No abstract

Adenine base editor (ABE) creates A to G transitions within its editing window. In the present study, an ABE was used to target a stretch of six amino acid residues, VLFPNL in translation initiation factor four gamma (eIF4G) gene of rice. Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of rice cultivar ASD16 resulted in T0 events with high mutation efficiency of 89.29 %. Substitution mutations of A > G occurred within the editing window of four to eight bases at A7 > G7 (74.67 %) and A4 > G4 (2.46 %). Non-canonical substitutions of G > C/A was also observed at G15 > C15 (9.29 %) and G8 > A8 (1.15 %). A total of 15 missense base substitution events affecting the target residue was identified. Taken together, the present study showed that ABEs create unexpected base substitutions besides efficient canonical editing of A > G in the rice genome

Two single nucleotide polymorphic mutations and deletion affecting Y1059V1060V1061 amino acid residues in a host translation initiation factor four gamma (eIF4G) gene in rice are reported to confer resistance to rice tungrospherical virus in resistant genotypes. A CRISPR-based adenine base editing vector was used to target these residues in a susceptible indica cultivar, ASD16.Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of ASD16 generated 16 missense mutants and two deletion mutants. Substitution mutations occurred at A5> G5 and A4> G4, where 5.5 % and 3.37 % of adenosines got converted to guanosines, respectively. The mutantsgenerated had missense mutations affecting the YVV residues and the residues immediately adjacent to YVV.Thus,these novel mutationsare promising candidates in imparting resistance against rice tungro disease.