Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Research Briefing
  • Published:

Engineered upstream open reading frames predictably downregulate mRNA translation in plants

Fine-tuning gene expression is crucial for generating quantitative phenotypic changes and crop improvement. Using CRISPR–Cas base editing and prime editing, we engineered upstream open reading frames — eukaryotic translational control elements — in rice to incrementally downregulate translation to predictable and desired levels.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Breeding plants with a predicted phenotype by engineering uORFs.

References

  1. Gao, C. Genome engineering for crop improvement and future agriculture. Cell 184, 1621–1635 (2021). A review of the development and application of genome editing tools in plants.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Bowman, E. K. et al. Bidirectional titration of yeast gene expression using a pooled CRISPR guide RNA approach. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 117, 18424–18430 (2020). A plasmid-based library methodology for bidirectional, graded modulation of gene expression in yeast.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Rodríguez-Leal, D. et al. Engineering quantitative trait variation for crop improvement by genome editing. Cell 171, 470–480.e478 (2017). A way to dissect the biology of quantitative trait loci by targeting promoters using CRISPR–Cas9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Zhang, H. et al. Genome editing of upstream open reading frames enables translational control in plants. Nat. Biotechnol. 36, 894–898 (2018). A method for upregulating protein expression by editing uORFs.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Zhang, T., Wu, A., Yue, Y. & Zhao, Y. uORFs: important cis-regulatory elements in plants. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 21, 6238 (2020). A review article describing the roles of uORFs in modulating plant growth, development and environmental adaptation.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This is a summary of: Xue, C. et al. Tuning plant phenotypes by precise, graded downregulation of gene expression. Nat. Biotechnol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-023-01707-w (2023).

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Engineered upstream open reading frames predictably downregulate mRNA translation in plants. Nat Biotechnol 41, 1694–1695 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-023-01729-4

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-023-01729-4

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing