Exploration of rice yield potential: Decoding agronomic and physiological traits

Rice grain yield is determined by three major"visible"morphological traits:grain weight,grain number per panicle,and effective tiller number,which are affected by a series of"invisible"physiological factors including nutrient use efficiency and photosynthetic efficiency.In the past few decades,substantial progress has been made on elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying grain yield formation,laying a solid foundation for improving rice yield by molecular breeding.This review outlines our current understanding of the three morphological yield-determining components and summarizes major progress in decoding physiological traits such as nutrient use efficiency and photosynthetic efficiency.It also discusses the integration of current knowledge about yield formation and crop improvement strategies including genome editing with conventional and molecular breeding.

Comparisons of yield performance and nitrogen response between hybrid and inbred rice under different ecological conditions in southern China

In order to understand the yield performance and nitrogen （N） response of hybrid rice under different ecological conditions in southern China, field experiments were conducted in Huaiji County of Guangdong Province, Binyang of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Changsha City of Hunan Province, southern China in 2011 and 2012. Two hybrid （Liangyoupeijiu and Y-liangyou 1） and two inbred rice cultivars （Yuxiangyouzhan and Huanghuazhan） were grown under three N treatments （N1,225 kg ha-l; N2, 112.5-176 kg ha-l; N3, 0 kg ha-1） in each location. Results showed that grain yield was higher in Changsha than in Huaiji and Binyang for both hybrid and inbred cultivars. The higher grain yield in Changsha was attribut- ed to larger panicle size （spikelets per panicle） and higher biomass production. Consistently higher grain yield in hybrid than in inbred cultivars was observed in Changsha but not in Huaiji and Binyang. Higher grain weight and higher biomass production were responsible for the higher grain yield in hybrid than in inbred cultivars in Changsha. The better crop perfor- mance of rice （especially hybrid cultivars） in Changsha was associated with its temperature conditions and indigenous soil N. N2 had higher internal N use efficiency, recovery efficiency of applied N, agronomic N use efficiency, and partial factor productivity of applied N than N1 for both hybrid and inbred cultivars, while the difference in grain yield between N1 and N2 was relatively small. Our study suggests that whether hybrid rice can outyield inbred rice to some extent depends on the ecological conditions, and N use efficiency can be increased by using improved nitrogen management such as site-specific N management in both hybrid and inbred rice production.

The auxin transporter OsAUX1 regulates tillering in rice(Oryza sativa)

Tillering is an important agronomic trait of rice(Oryza sativa)that affects the number of effective panicles,thereby affecting yields.The phytohormone auxin plays a key role in tillering.Here we identified the high tillering and semi-dwarf 1(htsd1)mutant with auxin-deficiency root characteristics,such as shortened lateral roots,reduced lateral root density,and enlarged root angles.htsd1 showed reduced sensitivity to auxin,but the external application of indole-3-acetic acid(IAA)inhibited its tillering.We identified the mutated gene in htsd1 as AUXIN1(OsAUX1,LOC_Os01g63770),which encodes an auxin influx transporter.The promoter sequence of OsAUX1 contains many SQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN-LIKE(SPL)binding sites,and we demonstrated that SPL7 binds to the OsAUX1 promoter.TEOSINTE BRANCHED1(OsTB1),a key gene that negatively regulates tillering,was significantly downregulated in htsd1.Tillering was enhanced in the OsTB1 knockout mutant,and the external application of IAA inhibited tiller elongation in this mutant.Overexpressing OsTB1 restored the multi-tiller phenotype of htsd1.These results suggest that SPL7 directly binds to the OsAUX1 promoter and regulates tillering in rice by altering OsTB1 expression to modulate auxin signaling.

Grain Yield and Nitrogen Use Efficiency of Hybrid Rice in Response to High Plant Density and Nitrogen Rate

Increased plant density with low N rate was a recommended strategy to increase grain yield and N use efficiency(NUE);however,grain yield,NUE and the total N uptake(TNU)responses of hybrid rice to this strategy at different yield levels(medium yielding site(MYS)Luzhou City and high yielding site(HYS)Deyang City had not been described.Field experiments with hybrid rice Rongyou1015 were conducted to study the effects of two plant densities.High plant density(HD),low plant density(LD)and four N rates(without N,N_(0);a recommended N rate of 195 kg•hm^(-2),N_(CK);a 23%reduction in N rate,N_(-23%);a 46%reduction in N rate,N_(-46%)on yield attributes,grain yield,TNU and NUE of hybrid rice were studied under different yield levels in 2016-2017.The results showed that the grain yield and NUE of hybrid rice in response to plant density and N rate varied with yield levels.For MYS,reducing N rate by 46%result in significantly lower grain yield at LD treatment;whereas at HD treatment the grain yield of hybrid rice under N_(-46%) and N_(CK) were equal.For HYS,reducing N rate by 46% result in significantly lower grain yield regardless of low plant density and high plant density;however,a reduction in N rate by 23%increased grain yield,AE_(N) by 36%,PFP_(N) by 31% and RE_(N) by 11% over N_(CK) at HD treatment.Higher grain yield of hybrid rice under the combination of HD with low N rate was attributable to improvement in spikelets per panicle and harvest index.The results suggested that high plant density with low N rate might be an effective approach to improve grain yield and NUE in rice production,but reduction in N application rate was determined,according to yield levels.