A Method for Effectively Overcoming Tight Functional Linkage Between Genes in Rice by CRISPR/Cas9 System

摘要

Anthocyanins are widely distributed in one or more parts of rice(Oryza sativa L.)plants,including seed coat,stigma,apiculus,leaf sheath and leaf blade,and are the main pigments used in rice to achieve different colors(Hou et al,2009;Aizza and Dornelas,2011).In rice,tissue-specific color traits(especially the color of apiculus,namely the lemma and palea of the spikelet)are not only important for rice variety identification but also important for linkage analysis and rice domestication research(Saitoh et al,2004;Fan et al,2007;Lin et al,2019).The apiculus color is controlled by the complementary functions of three pairs of dominant genes,C,A and P.Gene C(chromogen)is a pigment gene,which is the basic gene for producing pigments.Gene A(activator)activates gene C,converting the chromogen into anthocyanins,and gene P(purple)controls the distribution of anthocyanins in various organs(Reddy,1996;Sakamoto et al,2001).