Abstract
Rice straw is one of the largest biomasses in the world that can potentially be exploited for biofuel. Nevertheless, the association of lignin with cellulose and hemicellulose has hindered the efficient utilization of rice straw for cellulosic biofuel. The objective of this study was to down-regulate key genes involved in lignin biosynthesis pathway, such as hydroxycinnamoyl CoA: shikimate hydroxycinnamoyl transferase (HCT), cinnamoyl CoA reductase (CCR), and cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD), through “terminator-less” constructs to reduce lignin in transgenic rice. Real-time qPCR analyses of the selected T1 transgenic rice plants indicated 36–86% transcript reduction in HCT lines, 75–94% in CCR lines, and 10–85% in CAD lines. Of the nine down-regulated lines (three lines from each genes) subjected to lignin analysis, seven showed significant reduction in total lignin content (HCT-4, HCT-7, CAD-1, CAD-7, CCR-3, CCR-7, and CCR-12) with lignin reduction ranging from 4.6 to 10.8%. The results from this study indicated that truncated gene fragments lacking transcription termination sequence can be used for down-regulation of lignin genes in rice, and the rice straw from these transgenic lines could be useful as feedstock for cellulosic biofuel.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.