AUTHOR=Sun Jing , Bie Xiao Min , Chu Xiao Li , Wang Ning , Zhang Xian Sheng , Gao Xin-Qi 

TITLE=Genome-edited TaTFL1-5 mutation decreases tiller and spikelet numbers in common wheat

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=14

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2023.1142779

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2023.1142779

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>Tillering is a critical agronomic trait of wheat (<italic>Triticum aestivum</italic> L.) that determines the shoot architecture and affects grain yield. <italic>TERMINAL FLOWER 1</italic> (<italic>TFL1</italic>), encoding a phosphatidylethanolamine-binding protein, is implicated in the transition to flowering and shoot architecture in plant development. However, the roles of TFL1 homologs is little known in wheat development. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated targeted mutagenesis was used in this study to generate a set of wheat (Fielder) mutants with single, double or triple-null <italic>tatfl1-5</italic> alleles. The wheat <italic>tatfl1-5</italic> mutations decreased the tiller number per plant in the vegetative growth stage and the effective tiller number per plant and spikelet number per spike at maturity in the field. RNA-seq analysis showed that the expression of the auxin signaling–related and cytokinin signaling–related genes was significantly changed in the axillary buds of <italic>tatfl1-5</italic> mutant seedlings. The results suggested that wheat <italic>TaTFL1-5s</italic> were implicated in tiller regulation by auxin and cytokinin signaling.</p>