The ELD4-OsPRR95 module represses OsMADS51 in regulating rice heading date.
Jin X, Li W, Zhang X, Wu FQ, Wang Y
Crop Improvement
Rice varieties grown in your region exist because their ancestors evolved to flower at exactly the right time of year for that latitude — and this study reveals the molecular switches that made that geographic tuning possible.
Researchers found two proteins in rice that act like a brake pedal, working together to delay the plant's decision to flower. When either protein is damaged or removed, the rice flowers too early. They also discovered that different natural versions of one protein exist in northern versus southern rice-growing regions, showing that rice has been quietly adapting — through evolution and farming — to flower at just the right time depending on where it grows.
Key Findings
ELD4 and OsPRR95 physically bind together and directly suppress OsMADS51 — a flowering-promotion gene — by attaching to its promoter region and first intron.
Rice plants with CRISPR-disrupted ELD4 or mutant OsPRR95 flowered earlier than wild-type plants under natural long-day conditions.
OsPRR95 haplotype 3, distributed in northern growing regions, produces a shorter heading date than haplotype 1 found in the south, indicating geographic selection shaped this locus.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists identified two proteins in rice — ELD4 and OsPRR95 — that team up to delay flowering by suppressing a key flowering-promotion gene. Natural variation in OsPRR95 across geographic regions suggests rice has been selected over time to flower at the right moment for its local climate.
Abstract Preview
Heading date is a key agronomic trait that affects crop yield and regional adaptability. In this study, we identified a rice (Oryza sativa) early heading mutant and cloned the causal heading inhibi...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
Species Mentioned
Was this useful?
Chloroplast Genome Editing Eliminates Gluten Immunogenicity in Triticum aestivum
It could mean that people with celiac disease — roughly 1 in 100 worldwide — may one day safely eat bread made from real wheat, without sacrificing the taste...
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...