Genetic resources offer efficient tools for rice functional genomics research
Journal
Plant Cell and Environment
Journal Volume
39
Journal Issue
5
Start Page
998
End Page
1013
ISSN
0140-7791
Date Issued
2016-05
Date
2016-05
Author(s)
Shuen-Fang Lo
Ming-Jen Fan
Yue-Ie Hsing
Liang-Jwu Che
Ien-Chie Wen
Yi-Lun Liu
Ku-Ting Chen
Mirng-Jier Jiang
Ming-Kuang Lin
Meng-Yen Rao
Lin-Chih Yu
Tuan-Hua David Ho
Su-May Yu
Abstract
Rice is an important crop and major model plant for monocot functional genomics studies. With the establishment of various genetic resources for rice genomics, the next challenge is to systematically assign functions to predicted genes in the rice genome. Compared with the robustness of genome sequencing and bioinformatics techniques, progress in understanding the function of rice genes has lagged, hampering the utilization of rice genes for cereal crop improvement. The use of transfer DNA (T-DNA) insertional mutagenesis offers the advantage of uniform distribution throughout the rice genome, but preferentially in gene-rich regions, resulting in direct gene knockout or activation of genes within 20-30kb up- and downstream of the T-DNA insertion site and high gene tagging efficiency. Here, we summarize the recent progress in functional genomics using the T-DNA-tagged rice mutant population. We also discuss important features of T-DNA activation- and knockout-tagging and promoter-trapping of the rice genome in relation to mutant and candidate gene characterizations and how to more efficiently utilize rice mutant populations and datasets for high-throughput functional genomics and phenomics studies by forward and reverse genetics approaches. These studies may facilitate the translation of rice functional genomics research to improvements of rice and other cereal crops.
Subjects
functional genomics
gene activation
gene knockout
promoter trapping
rice
T-DNA
Publisher
John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Type
review