A team of Chinese scientists successfully cloned a rice cold-tolerant gene and knocked it out by gene editing technology to improve receptor cold tolerance

On February 26, according to the official WeChat public number of China Agricultural Genetically Modified Organism, Chinese scientists successfully cloned a rice cold-tolerant gene. The research results were completed by the Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hunan Hybrid Rice Research Center and Huazhong Agricultural University. On February 11th, 2019, it was published online in the international top academic journal PNAS (IF=9.504, one of the top four publications).

According to reports, the researchers obtained a cold-tolerant gene QTL-HAN1 using a cold-sensitive japonica rice variety "Teqing" and a cold-tolerant temperate japonica rice variety "02428", and knocked out HAN1 by gene editing. The gene successfully improved the cold tolerance of the receptor. The cloning, function and natural variation of HAN1 gene can help to understand the adaptation mechanism of japonica rice to cold environment during the process of northward expansion and domestication, and provide an effective way to improve the cold tolerance of rice.

(This article is from Guangming.com)