Reducing brassinosteroid signalling enhances grain yield in semi-dwarf wheat

Long Song, Jie Liu, Beilu Cao, Bin Liu, Xiaoping Zhang, Zhaoyan Chen, Chaoqun Dong, Xiangqing Liu, Zhaoheng Zhang, Wenxi Wang, Lingling Chai, Jing Liu, Jun Zhu, Shubin Cui, Fei He, Huiru Peng, Zhaorong Hu, Zhenqi Su, Weilong Guo, Mingming Xin, Yingyin Yao, Yong Yan, Yinming Song, Guihua Bai, Qixin Sun and Zhongfu Ni ()
Additional contact information
Long Song: China Agricultural University
Jie Liu: China Agricultural University
Beilu Cao: China Agricultural University
Bin Liu: China Agricultural University
Xiaoping Zhang: China Agricultural University
Zhaoyan Chen: China Agricultural University
Chaoqun Dong: China Agricultural University
Xiangqing Liu: China Agricultural University
Zhaoheng Zhang: China Agricultural University
Wenxi Wang: China Agricultural University
Lingling Chai: China Agricultural University
Jing Liu: China Agricultural University
Jun Zhu: China Agricultural University
Shubin Cui: China Agricultural University
Fei He: China Agricultural University
Huiru Peng: China Agricultural University
Zhaorong Hu: China Agricultural University
Zhenqi Su: China Agricultural University
Weilong Guo: China Agricultural University
Mingming Xin: China Agricultural University
Yingyin Yao: China Agricultural University
Yong Yan: China Agricultural University
Yinming Song: China Agricultural University
Guihua Bai: Hard Winter Wheat Genetics Research Unit
Qixin Sun: China Agricultural University
Zhongfu Ni: China Agricultural University

Nature, 2023, vol. 617, issue 7959, 118-124

Abstract: Abstract Modern green revolution varieties of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) confer semi-dwarf and lodging-resistant plant architecture owing to the Reduced height-B1b (Rht-B1b) and Rht-D1b alleles1. However, both Rht-B1b and Rht-D1b are gain-of-function mutant alleles encoding gibberellin signalling repressors that stably repress plant growth and negatively affect nitrogen-use efficiency and grain filling2–5. Therefore, the green revolution varieties of wheat harbouring Rht-B1b or Rht-D1b usually produce smaller grain and require higher nitrogen fertilizer inputs to maintain their grain yields. Here we describe a strategy to design semi-dwarf wheat varieties without the need for Rht-B1b or Rht-D1b alleles. We discovered that absence of Rht-B1 and ZnF-B (encoding a RING-type E3 ligase) through a natural deletion of a haploblock of about 500 kilobases shaped semi-dwarf plants with more compact plant architecture and substantially improved grain yield (up to 15.2%) in field trials. Further genetic analysis confirmed that the deletion of ZnF-B induced the semi-dwarf trait in the absence of the Rht-B1b and Rht-D1b alleles through attenuating brassinosteroid (BR) perception. ZnF acts as a BR signalling activator to facilitate proteasomal destruction of the BR signalling repressor BRI1 kinase inhibitor 1 (TaBKI1), and loss of ZnF stabilizes TaBKI1 to block BR signalling transduction. Our findings not only identified a pivotal BR signalling modulator but also provided a creative strategy to design high-yield semi-dwarf wheat varieties by manipulating the BR signal pathway to sustain wheat production.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06023-6

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