RNA demethylation to increase rice and potato crop production

by Hanz Benedict Aguilar | Ikirara

With the rising global population, the demand on food supply and security continues to escalate. Its effects can be seen in communities that experience food and health-related issues, such as malnutrition and low food quality. Agricultural sectors are still on their way in achieving the desired demand through development. Consequently, recent studies are being executed to address this pressing issue. 

It has been a long and ongoing journey for transgenic studies before they can be applied for human consumption. One relevant study that brings light to the issue is transgenic research of Yu et al. in 2021 that utilized RNA demethylation for rice and potato crop yield. In the study, RNA m6A modification provided promising benefits in crop production, particularly in rice and potato. This m6A is the most abundant mRNA modification in higher eukaryotes, which can be regulated in RNA processing and metabolism. The use of this approach is beneficial when coupled with human FTO or the fat mass and obesity-associated protein. 

Active FTO transgene on crop yield and biomass

Since the FTO homolog is not present in plants, it has been known that incorporating this to the plant epitranscriptome could potentially provide growth-altering results. Rice plants are one of the target subjects for this manipulation wherein the FTO was introduced. Upon expression of the transgene to the rice variety, grain yield surprisingly increased more than threefold and its biomass increased more than twofold, when compared to the wild-type rice plant control group. Additionally, phenotypes were also examined showing no significant differences in phenotypic characteristics: grain size, thousand-grain weight, main panicle grain number, major spike length, and mature plant height or heading time. The trend is not limited to rice since the same manner is also true to potatoes. It is only in potatoes that the yield and aerial biomass increased at approximately 50%. This means that the RNA demethylation of active FTO provided a relatively high economic value when used in rice crop production.

On additional perks of FTO 

Not only does the transgene increase crop yield and biomass, it also provides noteworthy advantages on the physiological processes of plants. The study also found that FTO-expressing plants exhibited approximately 36% higher photosynthetic efficiency than the wild-type plants and an approximately 34% increase in stomatal conductance. Results revealed that the FTO expression induced significantly higher survival rates under two drought stress treatment conditions of transgenic crops compared to the control group. This goes to show that introducing the FTO homolog exhibiting RNA demethylation can benefit societies under these conditions.

Indeed, studies should be conducted to other crop varieties and species to maximize the potential of biotechnological advancements. With just enough investment in research, an incomparable set of advantageous outcomes can come to its way for humanity.