title: Overexpression of microRNA OsmiR397 improves rice yield by increasing grain size and promoting panicle branching.
abstract: Increasing grain yields is a major focus of crop breeders around the world. Here we report that overexpression of the rice microRNA (miRNA) OsmiR397, which is naturally highly expressed in young panicles and grains, enlarges grain size and promotes panicle branching, leading to an increase in overall grain yield of up to 25% in a field trial. To our knowledge, no previous report has shown a positive regulatory role of miRNA in the control of plant seed size and grain yield. We determined that OsmiR397 increases grain yield by downregulating its target, OsLAC, whose product is a laccase-like protein that we found to be involved in the sensitivity of plants to brassinosteroids. As miR397 is highly conserved across different species, our results suggest that manipulating miR397 may be useful for increasing grain yield not only in rice but also in other cereal crops.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Gene Engineering of the Ministry of Education, State Key Laboratory for Biocontrol, School of Life Science, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, PR China.
authors.forename: Yu-Chan
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Cong-Ying
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Ze-Yuan
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Jian-You
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.forename: Xiao-Jing
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Liang-Hu
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.forename: Fan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Peiyong
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Xin
authors.forename: Cunyu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Jinfang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.forename: Hong-Qing
authors.initials: HQ
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yue-Qin
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D018556:Crops, Agricultural / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D005818:Genetic Engineering; D042845:Laccase / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D012275:Oryza / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D010641:Phenotype; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D018749:RNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D012639:Seeds / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs; D010940:Plant Proteins; D018749:RNA, Plant; D042845:Laccase