Progress 12/01/16 to 11/30/21
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience includes the scientific community at large, plant biologists, wheat scientists, and wheat growers. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project trained two postdoc scientists, five graduate students, and three undergraduate students in genome editing, wheat genetics, and molecular biology. Post doctoral scientists Drs. Lei Hua and Zhengzhi Zhang have worked on this project in the labs of Dr. Li and Yang at South Dakota State University (SDSU) and Iowa State University (ISU)/University of Missouri (MU), respectively. Lei Hua, previously trained in rice biology and soybean physiology, developed and refined the mutation detection protocol, identify the mutations, and conducted wheat transformation. Zhengzhi Zhang, previously trained in genome mapping, established the CRISPR/Cas9 system and construct GS-specific CRISPR/Cas9 constructs for Agrobacterium-mediated wheat transformation, particularly the double Cas9 vectors and multiplex sgRNA cassettes. Graduate student Ajay Gupta joined Li Lab in the spring of 2018. He is working on wheat transformation, the identification of mutations, and phenotyping of the mutations. After graduation in 2020, he continued to work on the project as a research assistant for wheat transformation, mutation screening, phenotyping, and molecular study of Spl13 function. Graduate students Sourabhdeep Arora and Bhawandeep Kaur joined Li Lab in the fall of 2019 and are working on mutation screening. More recently, graduate students Ahmed Alhuays and Ankush Sharma joined the project at SDSU. Ahmed screened the transgenic population for identification of the GSK3-1 and GSK3-3 mutations and screened the multi-gene construct transgenic population for identification of CKX2-1 mutations. Undergraduate students, Melissa Kerr and Meghan Leigh Glancey worked on identification mutations of TaTGW6-7.1, and undergraduate student Ji Young Kim worked on TaGLW7 mutations. They are all female students and were trained on DNA isolation, PCR primer designing, sequence analysis, and bench skills. Dr. Lei Hua has joined Peking University as a faculty member. Dr. Zhengzhi Zhang was promoted to research scientist at the University of Missouri. Ajay Gupta received a travel ward from Northwest ASPB. He is pursuing his Ph.D. degree in plant molecular biology at the University of Missouri. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been disseminated to the research community through journal publications, scientific conferences/meetings, and the project webpage as described in the products section. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1: Develop an improved CRISPR/Cas system for editing the GS candidate genes (100% accomplished) Develop CRISPR/Cas9 systems. We initially developed a CRISPR/Cas9 system in which the wheat codon-optimized Cas9 (Cas9w) is driven by ZmUbi promoter for over-expression and two sgRNA genes are driven by wheat U6.1 (TaU6.1) and TaU6.3 promoters. More recently, we developed two more Cas9 constructs, in which Cas9w is driven by the proliferating cell nuclear antigen 1 (PCNA 1) or PCNA2 promoter for over-expression in dividing cells. We also developed another two single guide RNA (sgRNA) expression cassettes, in which up to four sgRNA genes can be cloned and driven by a 35S-CmYCLV-U6 compound promoter. Combining the three Cas9 constructs and the two sgRNA cassettes can generate six CRISPR/Cas9 systems for wheat genome editing. Because PCNA and YCLV proteins function in cell division, we expected that their promoters will increase the expression of Cas9w protein and guide RNA genes in the dividing cells of the meristem, thus, increasing the edit rate. All these systems are effective, and the first CRISPR/Cas9 system has been published (Plant Biotech J. 17:1623-1635). All the cloning vectors are listed on the project website (https://wheatgenomics-sdsu.github.io/grainsize_project/) and have been distributed to other wheat labs upon request. Identify candidate genes and construct CRISPR/Cas9 plasmids. We identified 45 grain size (GS) candidate loci in the wheat genome based on the similarity of protein sequences and expression patterns to the GS genes in the model plants (Theor Appl Genet 130:1765-1771). Based-on sequences of the genome-specific PCR products from FDR, we designed 44 guide RNA genes with two guide RNA genes to target the exonic sequences conserved (identical) among its A-, B- and D-genome homoeologs of the same gene. A total of 42 constructs (24 single-gene constructs and 18 multiple-gene constructs) have been generated. The sequences of gene-specific primers, PCR products from FDR, guide RNA genes, and the 42 constructs with target genes for transformation are posted on the project webpage. Transform CRISPR constructs into wheat by Agrobacterium-mediation. While contracting to the UC Davis plant transformation facility at the early stage of the project, we established a wheat transformation facility at SDSU and at MU. We transformed the 42 constructs into FDR wheat, and for 31 of which we generated 230 T0 transgenic plants as posted on the project webpage. Impact. Development of the Agrobacterium-delivered CRISPR systems, together with the in-house wheat transformation facility, provides an additional choice for wheat genome editing. The constructs developed and the transgenic plants generated are important resources for engineering the wheat yield components. Objective 2: Identify mutations in the GS and GN candidate genes (100% accomplished) While using T7E1 to detect edited mutations, we developed a nested-PCR protocol for rapid mutation screening in polyploid plants like wheat (BioRiv; https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.11.18.469120) and a Cas9-RNP digestion protocol for detection of edit mutations, particularly indels of <3 bp (posted on the Project Webpage). Using these methods, we screened T0, T1, T2, and/or T3 transgenic populations with a focus on those homologous to major QTL in rice and the newly identified sphaerococcum 1 (S1) homologs GSK3-1 and GSK3-3, a coding for GSK3-like kinase homologous to the BIN2 kinase of Arabidopsis (Theor Appl Genet 134:633-645). Screening 1,592 plants identified 111 mutations for 7 grain-regulatory genes. These include 55 mutations for CKX2-1, 8 mutations for CKX2-5, 15 mutations for SPL13 (GLW7), 10 mutations for GSK3-1, 5 mutations for GSK3-3, 5 mutations for GW2, and 2 mutations for GW8. Different from other plants, a majority of the mutations are deletions of >20 bp. The only insertion type found was a 1-bp insertion of A or T. No off-target mutations were detected (Plant Biotech J. 17:1623-1635). Combining mutations. We combined the mutations from three homoeologs of one orthologous gene or different orthologous loci by intercrossing and marker selection, and have obtained double and triple mutants for TaCKX2-1, TaGLW7, and TaGW2. We have developed 40 double mutants (29 AAbbdd, 10 aaBBdd, and 1 aabbDD) and 10 triple mutants for TaCKX2-1, 10 double mutants (4 aabbDD and 6 aaBBdd) for TaGLW7, and one triple mutant for TaGW2. We also combined mutations of different grain regulatory genes and obtained plants combining mutations of CKX2-1 and GW2, and combined mutations of GW2 and GLW7. Eliminating transgenes. Based on marker genotypes, we selected transgene-free mutants in selfing and backcrossing progenies. We have obtained transgene-free mutations for TaGLW7-A, TaGLW7-B, TaGW2-A, and TaGW2-D. Thus, these transgene-free mutant lines are ready to be distributed to wheat breeders upon request. Impact. The development of the novel mutations provides new opportunities to study the function of these important genes in wheat. Combing these mutations and eliminating the transgenes build a pathway for CRISPR-based germplasm enhancement to improve wheat yield. Objective 3: Characterize the effect of mutations in the GS and GN candidate genes (100% accomplished) Phenotypic evaluation of homozygous edit mutants. We phenotyped homozygous mutants of CKX2-1, CKX2-5, GLW7, and GW2 together with their wildtype segregants as controls in greenhouse or growth chamber conditions for GS and other agronomic traits. The GLW7 mutants increased grain number per spikelet and per spike by 115% and increased grain size by 111% (grain weight by 106%). The GLW7 mutations flowered earlier and changed the plant architecture by reducing the plant height and tiller number (Gupta 2020 Thesis). The single WG2 mutations increased grain size by 106 -113%. Like the CKX-2 in rice, the CKX2-D1 mutation significantly increased grain number per spikelet and per spike (Plant Biotech J. 17:1623-1635). Preliminary results from the 2021 spring season showed that CKX2-5 mutations increased the spike number per plant by 20%, and that GSK3.1 double mutations increased tiller numbers and flowered earlier as compared to the WT segregants. Functional characterization of GLW7 edit mutations. GLW7 encodes SPL13 protein of the SPL transcription factor family. Expression of many genes in this family negatively regulated by miR156, but only GLW7 has the microRNA recognition element (MRE) in the 3' UTR. We developed 15 edit mutations targeting the MRE, most of which did not affect the SPL13 structure. qPCR analysis showed that transcription of the mutant alleles was increased roughly by twofold. MicroRNA 3' UTR assays in tobacco showed that all the GLW7 mutations abolished the binding of miR156, supporting that the upregulation of the mutant alleles was due to disruption of miR156 binding to the MRE. Impact. Our phenotyping data confirmed the function of these genes in the control of spike and grain development and discovered the contribution of GLW7 in controlling flowering time and plant type, indicating their potential in breeding to improve wheat grain yield and plant architecture. Objective 4: Transfer beneficial mutations into elite durum wheat (100% accomplished) Transfer of the edit mutations to durum. We crossed and backcrossed the mutants for the TaCKX2-1 double mutant (aabbDD) and TaGLW7 and TaGW2 single mutants (aaBBDD and AAbbDD) with durum wheat cultivar Divide. Based on marker genotypes, we selected homozygous mutants free of transgenes and the D-genome chromosomes. These mutants are new genetic resources and germplasm for breeding durum grain yield and are ready to be distributed upon request. Impact. Transfer of these edit mutations to durum will lead to the development of new germplasm for durum wheat breeding.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Gupta A, Hua L, Lin G, Moln�r I, Dole~el J, Liu S, Li W. 2021. Multiple origins of Indian dwarf wheat by mutations targeting the TREE domain of a GSK3-like kinase for drought tolerance, phosphate uptake, and grain quality. Theor Appl Genet. 134:633-645.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Gupta A, Li W. 2021. Genotyping strategies for detecting CRISPR mutations in polyploid species: a case study-based approach in hexaploid wheat. BioRiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.11.18.469120.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Gupta A, Hua L, Zhang Z, Alhusays A, Sharma A, Yang B, Li W. 2021. Squamosa-promoter binding protein-like 13 controls flowering time, plant
architecture, grain size, and grain number in wheat. (in development).
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Zhang Z, Peng Z, Liu H, Li W, White FF, Yang B. 2021. Promoter editing of wheat 9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase gene confers resistance to bacterial wheat blight. (in development).
|
Progress 12/01/19 to 11/30/20
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience includes the scientific community at large, plant biologists, wheat scientists, and wheat growers. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Postdocs Drs. Lei Hua and Zhengzhi Zhang continued their work on this project in the labs of Dr. Li at South Dakota State University (SDSU) and Dr. Yang at University of Missouri (MU). Lei Hua, previously trained in rice biology and soybean physiology, is working to develop and refine the mutation detection protocol, identify the mutations, and conduct wheat transformation. Zhengzhi Zhang, previously trained in genome mapping, is working to establish the CRISPR/Cas9 system and construct GS-specific CRISPR/Cas9 constructs for Agrobacterium-mediated wheat transformation, particularly the double Cas9 vectors and multiplex sgRNA cassettes. MS student Ajay Gupta graduated on July 19, 2020, and is currently working on the project as a research assistant. He is working on wheat transformation, the identification of mutations, and phenotyping of the mutations. MS students Sourabhdeep Arora and Bhawandeep Kaur joined Li Lab in fall of 2019 and are working on mutation screening. Two undergraduate students, Meghan Leigh Glancey and Ji Young Kim, are working on identification TILLING mutations of TaTGW6-7.1 and TaGLW7, respectively. They were trained on DNA isolation, PCR primer designing, sequence analysis, and bench skills. All the postdocs, graduate students, and undergraduate students will continue to work on this project in the coming year. Zhengzhi Zhang will work on Objective 1 to construct new CRISPR vectors and test their editing efficiency. Lei Hua will work on Objective 1 for the transformation of the newly developed constructs into FDR wheat, on Objective 2 to screen the T0 and T1 transgenic population for beneficial mutation, and on Objective 4 to screen the backcrossing populations using edit-specific markers. The three graduate students will work on Objective 2 and Objective 3 to evaluate the phenotype effects of the mutations. Sourabhdeep Arora will work on the Objective 4. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been disseminated to the research community through journal publications, scientific conferences, and other meetings as described in the products section. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Objective 1. Develop an improved CRISPR/Cas9 system for editing the GS candidate genes Improvement of the multiple-target editing efficiency. We will analyze the data and prepare a manuscript on the multiple-target genome edit in wheat. Objective 2. Identify mutations in the GS and GN candidate genes Screening for mutations from the multiple-targeting transgenic plants. Screening the remaining populations for mutations in the TaSK genes. Analyzing the data for major contributors to the editing efficiency by comparing the different CRISPR systems. Objective 3. Characterize the effect of mutations on GS and GN candidate genes Phenotyping the homozygous TaCKX2-A5, TaCKX2-B5, TaCKX2-D5 mutants and double mutants for grain number, grain size, tiller number, and grain weight per plant in greenhouse settings. Investigating the molecular mechanism underlying TaGLW7 by RNA-seq analysis of the immature spikes and identification of its direct target by promoter binding. Analyzing the data, draft, and submit the manuscripts on the findings derived from the characterization of TaCKX2 and TaGLW7 in the edited lines. Objective 4: Transfer beneficial mutations into elite durum wheat Recovering the TaCKX2-5 mutations in the durum wheat and continue to backcross durum Divide to TaGLW7 and TaGW2 mutants to clean up the genetic background of Fielder.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1: Develop an improved CRISPR/Cas system for editing the GS candidate genes (95% accomplished) Construct development. We adapted a newly-developed GRF-GIF (growth regulating factor and GRF interacting factor) construct kindly provided by Jorge Dubcovsky which significantly improved wheat transformation efficiency (Debernardi et al. 2020 bioRxiv 2020.08.23.263905). Using this system, we successfully edited three wheat genes at high efficiency (27%), particularly with bi-allelic mutations in the T0 generation. We have also incorporated this system into our multiplexing gene editing system, and the transformation of wheat Fielder with the constructs of multiplexing gene editing has been undertaken. We expect this new CRISPR/Cas9 system will increase the efficiency of multiple-targeting editing in wheat. Impact. Development of the Agrobacterium-delivered CRISPR system, together with the in-house wheat transformation facility, provides an additional choice for wheat genome editing, which requires a small number of transformation events. The constructs developed and the transgenic plants generated are important resources for engineering wheat yield components. Objective 2: Identify mutations in the GS and GN candidate genes (70% accomplished) Mutation screening strategies. We developed a Cas9/sgRNA digestion protocol and a nested PCR method to detect CRISPR mutation in wheat, in addition to the traditional T7E1 (T7 endonuclease I digestion) assay and restriction assay. The nested PCR method is particularly suitable for polyploid species like wheat and is highly reproducible and cost-effective. A manuscript describing these methods has been prepared. Screening for edits in T0, T1, and T2 transgenic plants. In addition to the mutations TaCKX2-1, we identified 16 new mutations in the all three homoeologs of TaCKX2-5. Because the target sites for microRNA regulated positive grain regulators TaGS2, TaIPA1, and TaGW8 are located in the coding region, the CRISPR mutations, mainly deletions, disrupt the proteins. Therefore, we suspended the effort on these genes and focused on the newly-identified grain regulatory genes, such as TaSK genes, which negatively regulate grain size. Screening for mutations in TaSK2.1, TaSK2.3, and TaSK4.1 has begun. So far, we have identified four mutations in TaSK2.1 and five mutations in TaSK2.3. Screening of more populations continues. Screening multiple-targeting populations. We generated 74 T0 transgenic plants and screened approximately 200 T1 transgenic plants from four populations derived from each of the constructs 1, 2, and 3. So far, no mutations have been detected. The data indicated that the possible inefficacy of the multiple-targeting system is due to the relatively low activity of Cas9 or low level of Cas9/sgRNA complex for a specific sgRNA. Impact. Development of the novel mutations provides new opportunity to study the function of these important genes in wheat. Combing these mutations and eliminating the transgenes builds a pathway for CRISPR-based germplasm enhancement to improve wheat yield. Objective 3: Characterize the effect of mutations in the GS and GN candidate genes (70% accomplished) Phenotypic evaluation of homozygous mutants. In previous years we phenotyped homozygous mutation TaCKX2-D1, and TaGW2, and some TaGLW7 mutations. We phenotyped more TGLW7 mutants for agronomic traits including grain number (GN) and grain size (GS). We phenotyped a single mutant (AAbbDD, 1-bp insertion in the B-genome copy) and a double mutant (aabbDD, 10-bp deletion in the A-genome copy and 1-bp insertion in the B-genome copy). Compared to the wild type, the single mutant did not change spikelet number per spike (P = 0.8194) but increased GN per spikelet by 113.75% (P = 0.0213). It also increased grain area (GA) and thousand-grain weight (TGW) by 111.53% and 105.9% (P < 0.0353), respectively. The grain size increase was mainly contributed by an increase in grain width. The double mutant line also increased grain size, but the increase of grain number was not statistically significant. In addition to the increase of grain number and grain size, the mutants flowered 9 days earlier and matured 14 days earlier (P < 5.45E-03). At the same time, the mutant showed reduced plant height by 7.2% and reduced tiller number per plant by 33% (P < 0.0479). Compared to the wild type, the mutants had much stronger tiller stems. These data indicate that these genes have a conserved function in rice and wheat with great potential to improve wheat yield potential. Moreover, the TaGLW7 can be further manipulated to improve wheat plant architecture and fine-tune flowering time. Currently, phenotypic evaluation of the remaining single, double, and triple mutant lines of TaGLW7 and homozygous large deletions of TaCKX2-A1, TaCKX2-B1, and TaCKX-D1 are underway. Molecular characterization of TaGLW7 mutations. The edit mutations were within the miR156 recognition element (MRE) which is located in the 3' untranslated region (3'UTR) of the TaGLW7. As expected, these mutations increased the TaGLW7 transcription approximately twice. The wheat TaGLW7 is orthologous to Arabidopsis AtSPL3. In Arabidopsis, AtSPL3/4/5 proteins physically interact with the flowering locus T (FT)-FD module to facilitate vegetative to reproductive transitioning by direct upstream activation of LEAFY (LFY), FRUITFUL (FUL), and APETALA1 (AP1). Wheat VERNALIZATION 1 (TaVrn1) is orthologous to the Arabidopsis AP1. The qRT-PCR experiment showed that the expression of TaVrn1 was 2.3-fold higher in the double mutant compared to the WT (P = 1.7E-09). This result suggests that there is functional conservation between the TaGLW7 and AtSPL3 in terms of phase transition and flowering. Impact. Our phenotyping data confirms the functions of TaGLW7 in the control of spike and grain development and other agronomic traits, and indicates their potential in breeding to improve wheat grain yield and plant architecture. Objective 4: Transfer beneficial mutations into elite durum wheat (70% accomplished) Transfer of the edit mutations to durum. We crossed the mutants for the double mutants (aabbDD) of TaCKX2-1 and TaGW2 and single mutants (aaBBDD and AAbbDD) of TaGLW7 with durum wheat cultivar Divide, and obtained the F1 plants verified by genotyping the mutant alleles and CRISPR/Cas9 transgene and backcrossed to Divide. From the BC1F2, we obtained homozygous mutants for TaGLW7 and TaGW2 free of the D-genome chromosomes and transgenes. During this process, we found that the CRISPR/Cas9 transgenes are active and continue to generate new mutations in the durum wheat background. We also crossed the TaCKX2-A5 mutant, which is expected to have the greatest effect among the three homoeologous genes based on expression data with Divide. Impact. Transfer of these edit mutations to durum will lead to development of new germplasm for durum wheat breeding.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Li W. 2020. Genome editing of wheat grain-regulatory genes. Plant and Animal Genome Conference XXVIII, 1/12. San Diego, CA.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Gupta A. 2020. Genome editing of wheat grain-regulatory genes for novel variation to increase wheat genetic yield potential. ASA/CSSA/SSSA Conference. 11/9. Virtual on Zoom.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Gupta A, Hua L, Zhang Z, Arora S, Yang B, Li W. 2020. Genome editing of wheat grain-regulatory genes for novel variation to increase wheat genetic yield potential. PAG XXVIII. 1/11 1/15. San Diego, CA. #886.
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Ajay Gupta. 2020. Functional analysis of squamosa-promoter binding protein-like 13 in controlling flowering time, plant architecture, grain size, and grain number in wheat. Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 4080, https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd/4080.
|
Progress 12/01/18 to 11/30/19
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience includes the scientific community at large, plant biologists, wheat scientists, and wheat growers. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Drs. Lei Hua and Zhengzhi Zhang continued their work on this project in the labs of Dr. Li at South Dakota State University (SDSU) and Dr. Yang at University of Missouri (MU). Lei Hua, previously trained in rice biology and soybean physiology, is working to develop and refine the mutation detection protocol, identify the mutations, and conduct wheat transformation. Zhengzhi Zhang, previously trained in genome mapping, is working to establish the CRISPR/Cas9 system and construct GS-specific CRISPR/Cas9 constructs for Agrobacterium-mediated wheat transformation, particularly the double Cas9 vectors and multiplex sgRNA cassettes. Graduate student Ajay Gupta (MS) joined Li Lab in spring of 2018. He is working on wheat transformation, the identification of mutations, and phenotyping of the mutations. Graduate students Sourabhdeep Arora (MS) and Bhawandeep Kaur (MS) joined Li Lab in fall of 2019 and are working on mutation screening. Two undergraduate students, Meghan Leigh Glancey and Ji Young Kim, are working on identification TILLING mutations of TaTGW6-7.1 and TaGLW7, respectively. They were trained on DNA isolation, PCR primer designing, sequence analysis, and bench skills. All the postdocs, graduate students, and undergraduate students will continue to work on this project in the coming year. Zhengzhi Zhang will work on Objective 1 to construct new CRISPR vectors and test their editing efficiency. Lei Hua will work on Objective 1 for the transformation of the newly developed constructs into FDR wheat, on Objective 2 to screen the T0 and T1 transgenic population for beneficial mutation, and on Objective 4 to screen the backcrossing populations using edit-specific markers. The three graduate students will work on Objective 2 and Objective 3 to evaluate the phenotype effects of the mutations. Sourabhdeep Arora will work on the Objective 4. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been disseminated to the research community through journal publications, scientific conferences, and other meetings as described in the products section. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Objective 1. Develop an improved CRISPR/Cas9 system for editing the GS candidate genes 1. Develop gene replacement constructs and test their efficiency. Objective 2. Identify mutations in the GS and GN candidate genes We will screen the T0 and T1 transgenic populations of the new constructs for beneficial mutations and transgenes using our established procedure, (i.e., PCR-RE, PCR-Cas9 RNP assay, validation by Sanger sequencing). Backcross the desired mutants of TaCKX2-1, TaGLW7, TaGW2 to wild type FDR for transgene null mutants. Combine the mutations from homologous loci for triple mutations for GS and GN. Objective 3. Characterize the effect of mutations on GS and GN candidate genes In the coming year this part of the research will focus on the phenotypic characterization of TaCKX2-1, TaGLW7, and TaGW2 (Objective 3.1). The homozygous mutants will be measured along with wild type FDR for GS and GN, and statistical analyses will be used to examine the effect of the edit mutations on these traits. This research activity will help identify beneficial mutant alleles. We will also characterize the TaGLW7 mutations for their expression in spike and developing grain by quantitative RT-PCR. Spike and grain tissues have been sampled for RNA isolation, and the q-PCR primers have been synthesized. Objective 4: Transfer beneficial mutations into elite durum wheat We will backcross the F1 and BC1 hybrids of TaCKX2-1, TaGLW7, and TaGW2 mutants to Divide and select for the mutations and against the transgene and the D-genome chromosomes. At the same time, the wild type and mutant homozygotes will be selected from the F2 populations for phenotyping.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1: Develop an improved CRISPR/Cas system for editing the GS candidate genes (95% accomplished) Construct development. We generated 7 new constructs. Three single-targeting constructs harbor two guide RNAs, and they target genes encoding GSK3-like proteins GSK11, SK31, and GSK41. Four constructs target eight guide RNA genes targeting four grain-regulatory genes. Construct 1 targets four TaCKX2 genes: TaCKX2-1, TaCKX2-2, TacKX2-3, and TaCKX2-5. Construct 2 targets four TaTGW6 genes: TaTGW6-7.1, TaTGW6-7.4, TaTGW6-3.1, and TaTGW6-3.3. Construct 3 targets TaEOD1, TaDEP1, TaGL3, and TaLP. The last construct targets TaGW2, TaGW7, TaGLW7, and TaGS3. Wheat transformation. We transformed these four constructs into Fielder via Agrobacterium mediation using our in-house wheat transformation facility at South Dakota State University and obtained two transgenic plants for the GSK41 construct and multiple-targeting constructs 1 and 2. We have not screened mutations in the T0 plants, but have generated large T1 populations for mutation screening. Impact. Development of the Agrobacterium-delivered CRISPR system, together with the in-house wheat transformation facility, provides an additional choice for wheat genome editing, which requires a small number of transformation events. The constructs developed and the transgenic plants generated are important resources for engineering wheat yield components. Objective 2: Identify mutations in the GS and GN candidate genes (70% accomplished) Development of mutations for TaCKX2-5. We screened two T1 populations for edit mutations of TaCKX2-5. From one population consisting of 18 T1 plants, we detected four mutations: a 12-bp deletion and a 25-bp deletion in TaCKX2-5A, a 12-bp deletion in TaCKX2-5B, and a 1-bp insertion in TaCKX2-5D. While the 12-bp deletions caused deletion of three amino acids and substitution of one amino acid, the 25-bp deletion and 1-bp insertion shifted the open reading frames. This result corroborated that this Agrobacterium-delivered CRISPR system requires a small number of transformation events because CRISPR/Cas9 remains active for novel mutations through generations. We are screening the remaining seeds from this population for more mutations. Development of new mutations for TaGLW7. In the previous year we developed two edit mutations (1-bp insertions) in TaGLW7-A and one edit mutation (5-bp deletion) in TaGLW7-D. Further screening the T1 and T2 populations identified 11 new mutations: six (two 1-bp insertions, and four >30-bp deletions) in TaGLW7-B, and five (one 1-bp insertion and four >33-bp deletions) in TaGLW7-D. The target site in TaGLW7 is the miR156 recognition site in the 3' UTR. The deletions greater than 30 bp span the coding region of the gene in both TaGLW7-B and TaGLW7-D, thus they may affect the protein function. Development of new mutations for TaGW2. In the previous year we developed one 17-bp deletion in TaGW2-A and one 1-bp deletion in TaGW2-D in the T1 population. We screened 300 T2 individuals and identified three new mutations: a 46-bp deletion in TaGW2-A, an 18-bp deletion in TaGW2-B, and a 353-bp deletion in TaGW2-D. Combining mutations in homoeologous loci and different orthologous loci. We are combining the mutations from three homoeologs of one orthologous gene or from different orthologous loci by intercrossing and marker selection. So far, we have obtained double and triple mutants for TaCKX2-1, TaGLW7, and TaGW2. We have developed 40 double mutants (29 AAbbdd, 10 aaBBdd, and 1 aabbDD) and 10 triple mutants for TaCKX2-1, 10 double mutants (4 aabbDD and 6 aaBBdd) for TaGLW7, and one triple mutant for TaGW2. We are in a process of combining the TaCKX2-1 mutations with TaGLW7 and TaGW2 mutations. We have 2 plants with genotype aaBBDd and aaBBDD for TaCKX2-1 and TaGW2, respectively. Eliminating transgenes. One advantage of genome editing is that final mutants can be transgene-free and directly used as novel germplasm for breeding. We are developing transgene-free mutants by screening against the transgenes in selfing and backcrossing progenies. So far, we have obtained transgene-free mutations for TaGLW7-A, TaGLW7-B, TaGW2-A, and TaGW2-D. Impact. Development of the novel mutations provides new opportunity to study the function of these important genes in wheat. Combing these mutations and eliminating the transgenes builds a pathway for CRISPR-based germplasm enhancement to improve wheat yield. Objective 3: Characterize the effect of mutations in the GS and GN candidate genes (70% accomplished) Phenotypic evaluation of homozygous TaGLW7 mutants. Mutations obtained in the T1 and T2 generations were self-crossed to generate homozygous mutants. From the progeny homozygous, heterozygous, and wild type plants for TaGLW7-A, TaGLW7-B, and TaGLW7-D were genotyped. Four to ten plants for each homologous mutant and wild type and 10 plants for all three homeologs were randomly selected for phenotypic evaluation. A 10-bp deletion in TaGLW7-A showed an increase of 7.69% in seed area (p=0.0045), 4.66% in seed breadth (p=0.02), and 3.05% in seed length (p=0.0036) compared to wild type plants. We didn't see any difference in seed number per spike (p=0.63), spikelet number (p=0.84), and seeds per spikelet (p=0.58) from the wild type plants. A 25-bp deletion in TaGLW7-A showed an increase of 12.8% in spikelet number (p=0.017), but a decrease of 6.13% in seeds per spikelet (p=0.04) from the wild type plants. Seeds per spike and seed area remained unchanged (p>0.29) in mutant and wild type plants. A 5-bp deletion in TaGLW7-D showed an increase of 17.6% in spikelet number (p=0.0007), 8.6% increase in spike length (p=0.03), and 20.5% increase in seeds per spike (p=0.01) compared to the wild type plants. Seeds per spikelet and seed area remained unchanged in these mutants compared to wild type plants (p>0.46). Expression database shows that the TaGLW7-B has the highest expression among the three genomes, and we recently developed a 1-bp insertion in TaGLW7-B. Six homozygous mutant plants showed early flowering compared to the wild type segregants. They will be phenotyped for grain size and grain number. We have developed a triple TaGLW7 mutant combined the A-, B-, and D-genome mutations and phenotyping has been planned. Phenotypic evaluation of homozygous TaGW2 mutants. Ten plants each for two mutant types and eight wild type plants were selected randomly from the population. A 17-bp deletion in TaGW2-A showed an increase of 6.71% in seed area (p=0.00018), 2.49% increase in seed length (p=0.005), and 4.05% increase in seed breadth (p=0.006) compared to the wild type plants. A 1-bp deletion in TaGW2-D showed an increase of 12.57% in seed area (p=5.1e-08), 3.22% increase in seed length (p=0.0017), and 8.92% increase in seed breadth (p=5.5e-07) compared to the wild type plants. Impact. Together with our previous finding of the contribution of TaCKX2-1 to grain number per spikelet/spike, our phenotyping data confirm the function of these genes in control of spike and grain development and indicate their potential in breeding to improve wheat grain yield. Objective 4: Transfer beneficial mutations into elite durum wheat (65% accomplished) Transfer of the edit mutations to durum. We have crossed the mutants for the TaCKX2-1 double mutant (aabbDD) and TaGLW7 and TaGW2 single muatnts (aaBBDD and AAbbDD) with durum wheat cultivar Divide, and obtained the F1 plants verified by genotyping the mutant alleles and CRISPR/Cas9 transgene and backcrossed to Divide. The F1 plants are being crossed to Divide and showed male fertility for self-pollination. Thus, we expected to get the BC1 and F2 population in the winter of 2019. At the same time we are transferring these mutation into South Dakota spring wheat Prevail. Impact. Transfer of these edit mutations to durum will lead to development of new germplasm for durum wheat breeding.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Li W. 2018. Genomics-facilitated germplasm innovation in wheat. Purdue Agronomy. Nov 5. West Lafayette, IN.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Hua L, Zhang Z, Gupta A, Yang B, Li W. 2019. CRISPR-based genome editing of grain size regulators for novel variation to increase wheat genetic yield potential. National Association of Plant Breeding (NAPB) Conference. Aug 8. Callaway Garden, GA.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Zhang Z, Hua L, Gupta A, Tricoli D, Edwards KJ, Yang B, Li W. 2019. Development of an Agrobacterium-delivered CRISPR/Cas9 system for wheat genome editing. Plant Biotechnol J. 17(8):1623-1635.
|
Progress 12/01/17 to 11/30/18
Outputs
Target Audience:1. Scientific community at large; 2. Plant biologists andwheat scientists; 3. Wheat growers. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Drs. Lei Hua and Zhengzhi Zhang continued their work on this project in the labs of Dr. Li and Yang at South Dakota State University (SDSU) and Iowa State University (ISU), respectively. Lei Hua, previously trained in rice biology and soybean physiology, is working to develop and refine the mutation detection protocol, identify the mutations, and conduct wheat transformation. Zhengzhi Zhang, previously trained in genome mapping, is working to establish the CRISPR/Cas9 system and construct GS-specific CRISPR/Cas9 constructs for Agrobacterium-mediated wheat transformation, particularly the double Cas9 vectors and multiplex sgRNA cassettes. Graduate student Ajay Gupta joined Li Lab in spring of 2018. He is working on the identification of mutations. Drs. Lei Hua and Zhengzhi Zhang and Mr. Ajay Gupta will continue to work on this project in the coming year. Zhengzhi Zhang will work on Objective 1 to construct new CRISPR vectors carrying two copies of Cas9 and test their editing efficiency. Lei Hua will work on Objective 1 for the transformation of the newly developed constructs into FDR wheat, on Objective 2 to screen the T0 and T1 transgenic population for beneficial mutation, and on Objective 4 to screen the backcrossing populations using edit-specific markers. Ajay Gupta will work on Objective 2 and Objective 3 to evaluate the phenotype effects of the mutations. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest??Results have been disseminated to the research community through journal publications, scientific conferences, and other meetings as described in the products section. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?? Objective 1. Develop an improved CRISPR/Cas9 system for editing the GS candidate genes 1. Check the potential off-target sites with our existing target site with Cas9 to address the reason why the Cas9 is not strong enough in some cases 2. Develop base editing constructs and test their efficiency. Objective 2. Identify mutations in the GS and GN candidate genes We will screen the T0 and T1 transgenic populations for beneficial mutations and transgenes as follows: 1. Continue to genotype T1 and T2 transgenic plants for edit mutations, particularly from the B-genome homoeolog, in TaGLW7 and TaGW2 mutations using our established procedure, (i.e., PCR-RE, PCR-Cas9 RNP assay, validation by Sanger sequencing). 2. Screen the T1 populations from the remaining T0 plants for TaDEP1, TaTGW6-3.1, TaTGW6-3.2, and TaTGW6-7.1. 3. Screen the T0 and T1 transgenic plants for new multiplex targeting constructs with two Cas9 transgenes for desired mutations. 4. Backcross the desired mutants of TaCKX2-1, TaGLW7, TaGW2 to wild type FDR for transgene null mutants. 5. Combine the mutations from homologous loci for triple mutations for GS and GN. We have established an efficient and accurate procedure for genotyping mutant alleles using the Cas9 RNP. We started to cross the plant carrying beneficial mutations of TaCKX2-1 with elite wheat cultivars, such as For Front and Prevail from South Dakota State University. We are in communication with the IWYP hub to transfer the beneficial mutant alleles into its elite lines. This will accelerate transferring the edit mutations into breeding populations. Objective 3. Characterize the effect of mutations on GS and GN candidate genes In the coming year, this part of the research will focus on the phenotypic characterization of TaCKX2-1, TaGLW7, and TaGW2 (Objective 3.1). The homozygous mutants will be measured along with wild type FDR for GS and GN, and statistical analyses will be used to examine the effect of the edit mutations on these traits. This research activity will help identify beneficial mutant alleles. We will also characterize the TaGLW7 mutations for their expression in spike and developing grain by quantitative RTPCR. Objective 4: Transfer beneficial mutations into elite durum wheat We will backcross the F1 hybrids of TaCKX2-1 mutants to Divide and select for the mutations and against the transgene and the D-genome chromosomes. We will cross and backcross the TaGLW7-A and TaGW2-A mutants and upcoming new mutants to Divide.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1: (80% accomplished) We generated 13 constructs in year 1, a majority of which have been transformed in wheat cultivar FDR. We also designed sgRNAs for 16 grain regulatory genes using a more rigorous algorithm to ensure that they only found a match in the target genes and include a restriction site close the cleavage site (3 bp upstream the PAM motif) for a faster and cost-effective mutant screening at a later stage. In Total, 30 sgRNAs were designed with two sgRNAs targeting one gene, except for GLW7 and GS3 for which only one sgRNA was able to be designed. These sgRNAs were used to develop four multiplex sgRNA cassettes, with each cassette containing eight sgRNAs targeting four genes. These four sgRNA cassettes have been mobilized into the Binary vector carrying the Cas9-coding gene and generated constructs pgWGS14, pgWGS15, pgWGS16, and pgWGS17. We have transformed the 13 constructs into Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain EH105 and submitted to UCDPTC for the transformation of FDR wheat. We have received 62 T0 transgenic plants. At the same time, we have established an in-house wheat transformation facility at South Dakota State University to conduct Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of FDR wheat. We have generated more than 45 T0 transgenic plants for pgWGS1 and pgWGS13. This will greatly help the project and reduce dependence on the service contract. Objective 2: (50% accomplished) We detected one mutation in TaCKX2-D1 by PCR and sequencing, which was due to a 1,160-bp deletion. No mutations were detected in TaCKX2-A1 and TaCKX2-B1. This could be due to low edit frequency in wheat. To test this hypothesis, we sequenced the PCR products by the HiSeq 2000 platform. A total of 1,101,752 raw reads were obtained from the deep sequencing, of which 486,890 reads met the quality standards. Both TaCKX2-A1 and TaCKX2-B1 showed a 5.2% mutation rate, while TaCKX2-D1 had a lower mutation frequency of 3.3%. Deletions occurred at much higher frequencies than insertions in all three homoeologous genes. Deletion frequencies were 4.0, 4.6, and 3.1% for TaCKX2-A1, TaCKX2-B1, and TaCKX2-D1, respectively. By contrast, insertion frequency at these loci were 1.2, 0.5, and 0.2%, respectively. There are also rare cases of complex editing (simultaneous deletion and insertion) in TaCKX2-B1 and TaCKX2-D1, but they all happened at less than 0.05%. The length of deletion ranged from 1 to 37 bp in TaCKX2-A1, 1 to 47 bp in TaCKX2-B1, and 1 to 72 bp in TaCKX2-D1. Interestingly, a 37-bp deletion from position 129 to position 165 occured at a high frequency. It is the most abundant mutant allele in TaCKX2-A1 and TaCKX2-B1, with 22.5 and 19.3% of the total mutations, respectively. This deletion happens at 10% in TaCKX2-D1, ranking the third most abundant mutation next to the 1-bp deletion at position 165 (16.7%) and 2-bp deletion at positions 154 and 155 (12.6%). In TaCKX2-A1 and TaCKX2-B1, the 1-bp and 2-bp deletions at 3 bp upstream of the PAM sites of two sgRNA rank the abundance just next to the 37-bp deletion. Overall, the deletion frequency at nucleotides close to TaU6.3 driven sgRNA2 PAM sites is higher than that at nucleotides close to sgRNA1 PAM. This suggests that TaU6.3 may function stronger in transcription of sgRNA or sgRNA2 in TaCKX2-1, providing better capability to direct mutations. These results showed that our CRISPR/Cas9 system did work in the T0 transgenic plants. We screened T1 progeny carrying the Cas9 transgene for targeted mutations by a 3-step protocol. First, gene-specific PCR products were separated by agarose gel electrophoresis to detect large deletions. Second, the PCR products were digested by restriction enzymes (RE), if an RE recognition site was located in the target sequence and close to the PAM motif. Otherwise, the PCR products were digested by T7E1. We recently developed a very effective protocol to use the Cas9/gRNA ribonucleoprotein (RNP) to screen mutants. With the in-house purified Cas9 protein and in vitro transcribed guide RNAs, we prepared Cas9/gRNA RNP for each specific target site and used the RNP to screen mutants by digesting the relevant PCR products. RNPs cleave the wild type derived PCR product into two fragments but do not cut the mutated allele derived PCR product due to mismatch of gRNA and mutant. Finally, we validated the mutations through Sanger sequencing. We screened 1,374 transgenic plants of 10 constructs and performed 4,052 PCR-RE, PCR-T7E1, or PCR-Cas9 RNP assays, and identified 64 mutations for four orthologous genes (TaCKX2-1, TaGLW7, TaGW2, and TaGW8) from 485 plants of T0, T1 and T2 generation with an estimated average edit rate of 13.2%. From 231 T2 plants from the #T1-6 family, we detected 48 new mutations by PCR-RE with an estimated edit rate of 20.8%. In this family, we detected two homozygous mutations in a single generation. Our results showed that deletions are the dominant type of edit mutations in wheat. In the T0 plants, deep sequencing indicated that over 99% of the mutations were due to deletions. Our genotyping data of the T1 and T2 plants showed that only four insertions were found among the 64 mutations detected, with the remaining 60 mutations being deletions. This greatly contrasts with what was found in the model grass rice, where insertion is the primary type of edit mutations. We also investigated the inheritance of induced mutations in a T2 generation. The segregation ratios fit the 1:2:1 expectation (P > 0.14370) for TaCKX2-A1, TaCKX2-B1, TaGW2-6A, and TaGW2-6D. In the T2 populations, segregations of mutant alleles from the CRISPR/Cas9 transgene was observed, and Cas9-free mutants for TaGLW7 and TaGW2 have been selected and are scheduled for release to breeders after seeds increase. As we have not yet transformed the new constructs for multiplex targeting, we focused on selection of homozygous mutations of individual homologous genes to combine them into double or triple mutations. We have crossed the TaCKX2-A1 mutants with TaCKX2-B1 and TaCKX-D1 mutants, and expect to obtain homozygous double and triple mutants in early spring of 2019. We also crossed mutants TaGW2-A with mutant TaGW2-D. Objective 3: (8% accomplished) While we are combining the mutations in the homologous copies of an orthologous gene or different orthologous loci, we evaluated the effect of mutation of the 1,160-bp deletion in TaCKX2-1D on grain number per spikelet and per spike, as well as spikelet density. Results showed that there was no significant difference in spike length, spikelet number/spike, or spikelet density between the mutant and wild type segregants from the same T2 population (P > 0.76805). Compared to the wild type, the mutation increased grain number/spike from 40 to 57 (P = 0.01856) and grain number/spikelet from 2.4 to 3.4 (P = 0.00331). This indicated that TaCKX2-1 negatively regulates the trait of grain number in wheat. This is consistent with study in rice, where reduction-of-function or loss-of-function mutations in OsCKX2 (Gn1) increased grain number per panicle. Objective 4: (5% accomplished) We will transfer the GS/GN mutants identified in FDR with the elite durum cultivar Divide and backcross the hybrids to Divide. A barrier to gene introgression between hexaploid and tetraploid wheat is hybrid necrosis due to the interaction between the Ne1 gene on chromosome arm 5BL of tetraploid wheat and the Ne2 gene on 2BS of hexaploid wheat. We crossed FDR and Divide, and their F1 hybrids grew well and did not show the necrosis phenotype, indicating that the GS/GN mutations developed in FDR can be transferred into durum. We have crossed the mutants for TaCKX2-A1 and TaCKX2-B1 with Divide, and the F1 will be genotyped for the mutant alleles and CRISPR/Cas9 transgene and backcrossed to Divide in fall of 2018.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Hua L, Zhang Z, Yang B, Li W. 2018. CRISPR-based genome editing of grain size regulators in wheat. ASPB MidWest Conference. 3/3/2018 to 3/4/2018. Ames, Iowa. P29
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Submitted
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Zhang Z, Hua L, Gupta A, Tricoli D, Edwards KJ, Yang B, Li W. 2018. Development of an Agrobacterium-delivered CRISPR/Cas9 system in wheat. Submitted to Plant Biotechnology Journal
|
Progress 12/01/16 to 11/30/17
Outputs
Target Audience:1) Geneticists, genome biologists and scientific community at large. 2) Wheat geneticists and breeders. 3) Wheat growers. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Drs. Lei Hua and Zhengzhi Zhang, originally worked on other projects of Li Lab and Yang Lab in South Dakota State University (SDSU) and Iowa State University (ISU), respectively. They were reassigned to work on this project, but they were supported by other funds as in-kind contribution during the earlier stage of the project. Lei Hua, previously trained in rice biology and soybean physiology, is working on designing and testing genome-specific primers and sequencing GS genes from FDR. Zhengzhi Zhang, previously trained in genome mapping, is working on establishing CRISPR/Cas9 system and constructing GS-specific CRISPR/Cas9 constructs for Agrobacterium-mediated wheat transformation. More recently, a third postdoc, Dr. Dangping Luo, joined this project in Yang Lab for characterizing transgenic plant and developing the protocol for mutation detection. At SDSU, MS student Samantha Shaw and undergraduate student Melissa Kerr were trained by the project in the past year using other funds as in-kind contributions. Both worked on PCR amplification of TGW6 genes from tetraploid landraces, sequencing the PCR products and analysis of the sequences for beneficial mutant alleles. These side projects identified several nonsense mutations in this negative GS regulator. Drs. Lei Hua and Zhengzhi Zhang will continue to work on this project in the coming year. Zhengzhi Zhang will work on Objective 1 to construct new CRISPR vectors carrying two copies of Cas9 and test their editing efficiency. Lei Hua will work on Objective 2 to screen the T0 and T1 transgenic population for beneficial mutation and on Objective 4 to screen the backcrossing populations using edit-specific markers. We will recruit a Ph.D. student at SDSU to work on Objective 3 to evaluate phenotype effect of the mutations. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?A. Journal Publications & Conference presentations The results have been disseminated through a journal publication and a conference presentation. B. Scientific Resources Generated We have deposited sequences of 55 GS genes or gene fragments from FDR in the GenBank and posted sequences of these 55 GS genes and the 56 pairs of gene-specific primers on the project webpage (https://wheatgenomics-sdsu.github.io/). In addition to designing guide RNA genes and detecting edit mutations, these primers also can be used for mining GS gene alleles in landraces and wild relatives of wheat. C. Community Resources Generated Dr. Bing Yang gave three lectures (1. CRISPR/Cas9 technologies for plants; 2. Hands-on experience: CRISPR guide RNA design; and 3. Hands-on experience: CRISPR/Cas9 construction) this summer in 2017 Workshop on Plant Genome Editing, organized by the Research Promotion Center of Life Sciences, Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan, July 10, 2017. Approximately 100 scientists and students participated in the workshop. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Objective 1. Develop an improved CRISPR/Cas9 system for editing GS candidate genes We expect to accomplish the development of the CRISPR constructs in the coming year as proposed (Project Timetable). According to recent publications, CRISPR editing rate in wheat is less than 5%. Considering that the low edit mutation rate is a bottleneck to the application of CRISPR genome editing to wheat improvement, we will prioritize our research under this Objective in following aspects to maximize the success of the project. Increase abundance of edit-enabling Cas9/sgRNA ribonucleoprotein complex by doubling expression levels of the Cas9w and sgRNA genes. We hypothesize that the low edit rate in wheat is associated with its large genome size, and increasing content of Cas9 enzyme and sgRNA in the nucleus may be a solution. As we already developed two sgRNA to target each GS gene, we will deploy two copies of Cas9w in the binary vector pCL-Cas9w, one under ZmUbi promoter from maize and another under OsUbi promoter from rice. Identify the most active sgRNA genes for stable wheat transformation by using protoplast system and deep sequencing. Hypothesizing that different sgRNAs target different regions of the gene of interest with different efficiencies, we will design several sgRNA genes to target a GS gene. A GFP reporter will also be included in the construct, which will be transformed into wheat protoplast. The cells expressing GFP will be sorted and used for DNA isolation. Gene-specific PCR products, including the sgRNA targets, will be sequenced by an Illumina DNA analyzer, the reads will be mapped to the target region, and edit rate will be estimated. The sgRNA genes showing the highest edit rate will be used to construct the single and complex targeting CRISPR vectors for Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Increase number of T0 transgenic plants. This is another approach to ensure production of mutations for each construct. Based on the close collaboration with UCDPTF, we will regenerate T0 transgenic plants from all transformed calluses. Understand the effect of genome complexity (genome size and ploidy) on CRISPR mutagenesis efficiency. We will test a set of gene loci in wheat species of different ploidy levels (diploid, tetraploid and hexaploid) using protoplast assay and deep sequencing. This will provide insights into how the genome size and ploidy affect the CRISPR efficiency and lay a foundation for developing strategies to improve wheat genome editing efficiency. Objective 2. Identify mutations in the GS candidate genes We will screen the T0 and T1 transgenic populations for beneficial mutations and transgenes as follows: Genotype T0 and T1 transgenic plants for mutations of target genes through PCR amplification of relevant regions and Sanger sequencing of PCR-amplicons. Identify mutant T1 progeny plants containing desired mutations but no CRISPR constructs using a PCR approach. We will develop STARP or KASP markers for the mutant alleles. We will cross the plant carrying beneficial mutations with elite wheat cultivars from South Dakota State University and IWYP hub. This will accelerate transferring the edit mutations into breeding populations. We will also intercross the transgenic plants carrying the same transgenes but derived from different transformation events even if they do not carry edit mutations. From the progenies of these crosses, we expect to select plants carrying four doses of transgenes because the transgenes are most probably located on different chromosomes or chromosome arms, and stacking of transgenes is expected to increase editing rate. Objective 3. Characterize the effect of mutations on GS and GN In the coming year, this part of the research will focus on phenotypic characterization of GS and GN mutants (Objective 3.1). The homozygous mutants will be measured along with wild type FDR for GS and GN, and statistic tests will be used to examine the effect of the edit mutations on these traits. This research activity will help identify beneficial mutant alleles. Objective 4: Transfer beneficial mutations into elite durum wheat We will cross the GS/GN mutants identified in FDR with the elite durum cultivar Divide and backcross the hybrids to Divide. The backcrossing progenies will be screened for the GS/GN mutations. A barrier to gene introgression between hexaploid and tetraploid wheat is hybrid necrosis due to the interaction between the Ne1 gene on chromosome arm 5BL of tetraploid wheat and the Ne2 gene on 2BS of hexaploid wheat. We have crossed FDR and Divide. Their F1 hybrids are growing in a greenhouse and currently at the 3-leaf stage, and have not shown necrosis phenotype, suggesting a good possibility that the GS/GN mutations developed in FDR can be transferred into durum.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1: Develop an improved CRISPR/Cas system for editing the GS candidate genes (20%) Objective 1.1. Develop an improved CRISPR/Cas9 system for wheat genome editing To develop an improved CRISPR/Cas9 system seamlessly compatible with the high-efficiency wheat transformation procedure, we inserted Gateway recombination sites attR1 and attR2 and a wheat codon-optimized Cas9 gene Cas9w in the T-DNA region in the wheat transformation vector pLC41. This vector was provided by the University of California Davis Plant Transformation Facility (UCDPTC). Through this progress, we generated a Cas9 destination expression vector pLC-Cas9w. In this binary vector, the Gateway recombination sites are used to accept a single guide RNA (sgRNA) expression cassette, and theCas9w gene is driven by ZmUbi promoter for over-expression. At the same time, we have built two platforms to construct guide RNA genes: one expressing two guide RNAs to target single genes and another expressing up to eight guide RNAs to target multiplex genes for mutagenesis. The sgRNA cassette was first constructed in a guide RNA vector and flanked by Gateway recombination sites attL1 and attL2 and can be readily mobilized into pCL-Cas9w by recombination, resulting in a construct expressing both Cas9w and guide RNA genes for wheat transformation. This CRISPR system has been tested in a wheat mesophyll protoplast system using a reporter gene targeting system, in which a GFP mutant containing a 1-bp insertion at its 5' region (GFP+1), which causes a frame shift and loss of the GFP function, is driven by 35S promoter, and a guide RNA gene targets the mutation site for recovering the GFP function. Detection of GFP signal in wheat protoplast indicated that this CRISPR system can be used for wheat gene editing. Objective 1.2. Construct CRISPR/Cas9 plasmids targeting the grains size candidate genes We identified 45 grain size (GS) candidate loci in the wheat genome based on similarity of protein sequences and expression patterns to the GS genes in the model plants. In silico mapping of these GS loci in the diploid wheat and barley genomes showed that (1) several gene families have been amplified in the wheat lineage, (2) a significant number of the GS genes are located in the proximal regions surrounding the centromeres, and (3) more than half of candidate genes are negative regulators, or their expression negatively related by microRNAs. Identification and genome mapping of the wheat GS gene homologs will not only facilitate candidate gene analysisbut also open the door to improving wheat yield using reverse genetics approaches by mining desired alleles in landraces and wild ancestors and to developing novel germplasm by TILLING and genome editing technologies. This result was recently published in journal Theoretical and Applied Genetics. From these 45 candidate genes, we selected 16 negative GS genes and four microRNA-regulated positive GS genes as genome editing targets. Common wheat is a hexaploid species containing A, B and D genomes, and homoeologous genes from these genomes show ~97% similarity. Therefore, development of genome-specific PCR primers is a key to identify CRISPR mutations in individual homoeologous genes in polyploid wheat. We have designed 153 pairs of PCR primers, of which 56 generated single bands for 20 genes in cultivar Chinese Spring (CS) and 55 pairs of primers worked in cultivar Fielder (FDR) cultivars.Because guide RNAs are usually designed to target the 5' part of a gene for best knockout effect, these primers were designed intentionally to amplify the 5' portion of the negative GS genes or the microRNA recognition sites of the four microRNA-regulated positive GS genes. Variation in genic sequences exists among wheat cultivars, but 100% sequence homology is required for CRISPR targeting. The reference sequences of the wheat genome were obtained from cultivar CS, but the CRISPR/Cas9 constructs will be transformed in cultivar FDR. To design guide RNAs for editing GS genes, we sequenced the grain regulatory genes from FDR. Sequencing of 55 PCR products generated ~48 kb sequences and identified 57 SNPs and eight indels, of which 37 SNPs found in exons, showing 99.86% identity as compared to CS. All the FDR sequences for the 55 fragments of 20 orthologous GS loci have been forwarded from Li Lab to Yang Lab for designing guide RNAs. We have deposited the FDR gene sequences in GenBank and posted the sequences of the GS genes from FDR and homoeolog-specific primers on the project webpage. Using the CRISPR Genome Analysis Tool (CGAT) program, we designed 40 guide RNA genes. For each GS gene, two guide RNA genes were designed to target the exonic sequences conserved (identical) among its A-, B- and D-genome homoeologs. For single targeting of a GS gene, the two gene-specific sgRNA genes under wheat U6.1 promoter are synthesized; for multiplex targeting of up to four GS genes, a cassette expressing up to eight guide RNAs is constructed based on the tRNA-sgRNA architecture. The either sgRNA cassette was cloned into a guide RNA vector, flanked by attL1 and attL2, and mobilized into the binary vector pCL-Cas9w for Agrobacterium-mediated wheat transformation. We have generated 13 constructs, and construction of another three single-gene constructs and 6 multiple-gene constructs is under way. 1.3. Transform CRISPR constructs into wheat by Agrobacterium-mediation We have transformed the 13 constructs into Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain EH105 and submitted to UCDPTC for transformationinto FDR wheat. We recently received 27 T0 transgenic plants for the five constructs of the first two submissions. Currently, we have developed close collaboration with David Tricoli, the UCDPTF manager, in which the UCDPTF will coauthor the publication from this project. This will be critical for reducing the experimental cycle time, maximizing mutation rate by modifying experimental protocol and generating more transgenic plants without cost increase. Objective 2: Identify mutations in the GS and GN candidate genes (1%) We are currently characterizing the T0 transgenic plants for thepresence of transgenes (Cas9 and sgRNAs) and expression of both Cas9 and gRNA genes, as well as the presence and nature of expected mutations at the target sites. Objective 3: Characterize the effect of mutations on GS and GN (0%) No research activity wasplannedunder this objective in this period of the project Objective 4: Transfer beneficial mutations into elite durum wheat (0%) No research activity wasplanned underthis objective in this period of the project
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Li W, Yang B. 2017. Translational genomics of grain size regulation in wheat. Theoretical Applied Genetics. 130:17651771.
|
|