From green revolution to multigene revolution: Breeding high-yield rice by design

Rice has made a significant contribution to global food security over the past half-century. However, the continuous increase in grain yield potential per unit area remains a critical challenge. Recent advances in functional genomics have provided unprecedented opportunities to overcome current barriers to yield enhancement. This review briefly introduces current high-yielding rice varieties by analyzing their key characteristics across China's six major rice cropping zones. It primarily focuses on the breeding value of major yield-related genes and their complex regulatory networks by outlining designs to optimize heading date, ideal plant architecture, and photosynthetic efficiency for source enhancement; to coordinate tiller number, panicle structure, and grain shape for sink expansion; to improve the smooth flow of assimilates for optimal yield; and to increase nitrogen and phosphorus utilization efficiency to boost biomass. A breeding design is developed to create interspecific hybrids by producing superior wide-compatible lines that increase hybrid seed production by synchronizing Xian-Geng parental diurnal floret-opening times. Furthermore, we propose a strategy that integrates major-gene-based breeding design with recurrent selection to fully utilize minor genes, thereby enhancing breeding efficiency and overcoming barriers to high-yield breeding. Ultimately, artificial intelligence-driven prediction and discovery of cis-regulatory elements will facilitate the development of advanced, stress-resilient smart varieties.