一个水稻增产关键基因IPA1成功克隆

中国科学家在新一期英国《自然·遗传学》杂志上报告说，他们成功克隆了一个可帮助水稻增产的关键基因，该基因能使水稻向秆壮穗大的理想株型发展，在高产育种中具有重要应用前景。

中国科学院遗传与发育生物学研究所李家洋院士和中国农业科学院中国水稻研究所钱前研究员等组成的科研团队取得了这一突破性进展。李家洋院士介绍说，研究小组在中国农业部、科技部和国家自然科学基金委等部门的大力支持下，经过数年的协作与攻关，成功克隆了控制水稻理想株型的关键多效基因IPA1。

理想株型是当前国内外超级稻研究中的一个核心领域，即通过改变水稻在分蘖、茎秆、穗粒等方面的结构特点，提高水稻产量。研究小组发现，基因IPA1发生突变后，会使水稻分蘖数减少，穗粒数和千粒重（以克表示的一千粒种子的重量）增加，同时茎秆变得粗壮，增加了抗倒伏能力。实验显示，将突变后的基因导入常规水稻品种，可以使其产量增加10％以上。

英国《自然》出版集团在新闻通报中评价说，到2050年全球粮食产量需要翻倍才能满足日益增长的人口对粮食的需要，对包括本次成果在内的水稻增产基因的确认和利用将成为解决粮食问题的重要途径。

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Regulation of OsSPL14 by OsmiR156 defines ideal plant architecture in rice
Yongqing Jiao, Yonghong Wang, Dawei Xue, Jing Wang, Meixian Yan, Guifu Liu, Guojun Dong, Dali Zeng, Zefu Lu, Xudong Zhu, Qian Qian& Jiayang Li

【Abstract】Increasing crop yield is a major challenge for modern agriculture. The development of new plant types, which is known as ideal plant architecture (IPA), has been proposed as a means to enhance rice yield potential over that of existing high-yield varieties1, 2. Here, we report the cloning and characterization of a semidominant quantitative trait locus, IPA1 (Ideal Plant Architecture 1), which profoundly changes rice plant architecture and substantially enhances rice grain yield. The IPA1 quantitative trait locus encodes OsSPL14 (SOUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN-LIKE 14) and is regulated by microRNA (miRNA) OsmiR156 in vivo. We demonstrate that a point mutation in OsSPL14 perturbs OsmiR156-directed regulation of OsSPL14, generating an 'ideal' rice plant with a reduced tiller number, increased lodging resistance and enhanced grain yield. Our study suggests that OsSPL14 may help improve rice grain yield by facilitating the breeding of new elite rice varieties.