Heterologous Overexpression of Arabidopsis Enhances Grain Yield, Biomass and Early Maturity in

Heterologous overexpression of Arabidopsis cellulase 1 () results in enhanced yield, early maturity, and increased biomass in dicotyledonous species like poplar and eucalyptus but has not been demonstrated in monocots. We produced transgenic accession A10.1 plants overexpressing a monocotyledonous codon optimized (. Agronomic characterization of the transgenic events showed that heterologous overexpression of caused enhanced grain yield, shoot biomass, and accelerated maturation rate in the model grass species under growth chamber conditions. The agronomic trait differences observed were consistent with previous reports in dicots but are here described in a monocot species and associated with increased seed yield. Overexpression of in was shown to increase the number of panicles and seeds by 24-30%, enhance overall grain yield by up to 26%, and lead to a shoot dry biomass increase of 16-19%. Overexpression also reduced time to plant maturation and senescence by 12.5%. Our findings in suggest that manipulation of has potential for developing early-maturing and higher-yielding monocotyledonous biomass crops suitable for climate-smart agriculture.