长链非编码RNA基因Ef-cd调控水稻早熟与稳产

Long Noncoding RNA Ef-cd Promotes Maturity Without Yield Penalty in Rice

水稻(Oryza sativa)育种中早熟和高产往往不能兼顾。最近一项研究分离鉴定了1个调控水稻早熟的基因Ef-cd(Early flowering-completely dominant)。Ef-cd编码一段长链非编码RNA(lncRNA),该lncRNA与OsSOC1基因的一段反义转录本重叠,Ef-cd正调控H3K36me3的富集及OsSOC1基因的表达。在不同的纬度,含有Ef-cd基因的品种及其杂交种与对照相比生育期缩短7–20天,但产量不降低。对1439份优质杂交稻品种的基因型分析显示,含有Ef-cd基因的16份纯合子和299份杂合子均表现出明显的早熟特性。Ef-cd基因可能通过提高氮素利用率及光合效率来促进水稻早熟。因此,Ef-cd基因兼顾了水稻的早熟和产量,在水稻分子育种中具有重要利用价值。

In rice breeding,‘high yielding’and‘early maturing’are negative-reciprocally regulated traits.A recent study identified a major maturity duration regulatory gene,Early flowering-completely dominant(Ef-cd),which encodes a long noncoding RNA.Ef-cd IncRNA overlaps with the antisense transcript of the OsSOC1 gene.Ef-cd positively regulates the expression of OsSOC1 and H3K36me3 deposition.Varieties and their derivatived hybrids harboring Ef-cd allele show 7–20 d early-maturation compared to their respective wild types at different latitudes,but without a concomitant yield penalty.Moreover,among 1439 elite hybrid rice varieties,all of the hybrid cultivars with homozygous or heterozygous Ef-cd alleles mature significantly earlier.The mechanism of Ef-cd-promoted maturity without yield penalty is attributed to its facilitating nitrogen utilization and improving photosynthesis.Thus,Ef-cd may balance early maturating with stable grain yield,and can be used for molecular design breeding in rice.