Restoring the Red Seed Coat in Rice through Genome Editing

Chinese Journal of Rice Science published a study on the breeding of Rc function restoration red rice using CRISPR-Cas9.

Restoring cultivated rice varieties to red rice with premium qualities and resistance to stress is important, especially for countries that use rice as staple food. Rc gene codes for a protein responsible for proanthocyanidins' accumulation into the inner seed coat below the pericarp, providing a red seed coat. Thus, the researchers used CRISPR-Cas9 to target Rc and develop transgenic plants with Kongyu 180 and Shangyu 453 as materials. Both transgenic rice lines exhibited restored red rice trait, as well as saline-alkali tolerance.

Read the Chinese research article in the Chinese Journal of Rice Science.

https://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=19885