开启中国设计育种新篇章——“分子模块设计育种创新体系”战略性先导科技专项进展

New Chapter of Designer Breeding in China:Update on Strategic Program of Molecular Module-Based Designer Breeding Systems

"分子模块设计育种创新体系"战略性先导科技专项以水稻为主,小麦、鲤等为辅,利用野生种、农家品种和主栽(养)优良品种等种质资源,综合运用基因组学、系统生物学、合成生物学等手段,解析高产、稳产、优质、高效等重要农艺(经济)性状的分子模块,揭示水稻复杂性状全基因组编码规律,发展多模块非线性耦合理论和"全基因组导航"分子模块设计育种技术,优化多模块组装的品种设计的最佳策略,建立从"分子模块"到"设计型品种"的现代生物技术育种创新体系,为实现全基因组水平多模块优化组装、培育新一代超级品种提供系统解决方案。文章介绍了该专项的背景、总体目标、研究内容、进展及发展展望。

Sustained and stable productions of main agricultural products such as rice, wheat, and fish are essential to guarantee food security in China, which depends on innovations in breeding theories and technologies Using genetic resources of rice as well as wheat and fish, and a combination of omics, systems biology, and synthetic biology, a strategic program named the Molecular Module-based Designer Breeding Systems was initiated in 2013 and aimed to （ 1 ）dissect molecular modules controlling complex traits including yield, stress tolerance, quality, and nutrient efficiency; （2）reveal the molecular mechanisms of complex trait formation at genome-scale, and the coupling mechanisms of diverse molecular modules, （3）develop the techniques for an optimized genome-wide multi-module assembly and an effective designer breeding scheme. Moreover, this project also aimied to establish a systematic solution for designing and breeding elite varieties. This program includes four projects： （ 1 ） mining and functional analysis of molecular modules controlling complex traits ; （2） analysis of module systems and their coupling effects; （3）molecular design and breeding of elite varieties;and （4）construction of breeding bases and pipelines for designer breeding. Within the first five years of the program, it aims to obtain 16-20 molecular modules and 12-15 module systems applicable in designer breeding, 1-2 computational models used for evaluating the coupling effect of diverse modules, achieve an optimal coupling assembly of yield, quality, tolerance, and nutrient efficiency, and breed 10-15 designer varieties. So far, this program has dissected 20 modules from rice including 5 for high yield, 2 for resistance to rice blast and banded sclerotial blight, 3 for tolerance to cold, and 2 for nitrogen utilization efficiency. It has revealed several module systems controlling oil biosynthesis in soybean, and bred 14 designer rice varieties for field tests or regional trials. In addition, promising progresses have been achieved in establishing breeding bases and pipelines. The program is expected to make substantial contributions to upgrading both crop and animal breeding technologies.