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The  ERECTA  family genes ( ERfs ) have been found to play diverse functions in  Arabidopsis , including controlling cell proliferation and cell growth, regulating stomata patterning, and responding to various stresses. This wide range of functions has rendered them as a potential candidate for crop improvement. However, information on their functional roles, particularly their morphological impact, in crop genomes, such as rice, is limited. Here, through evolutionary prediction, we first depict the evolutionary trajectory of the  ER  family, and show that the  ER  family is actually highly conserved across different species, suggesting that most of their functions may also be observed in other plant species. We then take advantage of the CRISPR/Cas9 (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats–associated nuclease 9) system to assess their morphological impact on one of the most important crops, rice. Loss-of-function mutants of  OsER1  and  OsER2  display shortened plant stature and reduced panicle size, suggesting they possibly also functioned in regulating cell proliferation and cell growth in rice. In addition to functions similar to that in  Arabidopsis , we also find clues that rice  ERfs  may play unique functional roles. The  OsER2  displayed more severe phenotypic changes than  OsER1 , indicating putative differentiation in their functions. The  OsERL  might be of essential in its function, and the proper function of all three rice  ER  genes might be dependent of their genetic background. Future investigations relating to these functions are key to exploiting  ERfs  in crop development.

Phylogenetic and CRISPR/Cas9 Studies in Deciphering the Evolutionary Trajectory and Phenotypic Impacts of Rice ERECTA Genes