Abstract
Increasing crop yield is one of the most important goals of plant science research. Grain size is a major determinant of grain yield in cereals and is a target trait for both domestication and artificial breeding1. We showed that the quantitative trait locus (QTL) GS5 in rice controls grain size by regulating grain width, filling and weight. GS5 encodes a putative serine carboxypeptidase and functions as a positive regulator of grain size, such that higher expression of GS5 is correlated with larger grain size. Sequencing of the promoter region in 51 rice accessions from a wide geographic range identified three haplotypes that seem to be associated with grain width. The results suggest that natural variation in GS5 contributes to grain size diversity in rice and may be useful in improving yield in rice and, potentially, other crops2.
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Acknowledgements
We thank J. Hu, H. Du, W. Dong and G. Gao for their help and suggestions, and G. An (Kyung Hee University, Crop Biotech Institute, Republic of Korea) for the mutant line. This work was supported by grants from the National 863 Project, the National Program on the Development of Basic Research, the National Program on R&D of Transgenic Plants, the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
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Y.L. conducted most of the experiments, including fine mapping, gene cloning, genetic transformation, expression analysis, mutant analysis, histological analysis and other functional analysis; C.F., Y.X. and L.L. conducted the QTL primary mapping analysis and developed the NILs; Y.J. and L.S. carried out part of the cell division and expression analysis; D.S., C.X., X.L. and J.X. participated in the promoter sequencing; Y.H. and Q.Z. designed and supervised the study; and Y.L. and Q.Z. analyzed the data and wrote the paper. All of the authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.
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Li, Y., Fan, C., Xing, Y. et al. Natural variation in GS5 plays an important role in regulating grain size and yield in rice. Nat Genet 43, 1266–1269 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/ng.977
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ng.977
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