Hideyuki Hirabayashi

Natural variation in rice starch synthase IIa affects enzyme and starch properties

The natural variation in starch synthase IIa (SSIIa) of rice (Oryza sativa L.) was characterised using near-isogenic lines (NILs). SSIIa is a candidate for the alk gene regulating the alkali disintegration of rice grains, since both genes are genetically mapped at the same position on chromosome 6 and related to starch properties. In this study, we report that the alkali-susceptible cultivar Nipponbare lacked SSIIa activity in endosperm. However, the activity was detected with NILs having the alk allele of alkali-tolerant Kasalath. SSIIa protein was present even in Nipponbare endosperm, but it was not associated with starch granules at the milky stage of endosperm. Three single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) predicting amino acid substitutions existed between the cDNA sequences of SSIIa of Nipponbare and Kasalath were genotyped with 65 rice cultivars and four wild relatives of cultivated rice. The results obtained explain the potential importance of two of the amino acid residues for starch association of rice SSIIa. An analysis of the chain-length distribution of β-limit dextrin of amylopectin showed that without SSIIa activity, the relative number of A-chains (the short chains without branches) increased and that of B1-chains (the short chains with branches) decreased. This suggests that, given the SSIIa defect, short A-chains could not reach a sufficient length for branching enzymes to act on them to produce B1-chains.

Isolation and characterization of rice lesion-mimic mutants with enhanced resistance to rice blast and bacterial blight

Abstract We isolated five lesion-mimic mutants that showed reduced symptoms after infection with the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe grisea from 13 000 M 2 lines of rice ( Oryza sativa L.). Genetic analysis showed that one mutant was allelic to spl5 and this was named spl5-2 ; the other four were derived from new loci and named Spl12, spl13, spl14, and Spl15. Spl12 and Spl15 were dominant mutations, while the others were recessive. Lesions were visible in the dominant mutants ( Spl12 and Spl15 ) from an early developmental stage, while lesions were visible in the recessive mutations ( spl5-2 , spl13 , and spl14 ) from 8–10 weeks after sowing. We analyzed the resistance to rice blast and bacterial blight using spl mutants derived from 14 loci. Resistance to two virulent strains of M. grisea was induced in spl4, spl5-1, spl5-2, spl7, spl10, Spl12, spl13, spl14 , and Spl15 plants. Moreover, growth of the bacterial blight pathogen Xanthomonas campestris pv. oryzae was also suppressed in these nine mutants. These results demonstrate that many of the SPL genes enhance general disease resistance.

qEMF3, a novel QTL for the early-morning flowering trait from wild rice, Oryza officinalis, to mitigate heat stress damage at flowering in rice, O. sativa

Highlight qEMF3, a novel QTL for the early-morning flowering trait to mitigate heat-induced spikelet sterility at flowering in rice, was identified using a wild rice, Oryza officinalis, as a genetic resource.

Genomic regions involved in yield potential detected by genome-wide association analysis in Japanese high-yielding rice cultivars

BackgroundHigh-yielding cultivars of rice (Oryza sativa L.) have been developed in Japan from crosses between overseas indica and domestic japonica cultivars. Recently, next-generation sequencing technology and high-throughput genotyping systems have shown many single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that are proving useful for detailed analysis of genome composition. These SNPs can be used in genome-wide association studies to detect candidate genome regions associated with economically important traits. In this study, we used a custom SNP set to identify introgressed chromosomal regions in a set of high-yielding Japanese rice cultivars, and we performed an association study to identify genome regions associated with yield.ResultsAn informative set of 1152 SNPs was established by screening 14 high-yielding or primary ancestral cultivars for 5760 validated SNPs. Analysis of the population structure of high-yielding cultivars showed three genome types: japonica-type, indica-type and a mixture of the two. SNP allele frequencies showed several regions derived predominantly from one of the two parental genome types. Distinct regions skewed for the presence of parental alleles were observed on chromosomes 1, 2, 7, 8, 11 and 12 (indica) and on chromosomes 1, 2 and 6 (japonica). A possible relationship between these introgressed regions and six yield traits (blast susceptibility, heading date, length of unhusked seeds, number of panicles, surface area of unhusked seeds and 1000-grain weight) was detected in eight genome regions dominated by alleles of one parental origin. Two of these regions were near Ghd7, a heading date locus, and Pi-ta, a blast resistance locus. The allele types (i.e., japonica or indica) of significant SNPs coincided with those previously reported for candidate genes Ghd7 and Pi-ta.ConclusionsIntrogression breeding is an established strategy for the accumulation of QTLs and genes controlling high yield. Our custom SNP set is an effective tool for the identification of introgressed genome regions from a particular genetic background. This study demonstrates that changes in genome structure occurred during artificial selection for high yield, and provides information on several genomic regions associated with yield performance.

Natural Variation in the Flag Leaf Morphology of Rice Due to a Mutation of the NARROW LEAF 1 Gene in Oryza sativa L.

We investigated the natural variations in the flag leaf morphology of rice. We conducted a principal component analysis based on nine flag leaf morphology traits using 103 accessions from the National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences Core Collection. The first component explained 39% of total variance, and the variable with highest loading was the width of the flag leaf (WFL). A genome-wide association analysis of 102 diverse Japanese accessions revealed that marker RM6992 on chromosome 4 was highly associated with WFL. In analyses of progenies derived from a cross between Takanari and Akenohoshi, the most significant quantitative trait locus (QTL) for WFL was in a 10.3-kb region containing the NARROW LEAF 1 (NAL1) gene, located 0.4 Mb downstream of RM6992. Analyses of chromosomal segment substitution lines indicated that a mutation (G1509A single-nucleotide mutation, causing an R233H amino acid substitution in NAL1) was present at the QTL. This explained 13 and 20% of total variability in WFL and the distance between small vascular bundles, respectively. The mutation apparently occurred during rice domestication and spread into japonica, tropical japonica, and indica subgroups. Notably, one accession, Phulba, had a NAL1 allele encoding only the N-terminal, or one-fourth, of the wild-type peptide. Given that the Phulba allele and the histidine-type allele showed essentially the same phenotype, the histidine-type allele was regarded as malfunctional. The phenotypes of transgenic plants varied depending on the ratio of histidine-type alleles to arginine-type alleles, raising the possibility that H233-type products function differently from and compete with R233-type products.