OsMPH1 regulates plant height and improves grain yield in rice.

Aobo Huang,Tao Zhao,Jun Liu,Jianzhong Lin,Bin Liu,Jian Wang,Jin-Song Zhang,Chunsheng Yu,Hongyu Li,Yongxing Zhang

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0180825

Abstract

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. Microscopy of longitudinal stem sections indicated that a change in internode cell length resulted in the change in plant height. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis of transgenic rice lines showed that multiple genes related to cell elongation and cell wall synthesis, which are associated with plant height and yield phenotypes, exhibited an altered expression profile. These results imply that OsMPH1 might be involved in specific recognition and signal transduction processes related to plant height and yield formation, providing further insights into the mechanisms underlying the regulation of plant height and providing a candidate gene for the efficient improvement of rice yield.

Highlights

Plant height is an important agronomic trait of rice that directly affects the yield of this crop
By surveying the phenotypes of over 50,000 transgenic lines, covering 1,500 rice transcription factors fused with the transcription activation module 4VP16 or the repression module 4EAR, we identified a pair of hybrid transcription factors (HTFs) that exhibited opposite plant height phenotypes, referred to as OsMPH1-4VP16 (OsMPH1V) and OsMPH1-4EAR (OsMPH1E)
In comparison with the wild-type, the plant height of OsMPH1Vs-3 and OsMPH1Vs-6 was decreased by 22.3% and 22.5%, while that of OsMPH1E22 and OsMPH1E-50 was increased by 41.3% and 44.8%, respectively (Fig 1A and 1B)

Summary

Introduction

Plant height is an important agronomic trait of rice that directly affects the yield of this crop. The dwarf phenotype is beneficial for rice lodging, but if the plants are too short, it will lead to insufficient growth and affect the yield potential of rice. In an absence of lodging, it is essential to increase plant height to increase yield. The second green revolution and the breeding of super rice are based on appropriate plant heights [1,2,3]. It is of great significance to explore and identify plant height genes and apply them to rice breeding. Cell elongation involves turgor-driven expansion through wall component deposition or wall loosening.

Methods

Results

Conclusion