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Acta Agronomica Sinica ›› 2025, Vol. 51 ›› Issue (6): 1514-1525.doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1006.2025.41076

• CROP GENETICS & BREEDING · GERMPLASM RESOURCES · MOLECULAR GENETICS • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Functional dissection of sucrose synthase gene TaSUS2 regulating grain starch synthesis and quality in wheat

WU Mei-Juan1,2,ZHANG Yin-Hui2,LI Yuan-Hao2,LIU Hai-Xia2,HUANG Yi-Lin2,LI Tian2,LIU Hong-Xia2,ZHANG Xue-Yong2,HAO Chen-Yang1,2,*,GUO Jie1,*,HOU Jian2,*   

  1. 1 College of Agronomy, Shanxi Agricultural University / Key Laboratory of Sustainable Dryland Agriculture (Co-construction by Ministry and Province), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Jinzhong 030801, Shanxi, China; 2 State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding / National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement / Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
  • Received:2024-11-10 Revised:2025-03-26 Accepted:2025-03-26 Online:2025-06-12 Published:2025-03-31
  • Supported by:
    This study was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2023YFD1200404).

Abstract:

Wheat is one of the world’s most important cereal crops, and improving yield remains a key goal in wheat breeding. Grain weight is a major determinant of yield, and starch is the primary component of wheat grains. To investigate the function of TaSUS2, a key enzyme gene in the starch synthesis pathway, we amplified its full-length cDNA sequence from the wheat genome and performed gene editing in the cultivar Kenong 199 (KN199). This resulted in the generation of two homozygous diploid mutants (KO-1 and KO-2) and one homozygous triploid mutant (KO-3). Phenotypic analysis of the transgenic lines revealed that TaSUS2 mutant grains exhibited pronounced wrinkling and a significant reduction in grain weight compared to the wild type. Additionally, the total starch content, amylose content, absolute starch content, and the diameter of A-type starch granules in the endosperm were significantly reduced in TaSUS2 mutant grains. These findings confirm that TaSUS2 plays a crucial role in starch synthesis and grain weight determination. Transcriptome analysis indicated that multiple enzyme-encoding genes involved in starch biosynthesis were upregulated in TaSUS2-KO-3 grains at 21 days post-anthesis. Furthermore, genotyping of a natural population of 145 wheat accessions using the TaSUS2-2A-CAPS marker revealed that TaSUS2 was significantly associated with starch content, wet gluten content, protein content, and sedimentation value. Notably, the TaSUS2-2A-Hap-G haplotype was identified as a favorable allele for these quality traits. Overall, this study provides valuable insights into the biological function of TaSUS2 and offers novel genetic resources for molecular breeding aimed at improving wheat yield and quality.

Key words: wheat, TaSUS2, grain weight, starch content, quality

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