Functional analysis of TaEMF2 in regulating wheat heading date

A suitable heading date (flowering time) is a crucial breeding goal for achieving high and stable crop yields. EMF2 is an important gene involved in the regulation of heading date, but its function in wheat remains unclear. In this study, TaEMF2-2D, the orthologous gene of the rice heading date regulatory gene OsEMF2b, was cloned from wheat. Subcellular localization assays revealed that TaEMF2-2D is a nucleus and cytoplasm protein. To elucidate the role of TaEMF2 in regulating wheat heading date, we used the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing system to knockout TaEMF2, which resulted in a delayed heading date in wheat. Conversely, overexpression of TaEMF2-2D caused an early heading date. Further analysis showed that the expression levels of the flowering-related genes VRN1 and VRN3 were significantly reduced in the knockout lines, while their expression levels were significantly increased in the overexpression plants, as determined by RT-qPCR. These results suggest that the TaEMF2 gene influences wheat heading date by regulating the expression levels of VRN1 and VRN3.