miR1432-OsACOT (Acyl-CoA thioesterase) module determines grain yield via enhancing grain filling rate in rice.

Rice grain filling rate contributes largely to grain productivity and accumulation of nutrients. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are key regulators of development and physiology in plants and become a novel key target for engineering grain size and crop yield. However, there is little studies, so far, showing the miRNA regulation of grain filling and rice yield, in consequence. Here, we show that suppressed expression of rice miR1432 (STTM1432) significantly improves grain weight by enhancing grain filling rate and leads to an increase in overall grain yield up to 17.14% in a field trial. Molecular analysis identified rice Acyl-CoA thioesterase (OsACOT), which is conserved with ACOT13 in other species, as a major target of miR1432 by cleavage. Moreover, overexpression of miR1432-resistant form of OsACOT (OXmACOT) resembled the STTM1432 plants, that is, a large margin of an increase in grain weight up to 46.69% through improving the grain filling rate. Further study indicated that OsACOT was involved in biosynthesis of medium-chain fatty acids. In addition, RNA-seq based transcriptomic analyses of transgenic plants with altered expression of miR1432 demonstrated that downstream genes of miR1432-regulated network are involved in fatty acid metabolism and phytohormones biosynthesis and also overlap with the enrichment analysis of co-expressed genes of OsACOT, which is consistent with the increased levels of auxin and abscisic acid in STTM1432 and OXmACOT plants. Overall, miR1432-OsACOT module plays an important role in grain filling in rice, illustrating its capacity for engineering yield improvement in crops.

Identification and molecular tagging of two complementary dominant resistance genes to maize dwarf mosaic virus.

Maize dwarf mosaic is one of the devastating and widespread viral diseases in the world. So far, only a few genes were identified and mapped in the resistant materials. A new resistant elite inbred line Siyi was identified with resistance to maize dwarf mosaic virus strain B at early and adult stage. Two complementary dominant genes conditioned the resistance, with a new genetic model, of the maize inbred line were found at adult stage by the genetic analysis based on parents, F1, F2 and backcrosses in two years. The microsatellite analysis of a F2 population from the cross between Siyi and Mo17 was used to identify the two resistance genes on chromosome 3 and 6 respectively by 87 pairs of microsatellite markers. The linkage distance between phi029 and the one resistance gene on chromosome 3 is 14.5 cM, and phi126 to the other on chromosome 6 is 7.2 cM.

[Responses of rice genotypes with different silicon uptake efficiency to different silicon supply].

To understand the effects of silicon on the growth and development of rice roots, a hydroponic experiment with 3 levels of silicon, i.e., no silicon (T1), 1.25 mmol silicon x L(-1) (T2), and 2 mmol silicon x L(-1) (T3), was conducted, using rice cultivars TN1 and Baixiangjing with high silicon uptake efficiency and Juanyejing and Hitomebore with low silicon uptake efficiency as test materials. The results showed that with the increase of silicon supply, the root dry mass, root-shoot ratio, lateral root number, and total root length of all test rice cultivars decreased, while the dry mass of above-ground parts, root number, and root diameter increased. Relatively higher silicon supply was beneficial to the differentiation and development of indefinite roots, but not favorable to the lateral roots. Under lower silicon supply, the root dry mass and root-shoot ratio of TN1 and Baixiangjing were significantly higher than those of Juanyejing and Hitomebore. Furthermore, the number of lateral roots and the total root length of Baixiangjing were also significantly higher than those of Juanyejing and Hitomebore. It was concluded that total root length and lateral root number were the main factors affecting rice silicon uptake efficiency.