Natural variation of an autophagy-family gene among rice subspecies affects grain size and weight
Shiying Huang,
Peng Wang,
Caijing Li,
Qingwen Zhou,
Tao Huang,
Yicong Cai,
Qin Cheng,
Hui Wang,
Qi Zhong,
Zhihao Chen,
Liping Chen,
Haohua He,
Jianmin Bian
Affiliations
Shiying Huang
Key Laboratory of Crop Physiology, Ecology and Genetic Breeding, Ministry of Education. Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, Jiangxi, China
Peng Wang
Key Laboratory of Crop Physiology, Ecology and Genetic Breeding, Ministry of Education. Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, Jiangxi, China
Caijing Li
Key Laboratory of Crop Physiology, Ecology and Genetic Breeding, Ministry of Education. Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, Jiangxi, China
Qingwen Zhou
Weill Cornell Medical, Immunology and Microbiology, 1300 York Avenue, Box 62, New York, NY 10065, USA
Tao Huang
Key Laboratory of Crop Physiology, Ecology and Genetic Breeding, Ministry of Education. Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, Jiangxi, China
Yicong Cai
Key Laboratory of Crop Physiology, Ecology and Genetic Breeding, Ministry of Education. Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, Jiangxi, China
Qin Cheng
Key Laboratory of Crop Physiology, Ecology and Genetic Breeding, Ministry of Education. Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, Jiangxi, China
Hui Wang
Key Laboratory of Crop Physiology, Ecology and Genetic Breeding, Ministry of Education. Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, Jiangxi, China
Qi Zhong
Key Laboratory of Crop Physiology, Ecology and Genetic Breeding, Ministry of Education. Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, Jiangxi, China
Zhihao Chen
Key Laboratory of Crop Physiology, Ecology and Genetic Breeding, Ministry of Education. Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, Jiangxi, China
Liping Chen
Key Laboratory of Crop Physiology, Ecology and Genetic Breeding, Ministry of Education. Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, Jiangxi, China
Haohua He
Key Laboratory of Crop Physiology, Ecology and Genetic Breeding, Ministry of Education. Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, Jiangxi, China; Corresponding authors.
Jianmin Bian
Key Laboratory of Crop Physiology, Ecology and Genetic Breeding, Ministry of Education. Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, Jiangxi, China; Corresponding authors.
Elucidating the genetic basis of natural variation in grain size and weight among rice varieties can help breeders develop high-yielding varieties. We identified a novel gene, GW3a (Grain Weight 3a) (LOC_Os03g27350), that affects rice grain size and weight. gw3a mutants showed higher total starch content and dry matter accumulation than the wild type (WT), Nipponbare, suggesting that GW3a negatively regulates grain size and weight. Moreover, our study found that GW3a interacted with OsATG8 by cleaving it, suggesting that GW3a may be involved in the assembly of autophagosomes and starch degradation in plants. The haplotype analysis of GW3a showed functional differences between indica and japonica rice. Taken together, we conclude that GW3a is expressed in the autophagosome pathway regulating starch metabolism in rice, affecting yield-related traits, such as grain size, grain weight and thousand grain weight (TGW). Our findings also shed new light on autophagy-mediated yield trait regulation, proposing a possible strategy for the genetic improvement of high-yield germplasm in rice.
