLR13-RNAi and wild type. (G) Yield per plant of FLR13-RNAi and wild type. (H) Disease phenotypes of leaves of FLR13-RNAi and wild type at 7 dpi. (I) The lesion length of FLR13-RNAi and wild type. n = 5. Error bars represent SD. P-values were obtained by one-way ANOVA in all experiments. **, P < 0.01; ***, P < 0.001; ****, P < 0.0001.