Mutation in soybean Lox-2 PLAT/LH2 domain through CRISPR/Cas9 reduces seed lipoxygenase activity: responsible for undesirable flavour

Soybean, a protein and oil rich legume is primarily used as livestock feed and to a lesser extent for human consumption due to undesirable flavour in the seeds caused by L-2 isozyme of lipoxygenase. Herein, soybean with reduced isozyme activity was developed through CRISPR/Cas9 targeted mutation in L-2 encoding Lox-2 gene. sgRNA designed from PLAT/LH2 domain in second exon of Lox-2 (Lox-2 E2) was validated by in vitro cleavage assay; inserted in CRISPR/Cas9 binary vector and used for genetic transformation of SL1074 cultivar hypocotyl segments. A total of 12 T₀ putative plants were identified through PCR. Amongst these, four revealed mutation at the target sgRNA site by CEL1 assay and substitution of a base A with G six bp upstream of PAM converting lysine to glutamic acid at 119 position. T₁ and T₂ seeds derived from mutant T0-37 plant showed upto 25.49% reduction in isozyme activity as compared to SL1074. The base substitution was confirmed in T₁ progeny; segregation analysis revealed homozygosity and heritability of mutation in T₂ plants. The interaction between structural models of SL1074, mutant domains and negatively charged substrates revealed strong binding affinity of the substrates with positively charged lysine in SL1074 domain due to formation of two hydrogen bonds. On the contrary, weak binding of the substrates with negatively charged glutamic acid in mutant domain and absence of hydrogen bond explained reduction of isozyme activity in T₂ seeds. The mutant soybean with reduced isozyme activity is an important source for introgressing the trait in plant breeding programs.