Abstract:
Heilongjiang province is the largest rice cultivation region, and the growth area increased dramatically over the past years. To develop the variety with both early-maturatity and high quality, which can be grown in higher latitude region with lower temperature, in this study, through CRISPR/Cas9 mediated genome editing, we knocked out the flowering time gene
Hd2 and fragrance gene
Badh2 in Suijing14 via, a major elite cultivar in the second accumulated temperature zone. Two edited lines were generated and defined as Suijing14-d1 and Suijing14-d2. At T
1 generation, through molecular characterization, representative Suijing14-d1 and Suijing14-d2 seedlings were chosen in which both
Hd2 and
Badh2 were mutated and are homozygous, and the Hygromycin resistance gene was omitted.. Field statistical analysis demonstrated that the heading date of Suijing14-d1 and Suijing14-d2 was shortened around 13days compared with Suijing14. Seeds aromas were preliminarily analyzed by chewing and potassium hydroxide extraction assay. Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) assay was further performed to quantify the aroma compound, 2-acetyl-1-pyrrolin (2-AP) in mature seeds, and it was found that the 2-AP content in Suijing14-d1 and Suijing14-d2 was significantly higher than that in Suijing14. In summary, we successfully generated early-maturatity and fragrant rice variety via CRISPR/Cas9 mediated genome editing, which will markedly facilitate the local breeding program.