Experts from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences were able to design and construct a designer transcription activator-like effector (TALE) to target the OsNOG1 gene in rice. The results showed an increase in grain number of rice plants as well as an increase in grain yield per plant demonstrating its effectiveness in enhancing rice yield.

The designed TALE was designated as dTALE-NOG1 and specifically targets the promoter of the OsNOG1 gene. OsNOG1 gene encodes a protein in rice that enhances the activity of panicle meristem and increases the number of spikelets by decreasing the activity of jasmonic acid content in rice. The researchers transferred the dTALE-NOG1 into non-pathogenic Xanthomonas bacteria to produce a genetically engineered bacteria strain designated as PH-dtNOG1. A spray suspension of PH-dtNOG1 was developed and applied to rice plants during the tillering stage.

Results exhibited that the level of OsNOG1 was highly enhanced. The grain number of rice plants increased by more than 11.40% and the grain yield per plant increased by more than 11.08%. The study supports research initiatives to utilize new strategies for enhancing agronomical traits by reprogramming gene expression in a crop genome.

More details of the study can be found in Frontiers in Plant Science.