Gene Controlling Rice Grain Size and Weight Identified

A team of scientists led by Prof. Hongxuan of the National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics, Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, China, have successfully cloned a gene, GW2, which controls the size and weight of rice grains. Rice plants that lack a functional copy of GW2 produce bigger rice grains with more cells and wider spikelet hulls, which results in an increase in yield. GW2 acts by restricting the rate at which cells divide during the formation of the grain. As grain size is a critical agronomic quality, GW2 could therefore be an important tool for improving production. The research is reported in the latest issue of Nature Genetics.

More information available at: http://english.cas.ac.cn/eng2003/news/detailnewsb.asp?InfoNo=26498
Read the abstract of the article: “A QTL for rice grain width and weight encodes a previously unknown RING-type E3 ubiquitin ligase” at: http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/ng2014.html