Disruption of three polyamine uptake transporter genes in rice by CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing confers tolerance to herbicide paraquat
Yu-Shu Lyu, Li-Miao Cao, Wenqian Huang, Jianxiang Liu, Haiping Lu
Abstract
Weeds are a major biotic constraint that can cause dramatic crop production losses. Herbicide technology has been widely used by farmers as the most cost-effective weed control measure, and development of new strategy to improve herbicide tolerance in plants is urgently needed. The CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing tool has been used in diverse applications related to agricultural technology for crop improvement. Here we identified three polyamine uptake transporter ( PUT ) genes in rice that are homologous to the Arabidopsis At RMV1 . We successfully demonstrate that CRISPR/Cas9-targeted mutagenesis of OsPUT1/2/3 greatly improves paraquat resistance in rice without obvious yield penalty. Therefore, manipulation of these loci could be valuable for producing transgene-free rice with improved herbicide resistance in future.