Scientists have discovered super rice growth-producing genes

The Super Rice Germplasm Innovation Team of the China Rice Research Institute cooperated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and other organizations to successfully isolate and clone an important gene, GS2, from the local large-grained variety “Bao Da Gran”. This gene can significantly increase super rice yield.

It is understood that this research result has been funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Ministry of Science and Technology and published online in the latest internationally renowned publication "Molecular Plants". "Bao Da Granules" is a large-grained variety in Zhejiang Province. Its plants are tall and strong, with long spikes and a large grain weight of 48 grams or more. Through analysis, the researchers obtained a major effector gene, GS2, on the second chromosome. This gene has a rare dominant mutation that causes a significant increase in gene expression, which promotes cell division and growth, and eventually increases specifically. Spike length and grain size.

In addition, the researchers also found that the GS2 dominant gene is more in line with production requirements in the heterozygous state, so the combination of a restorer line containing the dominant GS2 allele and a superior quality sterile line will help foster high yields. Super rice new rice varieties.

Rice seed harvest is a direct assessment indicator for agricultural production. In terms of production, rice yield is mainly composed of three factors: effective panicles, grains per spike, and grain weight. The grain weight is generally expressed by a thousand grain weight, which is a comprehensive manifestation of grain length, grain width, and grain thickness. During the long-term domestication of rice, due to the characteristics of large harvest index and easy processing, it gradually formed the cultivar seeds significantly larger than the wild relatives. Therefore, in super-high yield breeding, raising rice yield by increasing grain weight is an effective method commonly used by breeders.