Abstract—Cinnamate-4-hydroxylase (C4H) and 4-hydroxycinnamate CoA ligase (4CL) are two enzymes envolved in Phenylpropanoid synthesis pathway from lignin. They catalyze hydroxy-L-phenylalanine into cinnamic acid and coenzyme A esters. This paper constructs RNA interference vectors of C4H and 4CL genes, transforms “Zhonghua 11”, a rice variety into single-gene C4H and 4CL and double-gene C4HL transgenic plants using Agrobacterium mediation. By measuring the lignin content in the straw of mature T0 generation transgenic rice plant, it shows that lignin content in transgenic plants is lower than that of non-transgenic ones. According to semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis of T1 generation, C4H and 4CL gene expressions in transgene-positive plants are significantly lower than those of wild type. C4H transgenic rice plant has lower lignin content but does not affect normal field agronomic traits. The study provides reference for comprehensive utilization of rice straw.

Index Terms—Agrobacterium transformation, lignin, rice, RNA interference.

Xia Gengshou is with the Lishui University, Lishui, Zhejiang, China (e-mail: lsxyxgs@163.com).

 

Cite:Xia Gengshou, "Repression of Lignin Synthesis in Rice by C4H and 4CL Using RNAi," International Journal of Bioscience, Biochemistry and Bioinformatics vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 226-228, 2013.