A team of scientists from Purdue University around ZHU Jian-Kang and the CAS Shanghai Center for Plant Stress Biology has used CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing technology to develop a variety of rice that produces 25-31 percent more grain. The team made mutations to 13 genes associated with the phytohormone abscisic acid, involved in plant stress tolerance and suppression of growth. Of several varieties created, one produced a plant that had little change in stress tolerance but produced 25 percent more grain in a field test in Shanghai, and 31 percent more in a field test conducted on China’s Hainan Island.
CAS news release, May 26, 2018