Plant mitochondrial DNA is edited for the first time

nuclear DNA was first edited in the early 1970s, steth DNA was first edited in 1988, and animal mitochondrial DNA was edited in 2008. However, plant mitochondrial DNA has not been successfully edited before. Until recently, Japanese researchers had successfully edited plant mitochondrial DNA for the first time, which could lead to a safer food supply.
when we see rice plants that are 'more polite', we know we've succeeded, " joked Shin-ichi Arimura, a molecular plant geneticist and assistant professor at the University of Tokyo who led the study. Because it bowed deeply, the rice with more spikes would bend like this. The
hope to use the technology to address the current lack of mitochondrial genetic diversity in crops, a potentially damaging weakness in the food supply. They also used the technology to create four new varieties of rice and three new varieties of rape. The results were published in Nature - Newsletter.
does it mean to have a plant mitochondrial genome?
1970, a fungus infected corn on a Texas farm in the United States, and then aggravated by a gene in the corn mitochondrial. All corn on the farm has the same genes, so none of them are resistant to the infection. That year, 15 percent of all corn in the United States was harvested. Since then, the United States has not grown corn with this particular mitochondrial gene.
we are still at great risk because there are too few plant mitochondrial genomes available in the world, " he said. I want to use our technology to manipulate plant mitochondrial DNA to increase crop diversity. Arimura said.
now, most farmers don't leave their harvests. The hybrid crops supplied by agricultural companies are the first offspring of two genetically different parent subseeds, often stronger and more productive. One of the parents couldn't make pollen. The researchers called common types of plant male infertility (CMS).
CMS is a rare but naturally occurring phenomenon caused mainly by mitochondrials. Beets, carrots, corn, rye, sorghum, etc. can all be commercialized using CMS's parent subseeds.
produce most of the energy through photoolytes in the leafy greens. However, according to Arimura, "the role of the serenity is overestimated". Plants get energy through the same "cell power stations" as animal cells, or mitochondrials. In his view, "there is no life without plant mitochondrials".
" plant mitochondrial genome is relatively large, the structure is much more complex, genes are sometimes repeated, gene expression mechanism is not clear, some mitochondrials have no genome at all. In previous studies, we have observed them fused with other mitochondrials to exchange protein products and then separate them again. Arimura said.
to find a way to manipulate the mitochondrial genomes of complex plants, Arimura worked with scientists familiar with rice and rape CMS systems. Previous studies have shown that CMS is caused by a single, evolutionaryly unrelated mitochondrial gene in rice and rape.
team used a technique called mitotallens to locate the mitochondrial genome using a single protein, cut the DNA into the desired gene and remove it. "While removing most genes can cause problems, removing CMS genes solves plant problems," says Arimura. Without the CMS gene, plants reproduce again. In
they have created four new varieties of rice and three new varieties of rape, demonstrating that mitotallens can even successfully manipulate complex plant mitochondrial genomes.
important first step in the study of plant mitochondria, " says Arimura, a researcher at the University of Massachus states. "Researchers will study in more detail the mitochondrial genes responsible for plant male infertility and identify potential mutations that may increase much-needed diversity. (
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