The Nature of Huazhong Agricultural University publishes an article to analyze the new mechanism of corn yield regulation

Nanhu News Network (correspondent Ning Qiang Jian Yinan) Recently, the research results of Professor Zhang Zuxin’s research group from the State Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement of Huazhong Agricultural University and Hubei Hongshan Laboratory are based on "An ethylene biosynthesis enzyme controls quantitative variation in maize ear length and kernel yield" ; The title was published in Nature Communications
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The study identified a pleiotropic QTL that controls corn ear length, number of grains per row, number of grains per ear, and grain yield.

Maize is one of the most important cereal crops in the world.
The storage material in its grains can be used to meet the growing population’s needs for diet, industrial raw materials and biofuels.
Therefore, the genetic improvement of maize grain yield has always been well received.
Pay attention
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Through long-term genetic improvement, the number of corn per ear has been increasing, and the grain yield has been continuously improved

Figure 1 Evaluation of yield-related traits of hybrids derived from ZmACO2 gene knockout families

Professor Zhang Zuxin’s research group has identified a gene involved in inflorescence differentiation, KNR6, and revealed its molecular mechanism to increase grain yield by increasing the number of florets and grains per spike (Nature Communications, 2020, 11:988)
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Recently, Nature Communications once again published the latest research results of the research group online

Doctoral students Ning Qiang and Jian Yinan of the School of Plant Science and Technology of our school are the co-first authors of the article.
The other 6 graduate students of Professor Zhang Zuxin's research group and Professor Yang Fang of the corn team also participated in the work
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Professor David Jackson from the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory of our school, postdoctoral fellow Dr.

Reviewer: Zhang Zuxin

【English summary】

Maize ear size and kernel number differ among lines, however, little is known about the molecular basis of ear length and its impact on kernel number.

Link to the paper : https://