Reference "Control of rice grain-filling and yield by a gene with a potential signature of domestication"

Reference ID

25498

Title

Control of rice grain-filling and yield by a gene with a potential signature of domestication

Source

Nature genetics, 2008, vol. , pp. -

Authors (13)

Wang-E	Wang-J	Zhu-X	Hao-W
Wang-L	Li-Q	Zhang-L	He-W
Lu-B	Lin-H	Ma-H	Zhang-G
He-Z

Abstract

Grain-filling, an important trait that contributes greatly to grain weight, is
regulated by quantitative trait loci and is associated with crop domestication
syndrome. However, the genes and underlying molecular mechanisms controlling
crop grain-filling remain elusive. Here we report the isolation and functional
analysis of the rice GIF1 (GRAIN INCOMPLETE FILLING 1) gene that encodes a cell-
wall invertase required for carbon partitioning during early grain-filling. The
cultivated GIF1 gene shows a restricted expression pattern during grain-filling
compared to the wild rice allele, probably a result of accumulated mutations in
the gene's regulatory sequence through domestication. Fine mapping with
introgression lines revealed that the wild rice GIF1 is responsible for grain
weight reduction. Ectopic expression of the cultivated GIF1 gene with the 35S or
rice Waxy promoter resulted in smaller grains, whereas overexpression of GIF1
driven by its native promoter increased grain production. These findings,
together with the domestication signature that we identified by comparing
nucleotide diversity of the GIF1 loci between cultivated and wild rice, strongly
suggest that GIF1 is a potential domestication gene and that such a domestication-
selected gene can be used for further crop improvement.