A novel Effective Panicle Number per Plant 4 haplotype enhances grain yield by coordinating panicle number and grain number in rice

Increasing effective panicle number per plant(EPN)is one approach to increase yield potential in rice.However,molecular mechanisms underlying EPN remain unclear.In this study,we integrated mapbased cloning and genome-wide association analysis to identify the EPN4 gene,which is allelic to NARROW LEAF1(NAL1).Overexpression lines containing the Teqing allele(TQ)of EPN4 had significantly increased EPN.NIL-EPN4^(TQ) in japonica(geng)cultivar Lemont(LT)exhibited significantly improved EPN but decreased grain number and flag leaf size relative to LT.Haplotype analysis indicated that accessions with EPN4-1 had medium EPN,medium grain number,and medium grain weight,but had the highest grain yield among seven haplotypes,indicating that EPN4-1 is an elite haplotype of EPN4 for positive coordination of the three components of grain yield.Furthermore,accessions carrying the combination of EPN4-1 and haplotype GNP1-6 of GNP1 for grain number per panicle showed higher grain yield than those with other allele combinations.Therefore,pyramiding of EPN4-1 and GNP1-6 could be a preferred approach to obtain high yield potential in breeding.

Recent Advances to Enhance Nutritional Quality of Rice

The nutritional quality of rice is a major concern,along with the need to enhance productivity to feed the continuously growing population.Therefore,there is a requirement to breed high-yielding rice varieties with improved nutritional quality that can help combat malnutrition,a global health issue.Undoubtedly,breeding approaches have played a significant role in increasing rice yield while enhancing its nutritional content.In addition to traditional breeding techniques,other recent approaches,such as genetic engineering,gene editing,omics methods,and agronomic practices,must also be employed to meet the nutritional needs of the current population.In this review,we offered detailed information on the development of nutritionally improved rice varieties through the enhancement of protein content,microand macronutrients,vitamins,and oil quality using genetic engineering approaches.We also identified QTLs associated with amino acids,proteins,and micronutrients in rice.Furthermore,omics approaches provide a range of tools and techniques for effectively exploring resources and understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in trait development.Omics branches,including transcriptomics,proteomics,ionomics,and metabolomics,are efficiently utilized for improving rice nutrition.Therefore,by utilizing the information obtained from these techniques and incorporating all of these recent approaches,we can effectively modify the rice genome,directly enhancing the nutritional value of rice varieties.This will help address the challenges of malnutrition in the years to come.

农杆菌介导的浸花法转化甘蓝型油菜过程中柱头顶端开裂时期的确定

农杆菌介导的浸花法(floral-dip)是一种简便、快速、高效、重复性好、稳定性高的非组织培养的遗传转化法,在拟南芥中已得到了广泛的应用,但由于诸多因素的影响,其在油菜中的转化效率受到了很大的制约。以甘蓝型油菜为研究对象,通过对雌蕊柱头开裂时间的研究,发现即将开放的10~15个花苞的柱头是裂开的,此时最有利于农杆菌进入子房室完成转化。对这部分花蕾进行浸花法转化,得到的T1代种子发芽后通过除草剂筛选获得抗性转基因植株,进一步对这些植株进行PCR验证,其阳性率高达72.7%。该研究能进一步提高农杆菌转化效率,实现甘蓝型油菜更有效的遗传转化。

Saline-Alkali Tolerance in Rice: Physiological Response, Molecular Mechanism, and QTL Identification and Application to Breeding

Salinity-alkalinity is incipient abiotic stress that impairs plant growth and development.Rice(Oryza sativa)is a major food crop greatly affected by soil salinity and alkalinity,requiring tolerant varieties in the saline-alkali prone areas.Understanding the molecular and physiological mechanisms of saline-alkali tolerance paves the base for improving saline-alkali tolerance in rice and leads to progress in breeding.This review illustrated the physiological consequences,and molecular mechanisms especially signaling and function of regulating genes for saline-alkali tolerance in rice plants.We also discussed QTLs regarding saline-alkali tolerance accordingly and ways of deployment for improvement.More efforts are needed to identify and utilize the identified QTLs for saline-alkali tolerance in rice.

Genetic mechanism of heterosis for rice milling and appearance quality in an elite rice hybrid

Development of hybrid rice with high yield and grain quality is a goal of rice breeding.To investigate the genetic mechanism of heterosis for rice milling and appearance quality in indica/xian rice,QTL mapping was conducted using 1061 recombinant inbred lines(RILs)derived from a cross of the xian rice cultivars Quan 9311B(Q9311B)and Wu-shan-si-miao(WSSM),and a backcross F_(1)(BC_(1)F_(1)) population developed by crossing the RILs with Quan 9311A(Q9311A),combined with phenotyping in two environments.The F_(1) hybrid(Q9311A×WSSM)showed various degrees of heterosis for milling and appearance quality.A total of 142 main-effect QTL(M-QTL)and 407 pairs of epistatic QTL(E-QTL)were identified for five milling and appearance quality traits and grain yield per plant(GYP)in the RIL,BC_(1)F_(1) and mid-parental heterosis(H_(MP)) populations.Differential detection of QTL in three populations revealed that most additive loci detected in the RILs did not show heterotic effects,but some of them did contribute to BC_(1)F_(1) trait performance.Unlike heterosis of GYP,single-locus overdominance and epistasis were the main contributors to heterosis for milling and appearance quality.Epistasis contributed more to the heterosis for milling quality than to that for appearance quality.Three(four)QTL regions harboring opposite(consistent)directions of favorable allele effects for GYP and grain quality were identified,indicating the presence of partial genetic overlaps between GYP and grain quality.Three strategies are proposed to develop hybrid rice with high yield and good grain quality:1)pyramiding favorable alleles with consistent directions of gene effects for GYP and grain quality at the M-QTL on different chromosomes;2)introgressing favorable alleles for GYP and grain quality into the parents and then pyramiding and fixing these additive effects in hybrids;and 3)pyramiding overdominant and dominant loci and minimizing or eliminating underdominant loci from the parents.