《生命科学》 2024, 36(10): 1260-1267

挑战与突破：C4水稻工程化探索

张丽影 , 张治国 , 路铁刚^*

中国农业科学院生物技术研究所，北京 100081

摘　要：

人口增长、耕地减少、水资源短缺使得粮食安全面临严峻挑战，通过基因工程技术改造以期实现C4 化水稻生产的跨越式增长来满足日益增长的粮食需求是当今国际研究的热点。前人将C4 玉米光合循环关键基因导入到C3 植物中，创制“C4 水稻”，但其光合效率并没有显著提高，说明除了代谢通路外，还需要具有C4 植物叶片的解剖学结构。但是目前对C4 作物的叶脉发育和细胞排列模式了解较少。近年来，随着突变体策略的应用和比较基因组数据的挖掘，人们对C4 解剖学结构形成的遗传学认识不断加深。本文主要概述C3 作物C4 工程化所遇到的瓶颈问题、C4 解剖学突变体的筛选和基因功能等方面的研究进展，为最终C3 作物C4 工程化实践提供一定的借鉴和思考。

通讯作者：路铁刚 , Email:lutiegang@caas.cn

Challenges and breakthroughs: exploring C4 rice engineering

ZHANG Li-Ying , ZHANG Zhi-Guo , LU Tie-Gang^*

Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China

Abstract:

The global food security is confronted with severe challenges arising from population growth, arable land reduction, and water shortages. The utilization of genetic engineering technology to substantially increase rice production and meet the growing food demand is a prominent research focus worldwide. Previous studies involved the introduction of key genes associated with C4 photosynthesis from maize into rice, a C3 plant, to generate "C4 rice". However, the photosynthetic efficiency did not exhibit significant improvement, indicating that despite the C4 metabolic pathway, the anatomical structure of C4 leaves is also necessary. Nevertheless, the current understanding of vein development and cell arrangement patterns of C4 crop leaves remains unclear. In recent years, applying mutant strategies and exploring comparative genomic data have deepened our comprehension of the genetic mechanisms underlying the formation of C4 leaf anatomical structures. Here, we present a comprehensive summary of the challenges encountered in engineering C4 traits in C3 crops, identifying C4 anatomical mutants, and exploring gene functionalities. Furthermore, we provide relevant references and insights to guide future endeavors in the practical implementation of C4 engineering in C3 crops.

Communication Author：LU Tie-Gang , Email:lutiegang@caas.cn