"One arrow and three sculptures"!Chinese scientists have found "excellent" high -yield genes in rice

On July 22, research papers in the international famous academic journal "Science". Chinese agricultural scientists have discovered the high yield of rice (OSDREB1C) in rice. This gene can improve the efficiency and nitrogen utilization efficiency of rice light synthesis, which significantly improves rice. Production; at the same time, the rice can be pumped in advance and shorten the birth period.

Wan Jianmin, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, believes that the major breakthrough in this research is that it is not only to discover that a single gene can regulate multiple important physiological channels at the same time, breaking the contradiction between the "high yield" and "precocious" that exists in agricultural production for a long time. Essence "It will provide new ideas and new strategies for the future improvement of multiple physiological traits and the efficient use of resources through coordinated improvement, which will effectively promote the development of crop genetic breeding and crop physiological research."

According to reports, the research was led by researcher Zhou Wenbin, Institute of Cropology of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and cooperated with relevant research institutions at home and abroad to complete it for 7 years. In the future, changes in crop production methods have important theoretical value and guidance.

Early excavated excellent genes among 118 transcription factors

Seven years ago, a scientific research paper published in the international academic journal "Nature -Biotechnology" attracted the attention of Zhou Wenbin's team. Through comparing corn and rice, the article found 118 transcription factors that regulate corn -optical effects.

Zhou Wenbin introduced that these 118 transcription factors have one -to -one homologous genes in corn and rice. Both corn and rice are grasses, but their output is very different. The yield of corn is much higher than that of rice, almost twice the rice. This is because they have different photosynthetic ways. Corn is the four crops of carbon. The biggest feature is that it has higher photosynthetic efficiency, nitrogen utilization efficiency, and moisture utilization efficiency than carbon three crops (such as rice, wheat, etc.) Essence

As we all know, photosynthesis, nitrogen, and yield are closely related. The photosynthesis is the basis for the amount of carbon dioxide in the air into organic matter, which is the basis of crop biomass and yield. Nitrogen is an important part of chlorophyll, protein, nucleic acid and metabolites, and is also the main limit factors for output.

Why does the homologous genes that also exist in corn and rice have a huge difference? How to find key genes for collaborative regulation of rice gum carbon and nitrogen use? Zhou Wenbin's team began a journey to find this gene.

Two researchers in the team assumed the initial appraisal task. They were Dr. Wei Shaobo and Dr. Li Xia and Dr. Li Xia in the Institute of Crop Science of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. They were also the first authors of the paper.

The foundation of a gene is long, and even a little luck is needed, and it is more to face the unknown persistence. Zhou Wenbin said: As long as 1 % of hope, we must try. Wei Shaobo told reporters that in the constant identification and analysis, they faced a situation of abandonment several times, but eventually persisted. Their adherence finally won the favor of fate. In the rice, they identified OSDREB1C, which is induced by light and low nitrogen -induced expression at the same time.

Field test verification high yield effect

After the appraisal is completed, it is a longer test process. Team researchers have selected two varieties for testing, one is "Japan Sunny", which is a model crop in rice research, because its whole genome sequence has been sequensed and is an excellent test object. Another variety is the "Show Water 134" in the current production. This is a conventional japonica rice variety. The yield per mu can reach 600 kg.

Through modern genetic engineering technical means, scientific researchers have built materials for knockout that genes and materials that are excessive, and compare them with wild types that are not operated. The results show that the rice material that expresses the gene is faster than the wild type in the light, and the optical effect rate is significantly improved. The content of the optical alchemy chemical in the leaves increases, and the grouting rate of the grains is faster.

At the same time, in Datian Test, scientific researchers also found that the efficiency of nitrogen in the expression materials has been significantly improved. Three test fields without nitrogen, medium nitrogen, and high nitrogen fertilizer The output of expressing materials can reach or even exceed the wild output under the conditions of medium nitrogen application.

In Beijing, Hangzhou, Sanya and other places, scientific researchers have conducted many years of field trials for many years, and found that after expressing OSDREB1C in "Japan Sunny", it can achieve significant production increase in Beijing, and the increase in community production has reached 41.3 % to 68.3 %. "Xiushui 134" can achieve 30.1 % to 41.6 % increase in production in Hangzhou. At the same time, the two test materials have different degrees of precocious effects.

New discovery brings a new dawn to breeding

The latest release of the "World Food Safety and Nutrition of 2022" reports that the number of people around the world in 2021 is 828 million, and the world's grain security is facing huge challenges. Therefore, high yields are still one of the most important pursuits in agricultural breeding, especially food breeding.

In the 1960s, the "Green Revolution" began. Through semi -dwarf breeding, hybrid breeding and other varieties, and the improvement of cultivation management technology, crop output achieved significant improvement. However, in recent years, this growth is entering the platform period, and the increase in production is becoming slow. "About 24 % to 39 % of corn, rice, wheat, and soybean planting areas are in the trend of stagnation or even decline." Zhou Wenbin said. At the same time, the use of nitrogen fertilizers in large quantities is still one of the important measures for increasing production of crops. However, the use of excessive nitrogen fertilizer is not only conducive to increasing production, but it will bring increasingly negative effects, including environmental pollution problems and crops "greedy late maturity".

The dilemma of global food production has made the demand for large increase in production and the efficient needs of nitrogen fertilizer. This is also the difficulty and hotspot in the current agricultural scientific research. Osdreb1c's discovery brought dawn to cracking these problems.

Zhou Wenbin said that new research has innovated the theory of high -yielding crops, and also confirmed the possibility of a variety of physiological functions of gene regulation. OSDREB1C's expression in rice has the triple effect of photosynthetic efficiency, high efficiency of nitrogen fertilizer, and early maturity. Increasing the actual agricultural production problems such as increasing rice production, reducing nitrogen fertilizer use, and solving the tightening of crop complication in crops all have an important role in actual agricultural production problems. In addition, OSDREB1C also has the conservative function of high -yield precocity in wheat, making it have extensive application potential and development prospects.

"The increase in production of this gene is rare," said Zhu Jiankang, an academician of the National Academy of Sciences. Professor Stevenkeelly, Department of Botanical Sciences at Oxford University believes that this study proves that it is feasible to increase the production of crops by increasing the photosynthesis. The increase in production has great potential.

Wan Jianmin said, "The discovery of the gene provided us with a new research material and genetic resources, and also provided us with unlimited possibilities, but the next step still needs scientific organization to accelerate the application of breeding." Chinese Academy of Sciences. Academician Yang Weicai also said, "This is another important discovery of my country's rice research results, providing important genetic resources for the cultivation of more high yields, high -efficiency use of nitrogen, and precocious crops."

However, from the new discovery of basic research, to the real application of practice, there is still a long distance. The director of the Institute of Cropology of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences said that the discovery of this gene "is indeed a new dawn of breeding. In the future, what needs to be done is to turn theory into reality as soon as possible and use it at a faster speed. "

Zhou Wenbin said that in the future, the research team will conduct in -depth research on the function and function mechanism of the genes in major grain crops, evaluate its anti -inverse and field output traits, cooperate with relevant domestic research teams to break through and cultivate high -yield and efficient new varieties, and provide food safety provision for food security Technology support.

Source: Farmers Daily

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