title: Rare allele of a previously unidentified histone H4 acetyltransferase enhances grain weight, yield, and plant biomass in rice.
abstract: Grain weight is an important crop yield component; however, its underlying regulatory mechanisms are largely unknown. Here, we identify a grain-weight quantitative trait locus (QTL) encoding a new-type GNAT-like protein that harbors intrinsic histone acetyltransferase activity (OsglHAT1). Our genetic and molecular evidences pinpointed the QTL-OsglHAT1's allelic variations to a 1.2-kb region upstream of the gene body, which is consistent with its function as a positive regulator of the traits. Elevated OsglHAT1 expression enhances grain weight and yield by enlarging spikelet hulls via increasing cell number and accelerating grain filling, and increases global acetylation levels of histone H4. OsglHAT1 localizes to the nucleus, where it likely functions through the regulation of transcription. Despite its positive agronomical effects on grain weight, yield, and plant biomass, the rare allele elevating OsglHAT1 expression has so far escaped human selection. Our findings reveal the first example, to our knowledge, of a QTL for a yield component trait being due to a chromatin modifier that has the potential to improve crop high-yield breeding.
authors.affiliation: Bioscience and Biotechnology Center, jacobsen@ucla.edu songxj@ibcas.ac.cn ashi@agr.nagoya-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Xian Jun
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Bioscience and Biotechnology Center.
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kuroha
authors.affiliation: Bioscience and Biotechnology Center.
authors.forename: Madoka
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ayano
authors.affiliation: Bioscience and Biotechnology Center.
authors.forename: Tomoyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Furuta
authors.affiliation: Bioscience and Biotechnology Center.
authors.forename: Keisuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nagai
authors.affiliation: Bioscience and Biotechnology Center.
authors.forename: Norio
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Komeda
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Biotechnology, Fukui Prefectural University, 4-1-1 Eiheiji-Town, Fukui 910-1195, Japan; Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-8472, Japan;
authors.forename: Shuhei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Segami
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Biotechnology, Fukui Prefectural University, 4-1-1 Eiheiji-Town, Fukui 910-1195, Japan;
authors.forename: Kotaro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Miura
authors.affiliation: Bioscience and Biotechnology Center.
authors.forename: Daisuke
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ogawa
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Science, and.
authors.forename: Takumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kamura
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Science, and Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) Exploratory Research for Advanced Technology (ERATO) Higashiyama Live-Holonics Project and.
authors.forename: Takamasa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Science, and Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) Exploratory Research for Advanced Technology (ERATO) Higashiyama Live-Holonics Project and Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi, 464-8602, Japan;
authors.forename: Tetsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Higashiyama
authors.affiliation: Food Resources Education and Research Center, Kobe University, Kasai, Hyogo 675-2103, Japan;
authors.forename: Masanori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamasaki
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8601, Japan;
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8601, Japan;
authors.forename: Yoshiaki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Inukai
authors.affiliation: Agrogenomics Research Center, National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8634, Japan;
authors.forename: Jianzhong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Bioscience and Biotechnology Center.
authors.forename: Hidemi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kitano
authors.affiliation: RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, Tsurumi, Yokohama 230-0045, Japan; and.
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sakakibara
authors.affiliation: Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606 jacobsen@ucla.edu songxj@ibcas.ac.cn ashi@agr.nagoya-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Steven E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Jacobsen
authors.affiliation: Bioscience and Biotechnology Center, jacobsen@ucla.edu songxj@ibcas.ac.cn ashi@agr.nagoya-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Motoyuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ashikari
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D018533:Biomass; D002452:Cell Count; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D017343:Genes, Plant; D051548:Histone Acetyltransferases / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012275:Oryza / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development*; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D040641:Quantitative Trait Loci / Q000235:genetics; D012639:Seeds / Q000254:growth & development*
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins; D051548:Histone Acetyltransferases
keywords: grain size; plant biomass; rice; weight; yield