Dear Editor,Heterosis is fundamental to enhancing agricultural productivity and significantly boosting food security.However,the advantageous phenotypes of heterosis in F1 hybrids are lost in subsequent generations ow...Dear Editor,Heterosis is fundamental to enhancing agricultural productivity and significantly boosting food security.However,the advantageous phenotypes of heterosis in F1 hybrids are lost in subsequent generations owing to random segregation of chromosomes and meiotic recombination and,thereby,trait segregation,necessitating substantial annual reinvestment in seed production.Apomixis,a form of asexual reproduction through seeds,circumvents these issues by maintaining heterozygous genotypes of hybrids across generations,thus preserving trait uniformity and enhancing heterosis utilization(Underwood and Mercier,2022;Xiong et al.,2023).Despite its promise,apomixis does not occur naturally in major crops.Recently,synthetic apomixis,integrating MiMe(Mitosis instead of Meiosis)with a mutation in the endogenous rice gene MATRILINEAL or through ectopic expression of the endogenous rice gene BBM1(BABY BOOM 1)or BBM4 or the PAR(PARTHENOGENESIS)gene from apomictic dandelion,enables the clonal reproduction of F1 hybrids through seeds and stable transmission of heterotic phenotypes over generations(Khanday et al.,2019;Wang et al.,2019;Underwood et al.,2022;Vernet et al.,2022;Liu et al.,2023;Wei et al.,2023;Song et al.,2024).However,few endogenous rice genes capable of inducing apomixis have been identified,hindering the optimization and innovation of existing synthetic apomixis systems.In this study,we revealed that the endogenous rice gene OsWUS(OsWUSCHEL)can be engineered to induce synthetic apomixis,ensuring clonal seed production without compromising seed-setting rates in hybrid rice.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(32025028,31788103,32188102,and 32101721)the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2022YFF1003304 and 2023YFD1200800)+2 种基金the Key R&D Program of Zhejiang Province(2021C02063-6)the Central Public-Interest Scientific Institution Basal Research Fund(CPSIBRF-CNRRI-202409)the Basic Research Project in 2023 of Yazhouwan National Laboratory.
文摘Dear Editor,Heterosis is fundamental to enhancing agricultural productivity and significantly boosting food security.However,the advantageous phenotypes of heterosis in F1 hybrids are lost in subsequent generations owing to random segregation of chromosomes and meiotic recombination and,thereby,trait segregation,necessitating substantial annual reinvestment in seed production.Apomixis,a form of asexual reproduction through seeds,circumvents these issues by maintaining heterozygous genotypes of hybrids across generations,thus preserving trait uniformity and enhancing heterosis utilization(Underwood and Mercier,2022;Xiong et al.,2023).Despite its promise,apomixis does not occur naturally in major crops.Recently,synthetic apomixis,integrating MiMe(Mitosis instead of Meiosis)with a mutation in the endogenous rice gene MATRILINEAL or through ectopic expression of the endogenous rice gene BBM1(BABY BOOM 1)or BBM4 or the PAR(PARTHENOGENESIS)gene from apomictic dandelion,enables the clonal reproduction of F1 hybrids through seeds and stable transmission of heterotic phenotypes over generations(Khanday et al.,2019;Wang et al.,2019;Underwood et al.,2022;Vernet et al.,2022;Liu et al.,2023;Wei et al.,2023;Song et al.,2024).However,few endogenous rice genes capable of inducing apomixis have been identified,hindering the optimization and innovation of existing synthetic apomixis systems.In this study,we revealed that the endogenous rice gene OsWUS(OsWUSCHEL)can be engineered to induce synthetic apomixis,ensuring clonal seed production without compromising seed-setting rates in hybrid rice.
