State Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry and National Maize Improvement Center of China, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
Science. 2022 Mar 25;375(6587):eabg7985. doi: 10.1126/science.abg7985.
A better understanding of the extent of convergent selection among crops could greatly improve breeding programs. We found that the quantitative trait locus in maize and its rice ortholog, , experienced convergent selection. These orthologs encode WD40 proteins and interact with a gene of unknown function, DUF1644, to negatively regulate grain number in both crops. Knockout of in maize or in rice increased grain yield by ~10% and ~8%, respectively, with no apparent trade-offs in other agronomic traits. Furthermore, genome-wide scans identified 490 pairs of orthologous genes that underwent convergent selection during maize and rice evolution, and these were enriched for two shared molecular pathways. , together with other convergently selected genes, provides an excellent target for future crop improvement.
更好地了解作物之间趋同选择的程度可以极大地改进作物育种计划。我们发现玉米中的数量性状位点及其水稻同源物 经历了趋同选择。这些同源物编码 WD40 蛋白，并与一个功能未知的基因 DUF1644 相互作用，以负调控这两种作物的籽粒数。在玉米中敲除 或在水稻中敲除 分别导致籽粒产量增加了约 10%和 8%，而其他农艺性状没有明显的权衡。此外，全基因组扫描鉴定出在玉米和水稻进化过程中经历趋同选择的 490 对同源基因，这些基因富集了两个共享的分子途径。 与其他趋同选择的基因一起，为未来的作物改良提供了一个极好的目标。
