Project description:Polyploidization is one of the effective ways to improve plant height and yield of rice (Oryza sativa L.). However, the molecular mechanism of regulation is not yet fully understood. Here, we investigated the agronomic traits of diploid (Balilla-2x) and tetraploid (Balilla-4x) of japonica rice variety Balilla. Compared with Balilla-2x, Balilla-4x exhibited significantly increased plant height, spike length and yield per plant. RNA-seq analysis of the leaves of Balilla-2x and Balilla-4x was performed and the results showed that the expression levels of yield related genes (e.g., STH1, OsYUC9, and OsDEP1) were significantly upregulated in Balilla-4x rice plants, these genes are related to plant height and panicle development. These results indicated that polyploidization changed the expression of genes related to agronomic traits such as plant height and spike length, thereby increasing rice yield. This study provides a further basis for understanding the yield of rice after polyploidization, and can serve as a new theoretical reference for breeding high-yielding rice varieties achieved.
Project description:Rice grassy stunt disease is mainly observed in South, Southeast and East Asia, and caused by Rice grassy stunt virus (RGSV). Specific symptom appeared on RGSV infected rice plant is excess tillering. To guess how to induce excess tillering in RGSV infected plant, we analyzed the global gene expression changes in RGSV infected plants. Keywords: virus infection, disease response
Project description:To explore the molecular mechanisms underlying the rice plant-mediated interaction between brown planthopper (BPH) and striped stem borer (SSB), gene expression changes in rice plant response to infestation by SSB, BPH or both and control were analyzed by RNA-seq.
Project description:Plant height and grain size are important agronomic traits affecting rice yield. Various plant hormones participate in the regulation of plant height and grain size in rice. However, how these hormones cooperate to regulate plant height and grain size is poorly understood. In this study, we identified a brassinosteroid-related gene, hfr131, from an introgression line constructed using Oryza longistaminata, that caused brassinosteroid insensitivity and reduced plant height and grain length in rice. Further study showed that hfr131 is a new allele of OsBRI1 with a single-nucleotide polymorphism (G to A) in the coding region, leading to a T988I conversion at a conserved site of the kinase domain. An auxin response factor, OsARF17, could bind to the promoter region of HFR131 and positively regulated HFR131 expression, thereby regulating the plant height and grain length, and influencing brassinosteroid sensitivity. Haplotype analysis showed that the consociation of OsAFR17Hap1/HFR131Hap6 conferred an increase in grain length. Overall, this study identified hfr131 as a new allele of OsBRI1 that regulates plant height and grain length in rice, revealed that brassinosteroid and auxin might coordinate through OsARF17–HFR131 interaction, and provided a potential breeding target for improvement of rice yield.
Project description:This project aims at identifying secreted proteins that modulate plant immunity from Ustilaginoidea virens, which infects rice panicles and is the causal agent of rice false smut (RFS). The identified proteins will be expressed in plant and test whether they can induce cell death, induce plant immunity or suppress plant immunity.
Project description:Improving the yield by modifying plant architecture is key to progressive crop domestication. Here, we show that a 110-kb deletion on the short arm of chromosome 7 promotes the critical transition from semi-prostrate growth and low yield in wild rice (Oryza rufipogon), to erect growth and high yield in Asian cultivated rice (O. sativa). The microdeletion harbors a tandem repeat of seven putative Cys2-His2 zinc-finger genes. Three of these genes regulate the plant architecture in O. rufipogon and are closely linked to the previously identified PROSTRATE GROWTH 1 (PROG1) gene. Therefore, we refer to this locus as RICE PLANT ARCHITECTURE DOMESTICATION (RPAD). Furthermore, a similar but independent 113-kb deletion was detected at the RPAD locus in African cultivated rice. These results indicate that the deletions, coupled with the loss of a tandem repeat of zinc-finger genes, drove the parallel domestication of plant architecture in Asian and African rice.
Project description:Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated genetic transformation has been routinely used in rice for more than a decade. However, the transformation efficiency of the indica rice variety is still unsatisfactory and much lower than that of japonica cultivars. Further improvement on the transformation efficiency lies in the genetic manipulation of the plant itself, which requires a better understanding of the underlying process accounting for the susceptibility of plant cells to Agrobacterium infection as well as the identification of plant genes involved in the transformation process. In order to investigate the related genes affecting the transformation efficiency of embryogenic calli of different rice cultivars, we used Affymetrix GeneChip® Rice Genome Array to measure the global gene expression profiling just before transformation and at four different time points after transformation (1 h, 6 h, 12 h, 24 h) in both japonica rice cultivar Nipponbare and indica rice cultivar Zhenshan 97.
Project description:The plant hormone jasmonate (JA) plays important roles in the regulation of defense responses in many plants. To clarify the response to JA in rice at gene expression level, we performed a microarray analysis using the Agilent Rice Oligo Microarray (44k, custom-made; Agilent Technologies, Redwood City, CA, USA). As a result, treatment of JA caused high upregulation of many defense-related genes including pathogenesis-related (PR) genes in rice. However, many of these defense-related genes were not upregulated in JA-insensitive transgenic rice plant overexpressing JAZ8deltaC.
Project description:Plant height is a major trait affecting yield potential in rice. Using a large-scale hybrid transcription factor approach, we identified the novel MYB-like transcription factor OsMPH1 (MYB-like gene of Plant Height 1), which is involved in the regulation of plant height in rice.Overexpression of OsMPH1 leads to increases of plant height and grain yield in rice, while knockdown of OsMPH1 leads to the opposite phenotypes. RNA-seq is used for exploring differences between OsMPH1 transgenic rice and wild-type plants.