Gene Editing Improves Rice Resistance to Yellow Mottle Virus

Researchers from the Plant Health Institute of Montpellier (PHIM) in France and Unidad de Fitopatología y Modelización Agrícola (UFyMA) in Argentina have identified a promising gene editing strategy to protect rice from rice yellow mottle virus (RYMV), one of the most destructive viral diseases affecting rice production in Africa. The researchers recommend this approach for developing durable virus-resistant rice varieties.

The team used CRISPR-Cas9 to generate knockout (KO) mutations in eIFiso4G1 and insertion-deletion (indel) variants. Complete gene KO provided high resistance to RYMV, and no resistance-breaking virus strains emerged during the study. However, these plants showed slight reductions in terms of growth. In contrast, several rice lines carrying targeted indel mutations achieved similarly high resistance without affecting plant development.

The researchers concluded that precise editing of eIFiso4G1 offers the best balance between disease resistance and crop performance. They recommend using targeted CRISPR-induced indel mutations to develop durable RYMV-resistant rice varieties, providing an alternative to naturally occurring resistance genes that are difficult to introduce into widely cultivated rice.

For more information, read the study from Peer Community Journal.