Genome editing of PHS-associated AGO4_9 genes in small grain cereals

小粒谷物中 PHS 相关 AGO4_9 基因的基因组编辑

• 批准号: 543414-2019
• 负责人: Singh, Jaswinder
• 金额: $ 4.88万
• 依托单位: McGill University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Collaborative Research and Development Grants
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2019-01-01 至 2020-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=691399
• 关键词: Genome; editing; PHS; associated; AGO4_9

Pre-Harvest Sprouting (PHS) is the germination of grains before harvest under hot and humid conditions. PHS greatly diminishes the economic value of the harvested grains and the annual cost of PHS globally to the wheat industry exceeds $1 billion. Recently, a loss of $100 million has been documented in Canada alone. Therefore, resistance to PHS is a highly desirable genetic trait for the wheat breeding programs in both the public sector and industry such as Corteva Agriscience. We recently discovered a key gene that acts as a switch to determine how a particular plant will respond to high humidity and excess rainfall by either germinating early (PHS) or not (http://www.mcgill.ca/channels/news/mcgill-discovery-should-save-wheat-farmers-millions-231037). This switch has been found in in the "RNA dependent DNA Methylation" pathway (Singh et al., 2013). We found that Argonaut genes, AGO4_9 class have been associated with pre-harvesting sprouting (PHS) in barley and wheat (Singh and Singh, 2012; Singh et al., 2013). The association of key gene (AGO4) of RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM) pathway with PHS in cereals indicating that AGO4 enhances DNA methylation and acts as a negative regulator of seed dormancy. This piece of research opens up a completely new area of exploration for plant scientists as they are endeavoring to increase the yields of cereals and minimize losses due to excessively humid conditions. The current project proposal aims to further understand the role of AGO4_9 in seed germination, dormancy and PHS in barley and wheat and assess their potential to develop novel PHS resistant breeding lines through CRISPR-based Genome Editing (GE) tools.

收获前发芽(PHS)是指收获前谷物在湿热条件下的萌发。小灵通大大降低了收获的谷物的经济价值，全球小麦产业每年的小灵通成本超过10亿美元。最近，仅在加拿大就记录了1亿美元的损失。因此，对PHS的抗性是诸如Corteva Agriscience等公共部门和行业的小麦育种计划所高度期望的遗传性状。我们最近发现了一个关键基因，它作为开关来决定特定植物如何通过提前萌发(Phs)或不是(http://www.mcgill.ca/channels/news/mcgill-discovery-should-save-wheat-farmers-millions-231037).来对高湿度和过度降雨做出反应这种开关在“RNA依赖的DNA甲基化”途径中被发现(Singh等人，2013年)。我们发现在大麦和小麦中，ArgAert基因AGO4_9类与收获前发芽(PHS)相关(Singh和Singh，2012；Singh等人，2013)。DNA甲基化(RdDM)途径的关键基因(AGO4)与谷类作物PHS的相关性表明，AGO4增强了DNA甲基化，并作为种子休眠的负调控因子。这项研究为植物科学家开辟了一个全新的探索领域，因为他们正在努力提高谷物产量，并将过度潮湿条件造成的损失降至最低。本项目旨在进一步了解AGO4_9在大麦和小麦种子萌发、休眠和PHS中的作用，并评估它们通过基于CRISPR的基因组编辑(GE)工具培育新的PHS抗性育种系的潜力。