Genetic and molecular factors in determining grain number per panicle of rice

Yue Lu; Mingli Chuan; Hanyao Wang; Rujia Chen; Tianyun Tao; Yong Zhou; Yang Xu; Pengcheng Li; Youli Yao; Chenwu Xu; Zefeng Yang

doi:10.3389/fpls.2022.964246

Genetic and molecular factors in determining grain number per panicle of rice

Front Plant Sci. 2022 Aug 4:13:964246. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2022.964246. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Yue Lu^{1

2}, Mingli Chuan^{1

2}, Hanyao Wang¹, Rujia Chen¹, Tianyun Tao¹, Yong Zhou^{1

2

3}, Yang Xu^{1

2}, Pengcheng Li¹, Youli Yao^{1

2}, Chenwu Xu^{1

2

3}, Zefeng Yang^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Plant Functional Genomics of the Ministry of Education, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Crop Genomics and Molecular Breeding, College of Agriculture, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China.
² Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Physiology, Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center for Modern Production Technology of Grain Crops, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China.
³ Joint International Research Laboratory of Agriculture and Agri-Product Safety of the Ministry of Education, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China.

Abstract

It was suggested that the most effective way to improve rice grain yield is to increase the grain number per panicle (GN) through the breeding practice in recent decades. GN is a representative quantitative trait affected by multiple genetic and environmental factors. Understanding the mechanisms controlling GN has become an important research field in rice biotechnology and breeding. The regulation of rice GN is coordinately controlled by panicle architecture and branch differentiation, and many GN-associated genes showed pleiotropic effect in regulating tillering, grain size, flowering time, and other domestication-related traits. It is also revealed that GN determination is closely related to vascular development and the metabolism of some phytohormones. In this review, we summarize the recent findings in rice GN determination and discuss the genetic and molecular mechanisms of GN regulators.

Keywords: branch differentiation; grain number; panicle architecture; rice; vascular development.

Publication types

Review