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Molecular mechanisms of hybrid sterility in rice

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Abstract

Hybrid sterility presents a major bottleneck in hybrid crop breeding and causes postzygotic reproductive isolation in speciation. Here, we summarize the current understanding of the genetics of rice hybrid sterility and highlight new advances in deciphering the molecular basis of the major genetic loci for hybrid sterility in rice. We also discuss practical strategies for overcoming reproductive barriers to utilize hybrid vigor in inter-specific and inter-subspecific hybrid rice breeding.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the Key Research Program of Guangzhou Science Technology and Innovation Commission (201707020016), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31471564, 31701499) and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2018M630955).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, 510642, China

    Yongyao Xie, Rongxin Shen, Letian Chen & Yao-Guang Liu

  2. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Protein Function and Regulation in Agricultural Organisms, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, 510642, China

    Yongyao Xie & Letian Chen

  3. Key Laboratory of Plant Functional Genomics and Biotechnology of Guangdong Provincial Higher Education Institutions, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, 510642, China

    Yongyao Xie, Rongxin Shen, Letian Chen & Yao-Guang Liu

  4. College of Life Sciences, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, 510642, China

    Yongyao Xie, Rongxin Shen, Letian Chen & Yao-Guang Liu

Authors
  1. Yongyao Xie
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  2. Rongxin Shen
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  3. Letian Chen
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  4. Yao-Guang Liu
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Letian Chen or Yao-Guang Liu.

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Xie, Y., Shen, R., Chen, L. et al. Molecular mechanisms of hybrid sterility in rice. Sci. China Life Sci. 62, 737–743 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11427-019-9531-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11427-019-9531-7

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