Non-canonical regulation of SPL transcription factors by a human OTUB1-like deubiquitinase defines a new plant type rice associated with higher grain yield.

ABSTRACT: Achieving increased grain productivity has long been the overriding focus of cereal breeding programs. The ideotype approach has been used to improve rice yield potential at the International Rice Research Institute and in China. However, the genetic basis of yield-related traits in rice remains unclear. Here, we show that a major quantitative trait locus, qNPT1, acts through the determination of a 'new plant type' (NPT) architecture characterized by fewer tillers, sturdier culms and larger panicles, and it encodes a deubiquitinating enzyme with homology to human OTUB1. Downregulation of OsOTUB1 enhances meristematic activity, resulting in reduced tiller number, increased grain number, enhanced grain weight and a consequent increase in grain yield in rice. Unlike human OTUB1, OsOTUB1 can c

SUBMITTER: Wang S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5587855 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature