Crop EPS Mutant Library

Trifunctional System EPS (Egg-cell-specific, Pollen Self-elimination, Seed-fluorescent reporting) is a revolutionary architecture designed for autonomous crop mutagenesis. The system integrates three core components working in harmony:

This self-sustaining mutagenesis drive enables autonomous, generation-by-generation accumulation of mutations without recurrent transformation or manual intervention. The system dynamically maintains propagating mutant populations, providing a living mutation library for functional genomics research and crop breeding programs.

Note: Detailed EPS vector map along with full elements are provided in Supplementary Figure 1 and the Methods section.

The EPS system operates through a sophisticated generational cycle that maintains and enriches mutation loads across successive generations, creating a self-sustaining research resource:

Applications: Sorted EPS(+) kernels provide a living mutation library for:
(i) Next-generation sequencing-based rapid gene identification via MutMap
(ii) Forward- and reverse-genetic screens for phenotypes of interest

The EPS system demonstrates remarkable versatility across major cereal crops, establishing its potential as a transformative platform for sustainable crop improvement with broad applicability:

Ongoing Research Through Agrobacterium-mediated transformation, we have successfully generated EPS transformants in maize, rice, and wheat. Through successive generations of propagation and phenotypic screening, we have established a comprehensive mutant population:

Status: Active Cultivation The population size demonstrates successful establishment and propagation of EPS lines across multiple generations. Maize lines have advanced to M6 generation, while rice and wheat populations are expanding in early generations.