Key Laboratory of Plant Functional Genomics of the Ministry of Education/Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Physiology of Jiangsu Province, College of Agriculture, Yangzhou University, 225009, Yangzhou, China.
Co-Innovation Center for Modern Production Technology of Grain Crops of Jiangsu Province/Joint International Research Laboratory of Agriculture and Agri-Product Safety of the Ministry of Education, Yangzhou University, 225009, Yangzhou, China.
Nat Commun. 2018 Mar 27;9(1):1240. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-03616-y.
Identification of grain shape determining genes can facilitate breeding of rice cultivars with optimal grain shape and appearance quality. Here, we identify GS9 (Grain Shape Gene on Chromosome 9) gene by map-based cloning. The gs9 null mutant has slender grains, while overexpression GS9 results in round grains. GS9 encodes a protein without known conserved functional domain. It regulates grain shape by altering cell division. The interaction of GS9 and ovate family proteins OsOFP14 and OsOFP8 is modulated by OsGSK2 kinase, a key regulator of the brassinosteroids signaling pathway. Genetic interaction analysis reveals that GS9 functions independently from other previously identified grain size genes. Introducing the gs9 allele into elite rice cultivars significantly improves grain shape and appearance quality. It suggests potential application of gs9, alone or in combination with other grain size determining genes, in breeding of rice varieties with optimized grain shape.
鉴定粒形决定基因可以促进具有最佳粒形和外观品质的水稻品种的培育。在这里，我们通过图谱克隆鉴定了 GS9（第 9 号染色体上的粒形基因）基因。gs9 缺失突变体的粒形细长，而过量表达 GS9 则导致粒形圆形。GS9 编码一种没有已知保守功能域的蛋白质。它通过改变细胞分裂来调节粒形。GS9 与卵形家族蛋白 OsOFP14 和 OsOFP8 的相互作用受 OsGSK2 激酶调节，后者是油菜素甾体信号通路的关键调节剂。遗传相互作用分析表明，GS9 独立于其他已鉴定的粒型基因发挥作用。将 gs9 等位基因引入优良水稻品种中，显著改善了粒形和外观品质。这表明 gs9 单独或与其他粒型决定基因结合，在培育具有优化粒形的水稻品种方面具有潜在的应用价值。
