Sailila E. Abdula

Molecular Aspect of Good Eating Quality Formation in Japonica Rice

The composition of amylopectin is the determinant of rice eating quality under certain threshold of protein content and the ratio of amylose and amylopectin. In molecular biology level, the fine structure of amylopectin is determined by relative activities of starch branching enzyme (SBE), granule-bound starch synthase (GBSS), and soluble starch synthase (SSS) in rice grain under the same ADP-Glucose level. But the underlying mechanism of eating quality in molecular biology level remains unclear. This paper reports the differences on major parameters such as SNP and insertion-deletion sites, RNA expressions, and enzyme activities associated with eating quality of japonica varieties. Eight japonica rice varieties with significant differences in various eating quality parameters such as palatability and protein content were used in this experiment. Association analysis between nucleotide polymorphism and eating quality showed that S12 and S13 loci in SBE1, S55 in SSS1, S58 in SSS2A were significantly associated with apparent amylose content, alkali digestion value, setback viscosity, consistency viscosity, pasting temperature, which explained most of the variation in apparent amylose content, setback viscosity, and consistency viscosity; and explained almost all variations in alkali digestion value and pasting temperature. Thirty-five SNPs and insertion-deletions from SBE1, SBE3, GBSS1, SSS1, and SSS2A differentiated high or intermediate palatability rice varieties from low palatability rice varieties. Correlation analysis between enzyme activities and eating quality properties revealed that SBE25 and SSS15/W15 were positively correlated with palatability, whereas GBSS10 and GBSS15 were negatively correlated. Gene expressions showed that SBE1 and SBE3 expressions in high palatability varieties tended to be higher than middle and low palatability varieties. Collectively, SBE1, SBE3, SSS1, and SSS2A, especially SBE1 and SBE3 could improve eating quality, but GBSS1 decreased eating quality. The results indicated the possibility of developing high palatability cultivars through modification of key genes related to japonica rice eating quality formation in starch biosynthesis.

Development and identification of transgenic rice lines with abiotic stress tolerance by using a full-length overexpressor gene hunting system.

The latest report on the draft genome of Brassica rapa sequence has been published. To elucidate the functions of these genes and to efficiently search for agriculturally useful genes, a Full-length cDNA Over-eXpressor (FOX) gene hunting system was used. The FOX library from Chinese cabbage was introduced into rice via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Approximately 1,150 FOX-rice lines were generated. Genomic PCR analysis indicated that the average length of FL-cDNAs introduced into individual lines was 900~1,200 bp. Basic Local Alignment System Tool (BLAST) analysis of the FL-cDNA genes revealed that 35.5% have unknown function. Most of the randomly selected transgenic rice lines showed overexpression (92%) of these genes relative to the wild-type Gopum. Moreover, 94% of the 850 transgenic rice lines were moderately tolerant (slightly yellow) to cold and 9 lines were tolerant (seedlings were light green). Morphological evaluation of the transgenic rice lines showed minimal phenotypic alteration (12%). Approximately 25.1% and 22% of the plants were significantly ahead in the days to heading and had elevated chlorophyll content, respectively. Other agronomic traits such as filled grains, number of tiller, panicle length, and culm and plant height were relatively less variable among the transgenic lines. These results provide a resource for defining genes that are associated with tolerance in transgenic rice lines.

Overexpression of starch branching enzyme 1 gene improves eating quality in japonica rice

Abstract Eating quality of rice attracts more and more attention from rice-eating consumers in the recent years. Thus, improvement of eating quality of cooked rice has become one of the most important breeding goals in japonica rice. Here, the generation of transgenic japonica rice with improved eating quality and grain yield are reported. Overexpression of OsSbe1 gene encoding rice starch branching enzyme 1 was driven by 35S promoter. Eleven independent homozygous T 3 transgenic lines were characterized and had shown higher palatability (71.2 ~ 72.6) than wild type Gopum (70.4). Moreover, transgenic rice lines showed an increase in 1000-grain weight and number of spikelets per panicle compared with the wild type. The yield of milled rice was 562.8 ~ 596.7 kg/10a in eight T 3 lines, but 542.1 kg/10a in wild type. Gene expression analyses in mRNA transcription and enzyme activity levels suggest that improved eating quality is due to the up-regulation of OsSbe1 gene. Keywords Japonica rice, Sbe1, Eating quality, Transgenic, Overexpression

BrUGE1 transgenic rice showed improved growth performance with enhanced drought tolerance

UDP-glucose 4-epimerase (UGE) catalyzes the reversible conversion of UDP-glucose to UDP-galactose. To understand the biological function of UGE from Brassica rapa, the gene BrUGE1 was cloned and introduced into the genome of wild type rice ‘Gopum’ using the Agrobacterium-mediated transformation method. Four lines which carried a single copy gene were selected and forwarded to T3 generation. Agronomic traits evaluation of the transgenic T3 lines (CB01, CB03, and CB06) under optimal field conditions revealed enriched biomass production particularly in panicle length, number of productive tillers, number of spikelets per panicle, and filled spikelets. These remarkably improved agronomic traits were ascribed to a higher photosynthetic rate complemented with higher CO2 assimilation. Transcripts of BrUGE1 in transgenic lines continuously accumulated at higher levels after the 20% PEG6000 treatment, implying its probable role in drought stress regulation. This was paralleled by rapid accumulation of soluble sugars which act as osmoprotectants, leading to delayed leaf rolling and drying. Our findings suggest the potential of BrUGE1 in improving rice growth performance under optimal and water deficit conditions.

Isolation and characterization of Bradh1 gene encoding alcohol dehydrogenase from Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa)

Alcohol dehydrogenase (E.C.1.1.1.1) is an enzyme present in higher plants involved in the anaerobic fermentation pathway that catalyzes the reduction of pyruvate to ethanol, resulting in continuous regeneration. It also plays an important role in many plant developments including tolerance to anoxia condition. Here, a cDNA clone encoding alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) was isolated from Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa) seedlings. The gene named Bradh1 had a total length of 1,326 bp that contains a single open reading frame of 1,140 bp. The predicted protein consists of 379 amino acid residues with a calculated molecular mass of 41.17 kDa. Expression pattern analysis revealed a tissue-specific expressing gene in different tissues and strongly expressed in the shoot, roots and seeds of Chinese cabbage. Agrobacterium transformation of full-length cDNA Bradh1 into rice Gopumbyeo showed high efficiency. Furthermore, induction of ADH in transgenic rice enhanced tolerance to anaerobiosis stresses and elevated mRNA transcripts. The overexpression of Bradh1 in rice increases germination under anaerobiosis stresses, implying the possibility of developing new varieties suited for direct seeding or flood-prone rice field.