A new mechanism of cytokinin signal regulation inhibits rice grain size

Recently, the rice molecular design technology and application innovation team of the Institute of Crop Science of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences cooperated with other domestic scientific research institutions to identify a new component of cytokinin signaling PPKL1
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They found that PPKL1 interfered with the signal transmission efficiency by attracting but not accepting the phosphate group on the cytokinin phosphotransfer protein AHP2, thereby inhibiting rice grain size, and established a precise design system for rice grain size

According to researcher Tong Hongning, classical cytokinin signal transduction in plants relies on the transfer of phosphate groups between histidine receptor kinase, histidine phosphotransfer protein, and cytokinin response factor RR.
The molecular mechanism of the regulation of the relay process is still poorly understood
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In rice, cytokinins can significantly regulate the number of grains in a panicle, but the regulation function of grain weight or grain size is not clear

The research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Science and Technology Innovation Project of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences

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