中國科學(xué)家在新一期英國《自然·遺傳學(xué)》雜志上報(bào)告說，他們成功克隆了一個(gè)可幫助水稻增產(chǎn)的關(guān)鍵基因，該基因能使水稻向稈壯穗大的理想株型發(fā)展，在高產(chǎn)育種中具有重要應(yīng)用前景。

中國科學(xué)院遺傳與發(fā)育生物學(xué)研究所李家洋院士和中國農(nóng)業(yè)科學(xué)院中國水稻研究所錢前研究員等組成的科研團(tuán)隊(duì)取得了這一突破性進(jìn)展。李家洋院士介紹說，研究小組在中國農(nóng)業(yè)部、科技部和國家自然科學(xué)基金委等部門的大力支持下，經(jīng)過數(shù)年的協(xié)作與攻關(guān)，成功克隆了控制水稻理想株型的關(guān)鍵多效基因IPA1。

理想株型是當(dāng)前國內(nèi)外超級(jí)稻研究中的一個(gè)核心領(lǐng)域，即通過改變水稻在分蘗、莖稈、穗粒等方面的結(jié)構(gòu)特點(diǎn)，提高水稻產(chǎn)量。研究小組發(fā)現(xiàn)，基因IPA1發(fā)生突變后，會(huì)使水稻分蘗數(shù)減少，穗粒數(shù)和千粒重（以克表示的一千粒種子的重量）增加，同時(shí)莖稈變得粗壯，增加了抗倒伏能力。實(shí)驗(yàn)顯示，將突變后的基因?qū)氤Ｒ?guī)水稻品種，可以使其產(chǎn)量增加10％以上。

英國《自然》出版集團(tuán)在新聞通報(bào)中評(píng)價(jià)說，到2050年糧食產(chǎn)量需要翻倍才能滿足日益增長(zhǎng)的人口對(duì)糧食的需要，對(duì)包括本次成果在內(nèi)的水稻增產(chǎn)基因的確認(rèn)和利用將成為解決糧食問題的重要途徑。

Nature Genetics  doi:10.1038/ng.591

Regulation of OsSPL14 by OsmiR156 defines ideal plant architecture in rice
Yongqing Jiao1,4, Yonghong Wang1,4, Dawei Xue2,3,4, Jing Wang1, Meixian Yan2, Guifu Liu1, Guojun Dong2, Dali Zeng2, Zefu Lu1, Xudong Zhu2, Qian Qian2 & Jiayang Li1

Increasing crop yield is a major challenge for modern agriculture. The development of new plant types, which is known as ideal plant architecture （IPA）, has been proposed as a means to enhance rice yield potential over that of existing high-yield varieties1, 2. Here, we report the cloning and characterization of a semidominant quantitative trait locus, IPA1 （Ideal Plant Architecture 1）, which profoundly changes rice plant architecture and substantially enhances rice grain yield. The IPA1 quantitative trait locus encodes OsSPL14 （SOUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN-LIKE 14） and is regulated by microRNA （miRNA） OsmiR156 in vivo. We demonstrate that a point mutation in OsSPL14 perturbs OsmiR156-directed regulation of OsSPL14, generating an 'ideal' rice plant with a reduced tiller number, increased lodging resistance and enhanced grain yield. Our study suggests that OsSPL14 may help improve rice grain yield by facilitating the breeding of new elite rice varieties.