title: Natural variation in Ghd7 is an important regulator of heading date and yield potential in rice.
abstract: Yield potential, plant height and heading date are three classes of traits that determine the productivity of many crop plants. Here we show that the quantitative trait locus (QTL) Ghd7, isolated from an elite rice hybrid and encoding a CCT domain protein, has major effects on an array of traits in rice, including number of grains per panicle, plant height and heading date. Enhanced expression of Ghd7 under long-day conditions delays heading and increases plant height and panicle size. Natural mutants with reduced function enable rice to be cultivated in temperate and cooler regions. Thus, Ghd7 has played crucial roles for increasing productivity and adaptability of rice globally.
authors.affiliation: National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, National Centre of Plant Gene Research (Wuhan), Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
authors.forename: Weiya
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.forename: Yongzhong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xing
authors.forename: Xiaoyu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Weng
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Weijiang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Hongju
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Sibin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Caiguo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Xianghua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Qifa
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D032461:Chromosomes, Plant / Q000235:genetics*; D035263:Flowering Tops; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D017343:Genes, Plant / Q000502:physiology*; D005819:Genetic Markers; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D012275:Oryza / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development*; D010641:Phenotype; D040641:Quantitative Trait Loci; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers; D012333:RNA, Messenger