Genome editing of the <i>D3</i> gene improves plant architecture and disease resistance in rice

作者：Jiaxue He, Ziwen He, Ya-Dan Zhao, Yuqin Huang, Rui Yi, Pengyu Chen, Jie Liu, Xiao‐Hong Hu, Guo‐Bang Li, He Wang, Fu Huang, Jing Fan, Wenming Wang · 发表于：Plant Hormones · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.48130/ph-0025-0017 · 研究领域：Plant Parasitism and Resistance、Plant Virus Research Studies、Plant Molecular Biology Research

CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing has become increasingly prominent in crop breeding, facilitating the simultaneous improvement of multiple agronomic traits. Desired characteristics in rice breeding include plant architecture, yield, quality, and stress resistance. In this study, the engineering of a japonica rice cultivar, DS, renowned for its superior grain quality and cold tolerance, was undertaken. Since the D3 gene acts as a positive regulator of plant height but a negative regulator of tillering, CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing was employed to modify D3 of order to reduce plant height in the DS cultivar. Multiple D3 -edited lines were generated, with plant height reduced to 73%–79% of DS. Additionally, these edited lines showed increased tiller numbers, early heading time, and grain yields comparable to those of DS. Moreover, the D3 -edited lines exhibited enhanced resistance to rice bacterial blight disease. These findings underscore the utility of gene-editing technology for rapidly enhancing key agronomic traits in rice, while uncovering novel functionalities of the D3 gene in coordinating agronomic traits and disease resistance.