Trait stacking simultaneously enhances provitamin A carotenoid and mineral bioaccessibility in biofortified .

Vitamin A, iron, and zinc deficiencies are major nutritional inadequacies in sub-Saharan Africa and disproportionately affect women and children. Biotechnology strategies have been tested to individually improve provitamin A carotenoid or mineral content and/or bioaccessibility in staple crops including sorghum (). However, concurrent carotenoid and mineral enhancement has not been thoroughly assessed and antagonism between these chemical classes has been reported.

Wuschel2 enables highly efficient CRISPR/Cas-targeted genome editing during rapid de novo shoot regeneration in sorghum.

For many important crops including sorghum, use of CRISPR/Cas technology is limited not only by the delivery of the gene-modification components into a plant cell, but also by the ability to regenerate a fertile plant from the engineered cell through tissue culture. Here, we report that Wuschel2 (Wus2)-enabled transformation increases not only the transformation efficiency, but also the CRISPR/Cas-targeted genome editing frequency in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.).

Developing a rapid and highly efficient cowpea regeneration, transformation and genome editing system using embryonic axis explants.

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) is one of the most important legume crops planted worldwide, but despite decades of effort, cowpea transformation is still challenging due to inefficient Agrobacterium-mediated transfer DNA delivery, transgenic selection and in vitro shoot regeneration.

Developing a flexible, high-efficiency Agrobacterium-mediated sorghum transformation system with broad application.

Sorghum is the fifth most widely planted cereal crop in the world and is commonly cultivated in arid and semi-arid regions such as Africa. Despite its importance as a food source, sorghum genetic improvement through transgenic approaches has been limited because of an inefficient transformation system. Here, we report a ternary vector (also known as cohabitating vector) system using a recently described pVIR accessory plasmid that facilitates efficient Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of sorghum.

Integument Development in Depends on Interaction of YABBY Protein INNER NO OUTER with Coactivators and Corepressors.

INNER NO OUTER (INO) is a YABBY protein that is essential for the initiation and development of the outer integument of ovules. Other YABBY proteins have been shown to be involved in both negative and positive regulation of expression of putative target genes. YABBY proteins have also been shown to interact with the corepressor LEUNIG (LUG) in several systems.

Positive- and negative-acting regulatory elements contribute to the tissue-specific expression of INNER NO OUTER, a YABBY-type transcription factor gene in Arabidopsis.

Background: The INNER NO OUTER (INO) gene, which encodes a YABBY-type transcription factor, specifies and promotes the growth of the outer integument of the ovule in Arabidopsis. INO expression is limited to the abaxial cell layer of the developing outer integument of the ovule and is regulated by multiple regions of the INO promoter, including POS9, a positive element that when present in quadruplicate can produce low-level expression in the normal INO pattern.

Results: Significant redundancy in activity between different regions of the INO promoter is demonstrated.

Seed dispersal: same gene, different organs.

A single nucleotide change in a conserved promoter element is responsible for both human-selected retention of rice grains on pedicels and for naturally selected differences in dehiscence-associated fruit structures in mustards.