作者: | Ronghui Che,Hongning Tong,Bihong Shi,Yuqin Liu,Shanru Fang,Dapu Liu,Yunhua Xiao,Bin Hu,Linchuan Liu,Hongru Wang,Mingfu Zhao & Chengcai Chu |
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刊物名称: | Nature Plants |
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摘要: | Given the continuously growing population and decreasing arable land, food shortage is becoming one of the most serious global problems in this century1. Grain size is one of the determining factors for grain yield and thus is a prime target for genetic breeding2,3. Although a number of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) associated with rice grain size have been identified in the past decade, mechanisms underlying their functions remain largely unknown4,5. Here we show that a grain-length-associated QTL, GL2, has the potential to improve grain weight and grain yield up to 27.1% and 16.6%, respectively. We also show that GL2 is allelic toOsGRF4 and that it contains mutations in the miR396 targeting sequence. Because of the mutation, GL2 has a moderately increased expression level, which consequently activates brassinosteroid responses by upregulating a large number of brassinosteroid-induced genes to promote grain development. Furthermore, we found that GSK2, the central negative regulator of rice brassinosteroid signalling, directly interacts with OsGRF4 and inhibits its transcription activation activity to mediate the specific regulation of grain length by the hormone. Thus, this work demonstrates the feasibility of modulating specific brassinosteroid responses to improve plant productivity. |