Rice DENSE AND ERECT PANICLE 2 is essential for determining panicle outgrowth and elongation

包括谷物尺寸和圆锥花序形态学，圆锥花序的建筑学直接决定谷物产量。圆锥花序直立，为在中国的北部分完成理想的植物建筑学被选择，引起了米饭 breeders 的增加的注意。这里，稠密、直立的圆锥花序 2 (dep2 ) 异种，显示出稠密、直立的圆锥花序显型，被识别。没有任何已知的功能的领域， DEP2 编码植物特定的蛋白质。表示介绍 DEP2 表明它高度在年轻纸巾被表示，与在年轻圆锥花序的大多数丰富。词法并且表示分析显示在 DEP2 的那个变化主要影响脊柱和主要、第二等的分支的快速的延伸，但是不损害圆锥花序 primordia 的开始或形成。进一步的分析建议在 dep2 的圆锥花序长度的减少被一个缺点在圆锥花序的指数的延伸期间在房间增长引起。尽管有在 dep2 异种的一种更紧缩的植物类型，在谷物生产的重要改变都没在野类型和 dep2 异种之间被发现。因此， DEP2 的学习不仅加强我们圆锥花序建筑学的分子的基因基础的理解而且为米饭繁殖有重要含意。

The architecture of the panicle, including grain size and panicle morphology, directly determines grain yield. Panicle erectness, which is selected for achieving ideal plant arehitecture in the northern part of China, has drawn increasing attention of rice breeders. Here, dense and erect panicle 2 （dep2） mutant, which shows a dense and erect panicle phenotype, was identified. DEP2 encodes a plant-specific protein without any known functional domain. Expression profiling of DEP2 revealed that it is highly expressed in young tissues, with most abundance in young panicles. Morphological and expression analysis indicated that mutation in DEP2 mainly affects the rapid elongation of rachis and primary and secondary branches, but does not impair the initiation or formation of panicle primordia. Further analysis suggests that decrease of panicle length in dep2 is caused by a defect in cell proliferation during the exponential elongation of panicle. Despite a more compact plant type in the dep2 mutant, no significant alteration in grain production was found between wild type and dep2 mutant. Therefore, the study of DEP2 not only strengthens our understanding of the molecular genetic basis of panicle architecture but also has important implications for rice breeding.