Modulating the C-terminus of DEP1 synergistically enhances grain quality and yield in rice

<正>Grain shape is a key breeding target that influences both grain yield and appearance quality in rice. Breeding for long-slender grains is an effective strategy to improve grain quality (Jain et al., 2004;Wang et al., 2012, 2015a). In the past two decades, several quantitative trait loci (QTLs) responsible for grain size and shape have been identified, including GS3 (Fan et al., 2006), GS5 (Li et al., 2011),     

Alanine aminotransferase (OsAlaAT1) modulates nitrogen utilization,grain yield,and quality in rice

<正>Widespread use of inorganic nitrogen fertilizers has increased yields of many grains, including rice (Oryza sativa L.); however, fertilizers are costly for farmers and cause serious environmental problems, such as soil acidification and water eutrophication (Guo et al., 2010, 2021; Liu et al., 2021). Improving nitrogen use efficiency(NUE) in rice offers a practical way to enhance grain yield and alleviate the environmental problems caused by overuse of nitrogen fertilizer. Identifying a...     

Pyramiding of the dep1-1 and NAL1~(NJ6) alleles achieves sustainable improvements in nitrogen-use efficiency and grain yield in japonica rice breeding

<正>Rice is one of the most important cereal crops in the world, and a substantial increase in grain yield is necessary for food security.However, high yields of semidwarf modern rice varieties are heavily dependent on the application of mineral nitrogenous fertilizer(Tilman et al., 2002; Sun et al., 2014). Nitrogen(N)-insensitive responses associated with reduced N-use efficiency(NUE) is a major     

The rational design of multiple molecular module-based assemblies for simultaneously improving rice yield and grain quality

正Rice is one of the most important staple food for over half of the world's population,and a substantial increase in productivity and quality of rice grain will be required to feed a growing human population.Grain size and shape are the two important components contributing to grain yield and quality,because they impact both yield potential and end-use quality.Over the past 50 years,the     

Understanding the regulation of cereal grain filling: The way forward

During grain filling,starch and other nutrients accumulate in the endosperm;this directly determines grain yield and grain quality in crops such as rice(Oryza sativa),maize(Zea mays),and wheat(Triticum aestivum).Grain filling is a complex trait affected by both intrinsic and environmental factors,making it difficult to explore the underlying genetics,molecular regulation,and the application of these genes for breeding.With the development of powerful genetic and molecular techniques,much has bee...     

Yield-related QTLs and Their Applications in Rice Genetic Improvement

Grain yield is one of the most important indexes in rice breeding,which is governed by quantitative trait loci (QTLs).Different map-ping populations have been used to explore the QTLs controlling yield related traits.Primary populations such as F 2 and recombi-nant inbred line populations have been widely used to discover QTLs in rice genome-wide,with hundreds of yield-related QTLs detected.Advanced populations such as near isogenic lines (NILs) are efficient to further fine-map and clone target QTLs.NILs for primarily identified QTLs have been proposed and confirmed to be the ideal population for map-based cloning.To date,20 QTLs directly affecting rice grain yield and its components have been cloned with NIL-F 2 populations,and 14 new grain yield QTLs have been validated in the NILs.The molecular mechanisms of a continuously increasing number of genes are being unveiled,which aids in the understanding of the formation of grain yield.Favorable alleles for rice breeding have been ’mined’ from natural cultivars and wild rice by association analysis of known functional genes with target trait performance.Reasonable combination of favorable alleles has the potential to increase grain yield via use of functional marker assisted selection.     

Lack of an Additive Effect between the Deletions of Klf5 and Nkx3-1 in Mouse Prostatic Tumorigenesis

Prostate cancer is one of the most common malignancies.The development and progression of prostate cancer are driven by a series of genetic and epigenetic events including gene amplification that activates oncogenes and chromosomal deletion that inactivates tumor suppressor genes.Whereas gene amplification occurs in human prostate cancer,gene deletion is more common,and a large number of chromosomal regions have been identified to have frequent deletion in prostate cancer,suggesting that tumor suppressor inactivation is more common than oncogene activation in prostatic carcinogenesis (Knuutila et al.,1998,1999;Dong,2001).Among the most frequently deleted chromosomal regions in prostate cancer,target genes such as NKX3-1 from 8p21,PTENfrom 10q23 andATBF1 from 16q22 have been identified by different approaches (He et al.,1997;Li et al.,1997;Sun et al.,2005),and deletion of these genes in mouse prostates has been demonstrated to induce and/or promote prostatic carcinogenesis.For example,knockout of Nkx3-1 in mice induces hyperplasia and dysplasia (Bhatia-Gaur et al.,1999;Abdulkadir et al.,2002) and promotes prostatic tumorigenesis (Abate-Shen et al.,2003),while knockout of Pten alone causes prostatic neoplasia (Wang et al.,2003).Therefore,gene deletion plays a causal role in prostatic carcinogenesis (Dong,2001).     

Identification of natural allelic variation in TTL1 controlling thermotolerance and grain size by a rice super pan-genome∞

Continuously increasing global temperatures present great challenges to food security. Grain size, one of the critical components determining grain yield in rice(Oryza sativa L.), is a prime target for genetic breeding. Thus, there is an immediate need for genetic improvement in rice to maintain grain yield under heat stress. However, quantitative trait loci(QTLs) endowing heat stress tolerance and grain size in rice are extremely rare.Here, we identified a novel negative regulator with pleiotro...     

OsRFPH2-10, a RING-H2 Finger E3 Ubiquitin Ligase,Is Involved in Rice Antiviral Defense in the Early Stages of Rice dwarf virus Infection

Dear Editor, Rice dwarf virus （RDV）, a member of the Phytoreoviurs genus, is transmitted to rice （Oryza sativa） plants by leaf- hopper （Nephotettix cincticeps） in a propagative manner. Infection by RDV results in severe stunting growth pheno- types and a dramatic reduction in grain yield. The genome of RDV is composed of 12-segmented double-stranded RNAs （S1-S12 based on their migration rates in agarose gel electro- phoresis）. The 12 segments encode seven structural proteins （P1, P2, P3, P5, P7, P8, and P9 as the products of Sl, S2, S3, S5, S7, S8, and S9, respectively） and five nonstructural proteins （Pns4, Pns6, Pnsl0, Pns11, and Pns12 as the products of S4, S6, S10, S11, and S12, respectively）. The outer capsid protein P2 is essential for RDV infection of insects and thus influences transmission of RDV by the insect vector （Omura et al., 1998; Zhou et al., 2007）. P2 also contributes to the dwarf phenotype of infected rice by interfering with gibberellic acid synthesis （Zhu et al., 2005）. When RDV-infected rice plants were main- tained via vegetative propagation for several years without insect transmission, they regained normal growth height due to loss of RDV P2 and Pnsl0 proteins （Pu et al., 2011）.     

Cloning of Ln Gene Through Combined Approach of Map-based Cloning and Association Study in Soybean

Increasing yield is one of the most important goals in crop breeding.Soybean(Glycine max L.Merr.),one of the most economically important leguminous seed crops,provides the majority of plant proteins,and more than a quarter of the world’s food and animal feed(Graham and Vance,2003). The yield of soybean is finally determined by the number of seeds per unit area,which affected by many characters,such as height,branching number,photosynthesis,seed size,seed number.The number of seeds per pod is taken for one of the critical components that related to yield(You et al.,1995),and it has long been considered in soybean production(Takahashi,     

New insights into plant nutrient signaling and adaptation to fluctuating environments

正Over the past 50 years,the Green Revolution and exploitation of heterosis have allowed cereal grain yield to keep pace with worldwide population growth.Unfortunately,plant growth and crop productivity are heavily dependent on the application of synthetic fertilizers.In the next 50 years,global population is projected to be 50%larger than at present and global food demand is projected to double(Tilman et al.,2002).Further increases in fertilizer supplies are unlikely to be effective in improving grain yield because     

Genome-Wide Analysis and Expression Patterns of the YUCCA Genes in Maize

<正>Auxin plays important roles in various aspects of plant growth and development(Zhao,2010).In Arabidopsis,a number of YUCCA(YUC)genes,which are involved in auxin biosynthesis,have been identified(Zhao et al.,2001;Woodward et al.,2005;Cheng et al.,2006,2007;Kim et al.,2007;Chen et al.,2014).YUC genes encode flavin monooxygenases(FMOs)that convert indole-3-pyruvate(IPA)to indole-3-acetic acid(IAA)(Zhao,2012).The Arabidopsis YUC family is comprised of 11 members(Zhao et al.,2001;     

Bmelo12, an elongase of very long-chain fatty acids gene,regulates silk yield in Bombyx mori

<正>In silkworm, cocoon shell weight (CSW), an index of silk yield, is a quantitative trait (Nagaraju and Goldsmith, 2002), and multiple quantitative trait loci (QTLs) located on different chromosomes have been found(Zhan et al., 2009; Zhang et al., 2010; Li et al., 2015; Fang et al., 2020).     

Establishment of wheat-Thinopyrum ponticum translocation lines with resistance to Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici Ug99

<正>Stem rust, caused by Puccinia graminis Pers.:Pers. f. sp. tritici Eriks. E. Henn. (Pgt), is a destructive wheat disease and has the potential to cause significant yield losses (Olivera et al., 2015;Soko et al., 2018). The emergence of Pgt race TTKSK, virulent to the widely deployed stem rust resistance gene Sr31 and originally named as isolate Pgt-Ug99 (Pretorius et al., 2000), emphasized     

Characterization and Genome Changes of New Amphiploids from Wheat Wide Hybridization

<正>The introduction of alien genes or chromosome fragments from wild related species into wheat(Triticum spp.)has been considered valuable for wheat breeding(Valkoun,2001).Several relatives,such as Secale cereale(Gupta and Shepherd,1993;Ma et al.,2000),Thinopyrum elongatum(Liu et al.,2008),Th.intermedium(Cao et al.,2014)and Th.ponticum(Li et al.,2008)showed distinct applications of introgression of interesting genes or traits into wheat.However,there are still some challenges in using these genetic resources.The     

Transposon-based screen identifies a XRE family regulator crucial for candicidin biosynthesis in Streptomyces albus J1074

正Dear Editor,Polyene macrolides are a group of natural products with potent antifungal activity (Caffrey et al., 2016). Candicidin/FR-008, a potent broad-spectrum anti-fungal agent, is produced by several Streptomycetes, including Streptomycetes sp. strain FR-008 (Chen et al., 2003), S. griseus 3570(Campelo and Gil, 2002) and S. albus J1074 (Olano et al.,2014). Due to its medical importance, considerable effort has been applied to elucidate its biosynthetic pathway and identify key regulatory genes (Chen et al., 2003; Zhang et al.,2015).     

Map-based cloning of the ALK gene, which controls the gelatinization temperature of rice

As a primary crop in China, rice provides the staple food for more than 50% population in the world. With the increasing grain yield and improvement of living conditions, grain quality has drawn more and more attention. Gelatinization temperature (GT), an important parameter for rice cooking quality, is the critical temperature at which the starch granules start to lose crystallinity and birefringence by irreversible expanding and to change the starch surface from polarized to soluble state c…     

BEAK-SHAPED GRAIN 1/TRIANGULAR HULL 1,a DUF640 gene,is associated with grain shape,size and weight in rice

Grain shape and size both determine grain weight and therefore crop yield.However,the molecular mechanisms controlling grain shape and size are still largely unknown.Here,we isolated a rice mutant,beak-shaped grain1(bsg1),which produced beak-shaped grains of decreased width,thickness and weight with a loosely interlocked lemma and palea that were unable to close tightly.Starch granules were also irregularly packaged in the bsg1 grains.Consistent with the lemma and palea shapes,the outer parenchyma cell layers of these bsg1 tissues developed fewer cells with decreased size.Map-based cloning revealed that BSG1 encoded a DUF640 domain protein,TRIANGULAR HULL 1,of unknown function.Quantitative PCR and GUS fusion reporter assays showed that BSG1 was expressed mainly in the young panicle and elongating stem.The BSG1 mutation affected the expression of genes potentially involved in the cell cycle and GW2,an important regulator of grain size in rice.Our results suggest that BSG1 determines grain shape and size probably by modifying cell division and expansion in the grain hull.     

Generation of pigs with humanized type Ⅱ collagen by precise human COL2A1 gene knock-in

<正>Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common chronic disease, characterized by progressive cartilage breakdown, subchondral bone sclerosis, and aberrant bone outgrowth (Yucesoy et al., 2015; Hussain et al., 2016). OA is one of the leading causes of cartilage damage. Patients with severe cartilage damage require transplantation of articular cartilage to improve their quality of life. Type Ⅱ collagen is a major component of articular cartilage and intervertebral discs and plays an important rol...     

Breeding cotton with superior fiber quality: identification and utilization of multiple elite loci and exotic genetic resources

正In the last decade, cotton genomics had great progress in genome assembling(Li et al., 2015; Huang et al., 2020) and agriculturally important locus identification(Du et al., 2018;Ma et al., 2018; Li et al., 2021).Upland cotton(Gossypium hirsutum) is one of the most important cash crops cultivated worldwide. The fiber quality of cotton directly determines its economic value, and therefore enhancing fiber quality is always the primary task in cotton breeding practices(Xia et al., 2019; Huang et al.,2021).