Abstract
Amylose content is one of the important factors affecting rice cooking and eating quality, and is controlled by Waxy ( Wx) gene encoding a granule-bound starch synthase. High amylose level is usually associated with poor cooking and eating quality. Several homozygous transgenic lines with soft or waxy grain property were selected from the offspring of selectable marker-free (SMF) transformants containing the antisense Wx gene. The results from Northern blotting analysis indicated that the levels of both Wx mature mRNA and pre-mRNA were reduced in the endosperm of different transgenic lines. The Wx protein content in mature seeds of the transgenic lines also decreased. The amylose contents of 2 transgenic lines were reduced to that of the soft rice (about 10%), and one of them was even reduced to the level of waxy rice (lower than 2%). The gel consistency of these transgenic lines was softer than that of the wild type. The variance of gelatinization temperature between the transgenic lines and the wild type was significant. Most of the main agronomic traits of these transgenic lines were similar to those of the wild type. Therefore, the 3 SMF transgenic homozygous lines with improved quality were successfully developed.
Published Version
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