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Effects of the core heading date genes Hd1, Ghd7, DTH8, and PRR37 on yield-related traits in rice

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Abstract

Key message

We clarify the influence of the genotypes of the heading date genes Hd1, Ghd7, DTH8, and PRR37 and their combinations on yield-related traits and the functional differences between different haplotypes.

Abstract

Heading date is a key agronomic trait in rice (Oryza sativa L.) that determines yield and adaptability to different latitudes. Heading date 1 (Hd1), Grain number, plant height, and heading date 7 (Ghd7), Days to heading on chromosome 8 (DTH8), and PSEUDO-RESPONSE REGULATOR 37 (PRR37) are core rice genes controlling photoperiod sensitivity, and these genes have many haplotypes in rice cultivars. However, the effects of different haplotypes at these genes on yield-related traits in diverse rice materials remain poorly characterized. In this study, we knocked out Hd1, Ghd7, DTH8, or PRR37, alone or together, in indica and japonica varieties and systematically investigated the agronomic traits of each knockout line. Ghd7 and PRR37 increased the number of spikelets and improved yield, and this effect was enhanced with the Ghd7 DTH8 or Ghd7 PRR37 combination, but Hd1 negatively affected yield. We also identified a new weak functional Ghd7 allele containing a mutation that interferes with splicing. Furthermore, we determined that the promotion or inhibition of heading date by different PRR37 haplotypes is related to PRR37 expression levels, day length, and the genetic background. For rice breeding, a combination of functional alleles of Ghd7 and DTH8 or Ghd7 and PRR37 in the hd1 background can be used to increase yield. Our study clarifies the effects of heading date genes on yield-related traits and the functional differences among their different haplotypes, providing valuable information to identify and exploit elite haplotypes for heading date genes to breed high-yielding rice varieties.

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Data availability

Data supporting the findings of this work are available within the paper and its Supplementary Information files.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Degui Zhou, GuangDong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, for providing rice materials Xiang Zhan and Hua Zhan.

Funding

This research was supported by grants from the National Nature Science Foundation of China (31921004, 31871596), the Major Program of Guangdong Basic and Applied Research (2019B030302006), the Laboratory of Lingnan Modern Agriculture Project (NT2021002).

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Author notes

  1. Kangli Sun and Wubei Zong have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, College of Life Sciences, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, 510642, China

    Kangli Sun, Wubei Zong, Dongdong Xiao, Zeqiang Wu, Xiaotong Guo, Fuquan Li, Yingang Song, Shengting Li, Guangliang Wei, Yu Hao, Bingqun Xu, Weitao Li, Zhiwei Lin, Wenhao Xie, Yao-Guang Liu & Jingxin Guo

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  1. Kangli Sun
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Contributions

JG conceived the work, analyzed the data, and revised the manuscript. KS and WZ performed the experiments and prepared the manuscript. DX, ZW, and XG helped some experiments. FL helped analyze some of the data. YS helped investigate field phenotypic. SL, GW, YH, BX, WL, ZL and WX helped investigate yield traits. JG and YL revised the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jingxin Guo.

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Communicated by Takuji Sasaki.

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Sun, K., Zong, W., Xiao, D. et al. Effects of the core heading date genes Hd1, Ghd7, DTH8, and PRR37 on yield-related traits in rice. Theor Appl Genet 136, 227 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-023-04476-x

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