The SDR1-OsDSK2a-EUI1 module orchestrates plant height and multi-stress resilience in rice.
Li G, Zou T, Zhang X, Yang S, Ma N
Crop Improvement
The rice in your next meal could soon come from shorter, sturdier plants that produce more grain per acre without extra land — because farmers lose enormous harvests each year when tall rice stalks collapse under wind and rain.
A gene in rice acts like a dial for a natural growth hormone, determining how tall the plant grows. Scientists who switched this gene off got shorter, stockier plants that don't tip over in wind or rain — a huge problem that destroys rice harvests worldwide. Surprisingly, these shorter plants actually made more grain when fields were planted densely, and they also handled salty soils and disease better.
Key Findings
Knocking out SDR1 in rice cultivar Zhonghua 11 simultaneously improved lodging resistance and grain yield under high-density, high-fertility cultivation conditions
SDR1 controls plant height by regulating gibberellin (GA) growth hormone levels — it does this by tagging the GA-deactivating enzyme EUI1 for destruction via the cell's own protein-recycling machinery
Loss of SDR1 function delivered a multi-stress resilience package: semi-dwarfism, enhanced lodging resistance, improved salt tolerance, and greater disease resistance in a single genetic change
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists identified a gene in rice called SDR1 that controls plant height by managing levels of a natural growth hormone. Disabling this gene produces shorter, sturdier plants that resist falling over, tolerate salt and disease better, and — crucially — yield more grain when grown in dense, high-input fields.
Abstract Preview
Optimal plant height is critical for yield performance and lodging resistance in rice (Oryza sativa L.). However, genetic resources available for optimizing yield and lodging resistance in breeding...
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Rice is a cereal grain and in its domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species Oryza sativa —or, much less commonly, Oryza glaberrima. Asian rice was domesticated in China some 13,500 to 8,200 y...