Mutation of GmAITR Genes by CRISPR/Cas9 Genome Editing Results in Enhanced Salinity Stress Tolerance in Soybean

Breeding of stress-tolerant plants is able to improve crop yield under stress conditions, whereas CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing has been shown to be an efficient way for molecular breeding to improve agronomic traits including stress tolerance in crops. However, genes can be targeted for genome editing...

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Autores principales: Tianya Wang, Hongwei Xun, Wei Wang, Xiaoyang Ding, Hainan Tian, Saddam Hussain, Qianli Dong, Yingying Li, Yuxin Cheng, Chen Wang, Rao Lin, Guimin Li, Xueyan Qian, Jinsong Pang, Xianzhong Feng, Yingshan Dong, Bao Liu, Shucai Wang
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Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/55999de3f87344eaa74e45257a9a372d
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:55999de3f87344eaa74e45257a9a372d2021-12-01T05:18:00ZMutation of GmAITR Genes by CRISPR/Cas9 Genome Editing Results in Enhanced Salinity Stress Tolerance in Soybean1664-462X10.3389/fpls.2021.779598https://doaj.org/article/55999de3f87344eaa74e45257a9a372d2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2021.779598/fullhttps://doaj.org/toc/1664-462XBreeding of stress-tolerant plants is able to improve crop yield under stress conditions, whereas CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing has been shown to be an efficient way for molecular breeding to improve agronomic traits including stress tolerance in crops. However, genes can be targeted for genome editing to enhance crop abiotic stress tolerance remained largely unidentified. We have previously identified abscisic acid (ABA)-induced transcription repressors (AITRs) as a novel family of transcription factors that are involved in the regulation of ABA signaling, and we found that knockout of the entire family of AITR genes in Arabidopsis enhanced drought and salinity tolerance without fitness costs. Considering that AITRs are conserved in angiosperms, AITRs in crops may be targeted for genome editing to improve abiotic stress tolerance. We report here that mutation of GmAITR genes by CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing leads to enhanced salinity tolerance in soybean. By using quantitative RT-PCR analysis, we found that the expression levels of GmAITRs were increased in response to ABA and salt treatments. Transfection assays in soybean protoplasts show that GmAITRs are nucleus proteins, and have transcriptional repression activities. By using CRISPR/Cas9 to target the six GmAITRs simultaneously, we successfully generated Cas9-free gmaitr36 double and gmaitr23456 quintuple mutants. We found that ABA sensitivity in these mutants was increased. Consistent with this, ABA responses of some ABA signaling key regulator genes in the gmaitr mutants were altered. In both seed germination and seedling growth assays, the gmaitr mutants showed enhanced salt tolerance. Most importantly, enhanced salinity tolerance in the mutant plants was also observed in the field experiments. These results suggest that mutation of GmAITR genes by CRISPR/Cas9 is an efficient way to improve salinity tolerance in soybean.Tianya WangHongwei XunHongwei XunWei WangXiaoyang DingHainan TianSaddam HussainQianli DongYingying LiYuxin ChengChen WangRao LinGuimin LiXueyan QianJinsong PangXianzhong FengYingshan DongBao LiuShucai WangFrontiers Media S.A.articleGmAITRssalinity toleranceABACRISPR/Cas9genome editingsoybeanPlant cultureSB1-1110ENFrontiers in Plant Science, Vol 12 (2021)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic GmAITRs
salinity tolerance
ABA
CRISPR/Cas9
genome editing
soybean
Plant culture
SB1-1110
spellingShingle GmAITRs
salinity tolerance
ABA
CRISPR/Cas9
genome editing
soybean
Plant culture
SB1-1110
Tianya Wang
Hongwei Xun
Hongwei Xun
Wei Wang
Xiaoyang Ding
Hainan Tian
Saddam Hussain
Qianli Dong
Yingying Li
Yuxin Cheng
Chen Wang
Rao Lin
Guimin Li
Xueyan Qian
Jinsong Pang
Xianzhong Feng
Yingshan Dong
Bao Liu
Shucai Wang
Mutation of GmAITR Genes by CRISPR/Cas9 Genome Editing Results in Enhanced Salinity Stress Tolerance in Soybean
description Breeding of stress-tolerant plants is able to improve crop yield under stress conditions, whereas CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing has been shown to be an efficient way for molecular breeding to improve agronomic traits including stress tolerance in crops. However, genes can be targeted for genome editing to enhance crop abiotic stress tolerance remained largely unidentified. We have previously identified abscisic acid (ABA)-induced transcription repressors (AITRs) as a novel family of transcription factors that are involved in the regulation of ABA signaling, and we found that knockout of the entire family of AITR genes in Arabidopsis enhanced drought and salinity tolerance without fitness costs. Considering that AITRs are conserved in angiosperms, AITRs in crops may be targeted for genome editing to improve abiotic stress tolerance. We report here that mutation of GmAITR genes by CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing leads to enhanced salinity tolerance in soybean. By using quantitative RT-PCR analysis, we found that the expression levels of GmAITRs were increased in response to ABA and salt treatments. Transfection assays in soybean protoplasts show that GmAITRs are nucleus proteins, and have transcriptional repression activities. By using CRISPR/Cas9 to target the six GmAITRs simultaneously, we successfully generated Cas9-free gmaitr36 double and gmaitr23456 quintuple mutants. We found that ABA sensitivity in these mutants was increased. Consistent with this, ABA responses of some ABA signaling key regulator genes in the gmaitr mutants were altered. In both seed germination and seedling growth assays, the gmaitr mutants showed enhanced salt tolerance. Most importantly, enhanced salinity tolerance in the mutant plants was also observed in the field experiments. These results suggest that mutation of GmAITR genes by CRISPR/Cas9 is an efficient way to improve salinity tolerance in soybean.
format article
author Tianya Wang
Hongwei Xun
Hongwei Xun
Wei Wang
Xiaoyang Ding
Hainan Tian
Saddam Hussain
Qianli Dong
Yingying Li
Yuxin Cheng
Chen Wang
Rao Lin
Guimin Li
Xueyan Qian
Jinsong Pang
Xianzhong Feng
Yingshan Dong
Bao Liu
Shucai Wang
author_facet Tianya Wang
Hongwei Xun
Hongwei Xun
Wei Wang
Xiaoyang Ding
Hainan Tian
Saddam Hussain
Qianli Dong
Yingying Li
Yuxin Cheng
Chen Wang
Rao Lin
Guimin Li
Xueyan Qian
Jinsong Pang
Xianzhong Feng
Yingshan Dong
Bao Liu
Shucai Wang
author_sort Tianya Wang
title Mutation of GmAITR Genes by CRISPR/Cas9 Genome Editing Results in Enhanced Salinity Stress Tolerance in Soybean
title_short Mutation of GmAITR Genes by CRISPR/Cas9 Genome Editing Results in Enhanced Salinity Stress Tolerance in Soybean
title_full Mutation of GmAITR Genes by CRISPR/Cas9 Genome Editing Results in Enhanced Salinity Stress Tolerance in Soybean
title_fullStr Mutation of GmAITR Genes by CRISPR/Cas9 Genome Editing Results in Enhanced Salinity Stress Tolerance in Soybean
title_full_unstemmed Mutation of GmAITR Genes by CRISPR/Cas9 Genome Editing Results in Enhanced Salinity Stress Tolerance in Soybean
title_sort mutation of gmaitr genes by crispr/cas9 genome editing results in enhanced salinity stress tolerance in soybean
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
publishDate 2021
url https://doaj.org/article/55999de3f87344eaa74e45257a9a372d
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