Scientists from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and partners used CRISPR to enhance the starch properties of maize.
Maize is an essential crop that is consumed by people around the world. The starch qualities of maize are influenced by amylose content (AC), which is positively correlated with resistant starch content (RSC). Resistant starch improves health, which causes maize with high amylose content to have a higher value.
Researchers used CRISPR-Cas9 to boost AC and RSC content in maize. The team produced mutants of starch branching enzyme I (SBEI) and starch branching enzyme IIb (SBEIIb) and analyzed the apparent amylose content (AAC) and RSC of the mutated plants.
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