Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China; Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China.
Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China.
J Genet Genomics. 2020 Sep 20;47(9):563-575. doi: 10.1016/j.jgg.2020.08.004. Epub 2020 Oct 9.
The TaQ alleles as one of the AP2-like transcription factors in common wheat (Triticum aestivum) play an important role in the evolution of spike characteristics from wild and domesticated emmer to modern wheat cultivars. Its loss-of-function mutant not only changed threshability and spike architecture but also affected plant height, flowering time, and floret structure. However, the comprehensive functions of TaAQ and TaDq genes in wheat have not been fully elucidated yet. Here, CRISPR/SpCas9 was used to edit wheat TaAQ and TaDq. We obtained homozygous plants in the T generation with loss of function of only TaAQ or TaDq and simultaneous loss of function of TaAQ and TaDq to analyze the effect of these genes on wheat spikes and floret shapes. The results demonstrated that the TaAQ-edited plants and the TaAQ and TaDq simultaneously-edited plants were nearly similar in spike architecture, whereas the TaDq-edited plants were different from the wild-type ones only in plant height. Moreover, the TaAQ-edited plants or the TaAQ and TaDq simultaneously-edited plants were more brittle than the wild-type and the TaDq-edited plants. Based on the expression profiling, we postulated that the VRN1, FUL2, SEP2, SEP5, and SEP6 genes might affect the number of spikelets and florets per spike in wheat by regulating the expression of TaQ. Combining the results of this report and previous reports, we conceived a regulatory network of wheat traits, including plant height, spike shape, and floral organs, which were influenced by AP2-like family genes. The results achieved in this study will help us to understand the regulating mechanisms of TaAQ and TaDq alleles on wheat floral organs and inflorescence development.
TaQ 等位基因作为普通小麦（Triticum aestivum）中 AP2 样转录因子之一，在野生物种和栽培品种的穗部特征进化中发挥着重要作用。其功能丧失突变不仅改变了脱粒性和穗部结构，还影响了株高、开花时间和小花结构。然而，TaAQ 和 TaDq 基因在小麦中的综合功能尚未完全阐明。在这里，我们使用 CRISPR/SpCas9 编辑了小麦 TaAQ 和 TaDq。我们在 T 代获得了纯合植株，这些植株仅丧失了 TaAQ 或 TaDq 的功能，同时丧失了 TaAQ 和 TaDq 的功能，以分析这些基因对小麦穗部和小花形状的影响。结果表明，TaAQ 编辑的植株和 TaAQ 和 TaDq 同时编辑的植株在穗部结构上非常相似，而 TaDq 编辑的植株与野生型植株的区别仅在于株高。此外，与野生型和 TaDq 编辑的植株相比，TaAQ 编辑的植株或 TaAQ 和 TaDq 同时编辑的植株更为脆弱。基于表达谱分析，我们推测 VRN1、FUL2、SEP2、SEP5 和 SEP6 基因可能通过调节 TaQ 的表达来影响小麦小穗和小花的数量。结合本报告和以前的报告的结果，我们设想了一个包括株高、穗型和花器官在内的小麦性状调控网络，该网络受到 AP2 样家族基因的影响。本研究的结果将有助于我们理解 TaAQ 和 TaDq 等位基因对小麦花器官和花序发育的调控机制。
