Bioengineering for robust tolerance against cold and drought stresses via co-overexpressing three Cu-miRNAs in major food crops
Zheyuan Hong,
Hang Xu,
Yuxin Shen,
Chuanjia Liu,
Fu Guo,
Sajid Muhammad,
Yaqi Zhang,
Hongbin Niu,
Shengping Li,
Weijun Zhou,
Liang Wu
Affiliations
Zheyuan Hong
Hainan Yazhou Bay Seed Laboratory, Hainan Institute, Zhejiang University, Sanya, Hainan 572000, China; National Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Germplasm Resources, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China
Hang Xu
School of Breeding and Multiplication (Sanya Institute of Breeding and Multiplication), Hainan University, Sanya 572025, China
Yuxin Shen
National Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Germplasm Resources, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China
Chuanjia Liu
Hainan Yazhou Bay Seed Laboratory, Hainan Institute, Zhejiang University, Sanya, Hainan 572000, China; National Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Germplasm Resources, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China
Fu Guo
Hainan Yazhou Bay Seed Laboratory, Hainan Institute, Zhejiang University, Sanya, Hainan 572000, China
Sajid Muhammad
National Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Germplasm Resources, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China
Yaqi Zhang
Hainan Yazhou Bay Seed Laboratory, Hainan Institute, Zhejiang University, Sanya, Hainan 572000, China; National Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Germplasm Resources, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China
Hongbin Niu
State Key Laboratory of Wheat and Maize Crop Science, Collaborative Innovation Center of Henan Grain Crops, Center for Crop Genome Engineering, College of Agronomy, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China
Shengping Li
State Key Laboratory of Ecological Control of Fujian-Taiwan Crop Pests, Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education for Genetics, Breeding and Multiple Utilization of Crops, Plant Immunity Center, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China
Weijun Zhou
National Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Germplasm Resources, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China
Liang Wu
Hainan Yazhou Bay Seed Laboratory, Hainan Institute, Zhejiang University, Sanya, Hainan 572000, China; National Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Germplasm Resources, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China; Corresponding author
Summary: Environmental stresses threaten global food security by reducing major crop productivity. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), a class of small non-coding RNAs, function as master regulators of gene expression in plants. In this study, we co-overexpressed three copper-miRNAs (miR397, miR408, and miR528) in three major food crops (referred to as 3miR-OE), which simultaneously silenced several target laccase genes, resulting in reduced lignin contents but increased flavonoid metabolites. Importantly, we observed that, compared to wild-type and single miRNA overexpression lines, the 3miR-OE transgenic Japonica and Indica rice exhibited significantly enhanced tolerance against cold and drought stresses throughout the growth period. In addition, 3miR-OE transgenic maize and wheat also exhibited robust resistance to cold and water-deficit conditions, suggesting that co-overexpressing three Cu-miRNAs is a powerful tool for improving resilience to abiotic stresses across diverse crops. Altogether, we have developed a bioengineering strategy to maintain crop growth and yield under unfavorable environmental conditions.
