Identification of a locus increasing rice yield and physiological analysis of its function

I identified a new locus responsible for increased yield potential and evaluated its physiological function to understand how to improve potential yield in rice (Oryza sativa) plants. Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for 1,000-grain weight (TGW) were analyzed under different environments over 3 years in backcross inbred lines of rice japonica cv Nipponbare x indica cv Kasalath. Four QTLs for this trait were detected across environments; rice cv Kasalath had a positive allele only at one QTL on chromosome 6 (tgw6). A near-isogenic line (NILtgw6) that carried a rice cv Kasalath chromosomal segment corresponding to tgw6 in the rice cv Nipponbare genetic background was selected and analyzed to clarify the physiological function of this locus. The carbohydrate storage capacity before heading in NILtgw6 was superior to that in rice cv Nipponbare (control), but other characters (e.g. photosynthetic ability in flag leaf and traits related to plant type) were the same in both plants. In the leaf sheath, the main organ that accumulates carbohydrate before heading in rice, higher contents of carbohydrate and transcripts of genes related to starch synthesis were found in NILtgw6 than in rice cv Nipponbare. Compared with those in rice cv Nipponbare, a high-yield modern cultivar, TGW and yield per plant were significantly higher in NILtgw6, by 10% and 15%, respectively (P[f] < 0.01). These results suggest that tgw6 improves the carbohydrate storage capacity and consequently increases the yield potential in NILtgw6.