2013

Academician Yuan Longping PNAS discovers new rice gene

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Researchers from the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the National Hybrid Rice Engineering Technology Research Center have discovered a new gene that can increase rice yield, which is expected to be applied to the cultivation of new rice varieties. The findings were published in the February 4 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Li Chuanyou (Chuanyou Li), a researcher at the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Yuan Longping (Longping Yuan), a member of the National Hybrid Rice Engineering and Technology Research Center, jointly led the research.
Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is one of the most important food crops and a staple food for more than 1/2 of the world's population. Grain weight, panicle number and grain number per panicle are the three major factors that determine rice yield. The number of grains per spike was highly variable, which had a great impact on grain yield. The inflorescence meristematic tissue is an important determinant of grain number during the development of young panicles. Recently, a large number of rice studies have revealed that reduced meristematic activity can lead to reduced panicle branches and reduced food production. In contrast, several quantitative trait loci (QTLs) promoted meristematic vigor, panicle branching, and grain yield. Therefore, the size and vigor of the reproductive meristematic tissue is an important determinant of rice grain yield.
The plant hormone cytokinin (cytokinin CK) is an important factor known to control the viability of the apical meriesis (SAM). Previous studies revealed that the rice Gn1a (Grain number 1a) locus, which can increase grain number, contains a mutant OsCKX2 gene. OsCKX2 gene can encode a CK oxidation/dehydrogenase (CKX), catalytic activity of CKs degradation. Reduced expression of OsCKX2 can lead to accumulation of CK in inflorescence merisims, increase the number of reproductive organs, and increase yield. The OsCKX2 mutant allele has been successfully used in rice breeding practices to improveSeedsYield.
In this paper, the researchers report the discovery that the zinc finger transcription factor DST directly regulates OsCKX2 expression in reproductive meristems. DST-directed OsCKX2 expression regulates CK accumulation in the apical meriems, thereby controlling the number of reproductive organs. The researchers identified a semi-dominant allelic DSTreg1 of DST, which can disrupt the DST-guided regulation of OsCKX2 expression in the apical meristems of reproduction, increase CK levels, lead to increased meristems vitality, promote panicle branching, and thus increase grain number.
The new study reveals a unique regulator of reproductive meristem vigor and identifies an allelic DSTreg1 that can have a dramatic effect on grain number in rice. These findings are of great significance for the cultivation of new varieties and greatly increase the yield of rice.

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