CRISPR-mediated targeted mutagenesis for improving nitrogen use efficiency in japonica rice
Yajun Tao, Zhihui Chen, Yang Xu, Fangquan Wang, Yanjie Jiang, Fangjun Fan, Wenqi Li, Jianping Zhu, Xia Li, Jun Wang, Qian‐Hao Zhu, Guohua Xu, Jie Yang
Abstract
Rice (Oryza sativa L.), one of the most important staple crops, feeds more than half of the world’s population. The application of nitrogen (N) fertilizer has greatly enhanced rice production but has also increased the cost of rice production and environmental pollution. Based on previous research, O. sativa subsp. japonica rice varieties generally have lower nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) than O. sativa subsp. indica rice varieties (Zhang and Chu 2020). Therefore, breeding new japonica rice varieties that not only produce high yields, have superior taste and texture, and possess disease resistance but also exhibit improved NUE is increasingly essential.