RNAi mediated silencing of lipoxygenase gene to maintain rice grain quality and viability during storage

Abstract

Lipoxygenase (LOX) is a common enzyme which catalyzes lipid peroxidation of seeds and consequently enhances seed quality deterioration and decreases seed viability. During seed storage, peroxidation of unsaturated fatty acids occur due to enhancement of LOX activity which directly leads to reduction in seed vigour and deterioration of grain nutritional quality. This study was undertaken to overcome these problem during rice seed storage by attenuating LOX activity using RNAi technology. To improve seed storage stability, we down regulated LOX gene activity by using a functional fragment of the LOX gene under the control of both constitutive (CaMV35S) and aleurone-specific (Oleosin-18) promoter separately. To understand the storage stability, RNAi–LOX seeds and non-transgenic control seeds were subjected to accelerated aging at 45 °C and 85 % relative humidity for 14 days. Our studies demonstrate that down regulation of LOX activity reduces the seed quality deterioration under storage condition. In addition GC–MS analysis revealed that reduction of fatty acid level in non-transgenic seeds during storage was higher when compared with that of transgenic rice seeds. Furthermore, the transgenic rice seeds with reduced LOX activity exhibited enhanced seed germination efficiency after storage than that of non-transgenic rice seeds. This study will have direct impact on nutritional stability of quality rice grains.