Evolutionary Analysis And Functional Identification Of ERECTA Gene Family In Rice

The ERECTA gene is a receptor-like protein kinase gene in plants.The functional studies in Arabidopsis indicate that different copies of the ERECTA family(ERfs)have different functions,including controlling cell proliferation,regulating stomatal structure,and stress responding.These functions make them potential candidates for improved crops.However,in the crop genome,such as rice,the current known function of the gene,especially the information on the morphological effects,is very limited.In our study,56 representative species were selected for this gene family and the most comprehensive analysis of the evolution of ERfs in the plant kingdom was conducted.The results showed that ERfs were divided into two branches:ER and ERL.The gene number and gene structure were very conservative among species,and they have undergone negative selection forces during the evolution process Polymorphism was also very low in the rice populationThere are three members of in rice,namely ERECTAl(ER1),ERECTA 2(ER2)and ERECTA-LIKE(ERL).Based on evolutionary analysis,we used the CRISPR/Cas9 knockout system to construct a loss-of-function mutant of ERfs in rice in order to understand its function in rice.Finally,we got two mutants with loss of function,oserl and oser2.The mutant plants all exhibited phenotypes such as dwarfing,reduced panicles,and reduced seed setting rate,thereby confirming their functions in regulating cell proliferation and cell growthIn our study,ERfs in rice were knocked out by CRISPR/Cas9 technology.Their phenotypic and phylogenetic relationships were used to analyze their function in rice,which provides a theoretical basis for the subsequent use of ERfs to improve crops.