Effect and Analysis of Mechanized Production on Ratooning Ability of Guitang 47

[Objectives] This study was conducted to explore the effect of machine harvesting on ratooning ability of Guitang 47, and to provide basis for mechanized production of Guitang 47. [Methods] On the basis of mechanized planting and management of newly planted sugarcane Guitang 47, a comparative test of machine harvesting and manual harvesting was conducted, during which the plant generation rate, sugarcane yield, sucrose content and related agronomic traits of ratoon cane were continuously investigated in two years after machine harvesting of the newly planted sugarcane. [Results] There were no significant differences in the plant generation rate, plant height, stalk diameter, millable cane, sugarcane yield and sucrose content from manual harvesting of Guitang 47 in the first and second years after machine harvesting. In the second year after machine harvesting, the yields of ratoon cane and the sugar content reached 101.70 and 15.32 t/hm^2, respectively, which were equivalent to those of manual harvesting. [Conclusions] Guitang 47 has strong ratooning ability and lodging resistance and strong resistance to rolling and crushing, and is adaptive to full mechanized production. It should be promoted and accelerated in sugarcane areas lacking labor to reduce costs and increase benefits.

Control of rice ratooning ability by a nucleoredoxin that inhibits histidine kinase dimerization to attenuate cytokinin signaling in axillary buds

Rice ratooning,the fast outgrowth of dormant buds on stubble,is an important cropping practice in rice production.However,the low ratooning ability(RA)of most rice varieties restricts the application of this cost-efficient system,and the genetic basis of RA remains unknown.In this study,we dissected the genetic architecture of RA by a genome-wide association study in a natural rice population.Rice ratooning ability 3(RRA3),encoding a hitherto not characterized nucleoredoxin involved in reduction of disulfide bonds,was identified as the causal gene of a major locus controlling RA.Overexpression of RRA3 in rice significantly accelerated leaf senescence and reduced RA,whereas knockout of RRA3 significantly delayed leaf senescence and increased RA and ratoon yield.We demonstrated that RRA3 interacts with Oryza sativa histidine kinase 4(OHK4),a cytokinin receptor,and inhibits the dimerization of OHK4 through disulfide bond reduction.This inhibition ultimately led to decreased cytokinin signaling and reduced RA.In addition,variations in the RRA3 promoter were identified to be associated with RA.Introgression of a superior haplotype with weak expression of RRA3 into the elite rice variety Guichao 2 significantly increased RA and ratoon yield by 23.8%.Collectively,this study not only uncovers an undocumented regulatory mechanism of cytokinin signaling through de-dimerization of a histidine kinase receptor-but also provides an eximious gene with promising value for ratoon rice breeding.