Genetic engineering of RuBisCO by multiplex CRISPR editing small subunits in rice

Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCO) is required for photosynthetic carbon assimilation, as it catalyses the conversion of inorganic carbon into organic carbon. Despite its importance, RuBisCO is inefficient; it has a low catalytic rate and poor substrate specificity. Improving the catalytic performance of RuBisCO is one of the key routes for enhancing plant photosynthesis. As the basic subunit of RuBisCO, RbcS affects the catalytic properties and plays a key role in stabilizing the structure of holoenzyme. Yet, the understanding of functions of RbcS in crops is still largely unknown. Toward this end, we employed CRISPR-Cas9 technology to randomly edit five rbcS genes in rice (OsrbcS1–5), generating a series of knockout mutants. The mutations of predominant rbcS genes in rice photosynthetic tissues, OsrbcS2–5, conferred inhibited growth, delayed heading and reduced yield in the field conditions, accompanying with lower RuBisCO contents and activities and significantly reduced photosynthetic efficiency. The retarded phenotypes were severer caused by multiple mutations. In addition, we revealed that these mutants had fewer chloroplasts and starch grains and a lower sugar content in the shoot base, resulting in fewer rice tillers. Further structural analysis of the mutated RuBisCO enzyme in one rbcs2,3,5 mutant line uncovered no significant differences from the wild-type protein, indicating that the mutations of rbcS did not compromise the protein assembly or the structure. Our findings generated a mutant pool with genetic diversities, which offers a valuable resource and novel insights into unravelling the mechanisms of RuBisCO in rice. The multiplex genetic engineering approach of this study provides an effective and feasible strategy for RuBisCO modification in crops, further facilitate the photosynthesis improvement and sustainable crop production.