OsMPH1 regulates plant height and improves grain yield in rice

PLoS One. 2017 Jul 14;12(7):e0180825. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0180825. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

Plant height is a major trait affecting yield potential in rice. Using a large-scale hybrid transcription factor approach, we identified the novel MYB-like transcription factor OsMPH1 (MYB-like gene of Plant Height 1), which is involved in the regulation of plant height in rice. Overexpression of OsMPH1 leads to increases of plant height and grain yield in rice, while knockdown of OsMPH1 leads to the opposite phenotypes. Microscopy of longitudinal stem sections indicated that a change in internode cell length resulted in the change in plant height. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis of transgenic rice lines showed that multiple genes related to cell elongation and cell wall synthesis, which are associated with plant height and yield phenotypes, exhibited an altered expression profile. These results imply that OsMPH1 might be involved in specific recognition and signal transduction processes related to plant height and yield formation, providing further insights into the mechanisms underlying the regulation of plant height and providing a candidate gene for the efficient improvement of rice yield.

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Oryza / growth & development*
  • Oryza / metabolism
  • Phenotype
  • Phylogeny
  • Plant Proteins / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Plant Proteins / genetics
  • Plant Proteins / metabolism*
  • Plant Stems / growth & development
  • Plant Stems / metabolism
  • Plants, Genetically Modified / growth & development*
  • Plants, Genetically Modified / metabolism
  • RNA Interference
  • RNA, Plant / chemistry
  • RNA, Plant / isolation & purification
  • RNA, Plant / metabolism
  • Sequence Alignment
  • Sequence Analysis, RNA
  • Transcription Factors / classification
  • Transcription Factors / genetics
  • Transcription Factors / metabolism*

Substances

  • Plant Proteins
  • RNA, Plant
  • Transcription Factors

Grants and funding

This work is supported in part by Ministry of Agriculture Transgenic Research Grant 2010ZX08010-002 awarded to the Institute of Crop Science Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (3157101834 to T.Z) and the CAAS Innovation Program. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.