Chinese Scientists Define Ideal Plant Architecture in Rice by Regulation of OsSPL14

Prof. Li Jiayang of the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology of the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) in collaboration with researchers of China National Rice Research Institute did hybridization of two rice varieties and compared the genome of the subsequent generations with each other. They found that a mutation in the rice genome, in a gene called OsSPL14 increased rice yield by 10% using the number of tillering and grain production as a potential target. The study was published in the May 23 online edition of Nature Genetics.

This study was another breakthrough following dwarf rice and hybrid rice breeding. The development of new plant types or ideal plant architecture (IPA), has been proposed as a means to enhance rice yield potential. The research team reported the cloning and characterization of a semidominant quantitative trait locus, IPA1 (Ideal Plant Architecture 1), which changes rice plant architecture and substantially enhances rice grain yield. The IPA1 quantitative trait locus encodes OsSPL14 (SOUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN-LIKE 14) and is regulated by microRNA (miRNA) OsmiR156 in vivo. They demonstrated that a point mutation in OsSPL14 perturbs OsmiR156-directed regulation of OsSPL14, generating an 'ideal' rice plant with a reduced tiller number, increased lodging resistance and enhanced grain yield. The study suggested that OsSPL14 may help improve rice grain yield by facilitating the breeding of new elite rice varieties.

The full text is available to subscribers at http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/v42/n6/abs/ng.591.html