Yi Wen, Peng Hu, Yunxia Fang, Yiqing Tan, Yueying Wang, Hao Wu, Junge Wang, Kaixiong Wu, Bingze Chai, Li Zhu, Guangheng Zhang, Zhenyu Gao, Deyong Ren, Dali Zeng, Lan Shen, Guojun Dong, Qiang Zhang, Qing Li, Guosheng Xiong, Dawei Xue, Qian Qian, Jiang Hu
Grain weight is an important determinant of grain yield. However, the underlying regulatory mechanisms for grain size remain to be fully elucidated. Here, we identify a rice mutant grain weight 9 (gw9), which exhibits larger and heavier grains due to excessive cell proliferation and expansion in spikelet hull. GW9 encodes a nucleus-localized protein containing both C2H2 zinc finger (C2H2-ZnF) and VRN2-EMF2-FIS2-SUZ12 (VEFS) domains, serving as a negative regulator of grain size and weight. Interestingly, the non-frameshift mutations in C2H2-ZnF domain result in increased plant height and larger grain size, whereas frameshift mutations in both C2H2-ZnF and VEFS domains lead to dwarf and malformed spikelet...
November 20, 2023: Plant Biotechnology Journal