Researchers from the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology (IGDB) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have recently created fragrant sorghum by CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technology.
Fragrance is an important quality trait of crops. Famous fragrant rice is imported from India and Pakistan, which greatly contributes to their foreign trade export business. 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (2-AP) is a major volatile compound that contributes to fragrance in rice. Betaine Aldehyde Dehydrogenase 2 (BADH2) is the major gene that generates fragrance in many crops and vegetables, such as rice, maize, sorghum, soybean and cucumber.
The loss of function of the BADH2 gene can lead to 2-AP accumulation, a major compound responsible for the generation of the characteristic aroma. Although we know that the SbBADH2 gene is involved in the regulation of sorghum aroma, there is no aromatic sorghum variety has been found in China.
In this study, the researchers created SbBADH2 knockout mutants in sorghum by designing two specific target sites in SbBADH2 gene using CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology. The 2-AP measurement experiment demonstrated that there was a significant higher accumulation of 2-AP in both seeds and leaves of mutants than without edited control.
Since sorghum is the second largest silage resource for livestock, the researchers tested whether grass-fed animals had a preference for fragrant sorghum leaves. Interestingly, through a rabbit feeding experiment, they found that fragrant sorghum forage could attract grass-fed animals.
At present, sorghum is widely used as animal feed and brewing material in China. The newly developed fragrant sorghum germplasm will be used for animal feed, wine, vinegar and other brewing products. They hope that in the near future, fragrant sorghum products will appear on human tables.
The study was published in
Journal of Integrative Plant Biology on February 10 and it was supported by a grant from the Strategic Priority Research Program of CAS and the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of CAS.
Edited sorghum release aromatic fragrance from both grains and leaves and attracts grass-fed animals. (Image by IGDB)
