Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Control of tillering in rice

Nature volume 422, pages 618–621 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

Tillering in rice (Oryza sativa L.) is an important agronomic trait for grain production, and also a model system for the study of branching in monocotyledonous plants. Rice tiller is a specialized grain-bearing branch that is formed on the unelongated basal internode and grows independently of the mother stem (culm) by means of its own adventitious roots1. Rice tillering occurs in a two-stage process: the formation of an axillary bud at each leaf axil and its subsequent outgrowth2. Although the morphology and histology2,3 and some mutants of rice tillering4 have been well described, the molecular mechanism of rice tillering remains to be elucidated. Here we report the isolation and characterization of MONOCULM 1 (MOC1), a gene that is important in the control of rice tillering. The moc1 mutant plants have only a main culm without any tillers owing to a defect in the formation of tiller buds. MOC1 encodes a putative GRAS family nuclear protein that is expressed mainly in the axillary buds and functions to initiate axillary buds and to promote their outgrowth.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Phenotype and complementation of the moc1 mutant.
Figure 2: Molecular identification of MOC1.
Figure 3: Microscopic studies on rice tiller bud formation.
Figure 4: Promotion of MOC1 on tiller bud outgrowth and OSH1 and OsTB1 expression in wild-type and moc1 plants.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Li, Y.-H. Morphology and Anatomy of Grass Family Crops 138–142 (Shanghai Science and Technology Press, Shanghai, 1979)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Hanada, K. in Science of the Rice Plant Vol. 1 Morphology (eds Matsuo, T. & Hoshikawa, K.) 222–258 (Food and Agriculture Policy Research Center, Tokyo, 1993)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Hanada, K. in Science of the Rice Plant Vol. 2 Physiology (eds Matsuo, T., Kumazawa, K., Ishii, R., Ishihara, K. & Hirata, H.) 61–65 (Food and Agriculture Policy Research Center, Tokyo, 1995)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Iwata, N., Takamure, I., Wu, H.-K., Siddinq, E. A. & Rutger, J. N. List of genes for various traits (with chromosome and main literature). Rice Genet. Newsl. 12, 61–93 (1995)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Schumacher, K., Schmitt, T., Rossberg, M., Schmitz, G. & Theres, K. The Lateral suppressor (Ls) gene of tomato encodes a new member of the VHIID protein family. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 96, 290–295 (1999)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Pysh, L. D., Wysocka-Diller, J. W., Camilleri, C., Bouchez, D. & Benfey, P. N. The GRAS gene family in Arabidopsis: sequence characterization and basic expression analysis of the SCARECROW-LIKE genes. Plant J. 18, 111–119 (1999)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Di Laurenzio, L. et al. The SCARECROW gene regulates an asymmetric cell division that is essential for generating the radial organization of the Arabidopsis root. Cell 86, 423–433 (1996)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Helariutta, Y. et al. The SHORT-ROOT gene controls radial patterning of the Arabidopsis root through radial signaling. Cell 101, 555–567 (2000)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Bolle, C., Koncz, C. & Chua, N. H. PAT1, a new member of the GRAS family, is involved in phytochrome A signal transduction. Genes Dev. 14, 1269–1278 (2000)

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Peng, J. et al. The Arabidopsis GAI gene defines a signaling pathway that negatively regulates gibberellin responses. Genes Dev. 11, 3194–3205 (1997)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Silverstone, A. L., Ciampaglio, C. N. & Sun, T. The Arabidopsis RGA gene encodes a transcriptional regulator repressing the gibberellin signal transduction pathway. Plant Cell 10, 155–169 (1998)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Itoh, H., Ueguchi-Tanaka, M., Sato, Y., Ashikari, M. & Matsuoka, M. The gibberellin signaling pathway is regulated by the appearance and disappearance of SLENDER RICE1 in nuclei. Plant Cell 14, 57–70 (2002)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Peng, J. et al. ‘Green revolution’ genes encode mutant gibberellin response modulators. Nature 400, 256–261 (1999)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Richards, D. E., Peng, J. & Harberd, N. P. Plant GRAS and metazoan STATs: one family? Bioessays 22, 573–577 (2000)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Smith, H. M., Hicks, G. R. & Raikhel, N. V. Importin α from Arabidopsis thaliana is a nuclear import receptor that recognizes three classes of import signals. Plant Physiol. 114, 411–417 (1997)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Stirnberg, P., van De Sande, K. & Leyser, H. M. MAX1 and MAX2 control shoot lateral branching in Arabidopsis. Development 129, 1131–1141 (2002)

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Katayama, T. Analytical studies of tillering in paddy rice. J. Imp. Agric. Exp. Stn Jpn 1, 327–374 (1931)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Yan, J.-Q., Zhu, J., He, C.-X., Benmoussa, M. & Wu, P. Quantitative trait loci analysis for the developmental behavior of tiller number in rice (Oryza sativa L.). Theor. Appl. Genet. 97, 267–274 (1998)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Sato, Y. et al. A rice homeobox gene, OSH1, is expressed before organ differentiation in a specific region during early embryogenesis. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 93, 8117–8122 (1996)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Doebley, J., Stec, A. & Hubbard, L. The evolution of apical dominance in maize. Nature 386, 485–488 (1997)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Lukens, L. & Doebley, J. Molecular evolution of the teosinte branched gene among maize and related grasses. Mol. Biol. Evol. 18, 627–638 (2001)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Hubbard, L., McSteen, P., Doebley, J. & Hake, S. Expression patterns and mutant phenotype of teosinte branched 1 correlate with growth suppression in maize and teosinte. Genetics 162, 1927–1935 (2002)

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  23. Schmitz, G. et al. The tomato Blind gene encodes a MYB transcription factor that controls the formation of lateral meristems. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 99, 1064–1069 (2002)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Otsuga, D., DeGuzman, B., Prigge, M. J., Drews, G. N. & Clark, S. E. REVOLUTA regulates meristem initiation at lateral positions. Plant J. 25, 223–236 (2001)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Harushima, Y. et al. A high-density rice genetic linkage map with 2275 markers using a single F2 population. Genetics 148, 479–494 (1998)

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  26. Hiei, Y., Ohta, S., Komari, T. & Kumashiro, T. Efficient transformation of rice (Oryza sativa L.) mediated by Agrobacterium and sequence analysis of the boundaries of the T-DNA. Plant J. 6, 271–282 (1994)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Niwa, Y., Hirano, T., Yoshimoto, K., Shimizu, M. & Kobayashi, H. Non-invasive quantitative detection and applications of non-toxic, S65T-type green fluorescent protein in living plants. Plant J. 18, 455–463 (1999)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Fobert, P. R., Coen, E. S., Murphy, G. J. & Doonan, J. H. Patterns of cell division revealed by transcriptional regulation of genes during the cell cycle in plants. EMBO J. 13, 616–624 (1994)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Hu, Y.-X., Bao, F. & Li, J. Promotive effect of brassinosteroids on cell division involves a distinct CycD3-induction pathway in Arabidopsis. Plant J. 24, 693–701 (2000)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank J. Zuo, N.-H. Chua and X.-W. Deng for critical comments on the manuscript, B. Zhang for assistance in using the microscope, I. Takamure for providing rcn1–rcn5 mutants, the MAFF DNA Bank of Japan for providing RFLP probes and YAC clones, the Clemson University Genomic Institute for providing Nipponbare BAC library filters and clones, Y. Niwa for providing the CaMV35SΩ-sGFP (S65T)-NOS-3′ construct, and M. Matsuoka for the OSH1 cDNA clone. F.H. is a visiting scientist from the Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences, Tsukuba, Japan. This work was supported by grants from the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Xueyong Li, Qian Qian and Bin Han: These authors contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100101, Beijing, China

    Xueyong Li, Zhiming Fu, Yonghong Wang, Guosheng Xiong, Xiaoqun Wang, Xinfang Liu & Jiayang Li

  2. China National Rice Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou, 310006, Zhejiang, China

    Qian Qian, Dali Zeng, Sheng Teng & Fujimoto Hiroshi

  3. China Agricultural University, 100094, Beijing, China

    Ming Yuan

  4. Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200032, China

    Da Luo

  5. National Center for Gene Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200233, China

    Bin Han

Authors
  1. Xueyong Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Qian Qian
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Zhiming Fu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Yonghong Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Guosheng Xiong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Dali Zeng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Xiaoqun Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Xinfang Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Sheng Teng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Fujimoto Hiroshi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Ming Yuan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. Da Luo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  13. Bin Han
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  14. Jiayang Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jiayang Li.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Li, X., Qian, Q., Fu, Z. et al. Control of tillering in rice. Nature 422, 618–621 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01518

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01518

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing