Functional genetics study demonstrates that the TGW1a locus reduces growth duration while increasing grain yield in rice cultivars, suggesting a novel target for high-yield crop breeding.
Reconciling the trade-off between short growth duration and high grain yield is essential for enhancing annual rice yields. We found that qTGW1a , encoding a flowering locus T-like protein, controls heading and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) underpinning grain weight and yield in rice. TGW1a interacts with and stabilizes Ghd7 and Hd1 to boost NUE and grain yield. Natural variations in the promoter enable the ancestral allele TGW1a JZ to maintain an intermediate level of TGW1a transcription. By decoupling its linkage to the weak grain number regulator Gn1a JZ , TGW1a JZ conferred 3.67 to 8.67 days shorter growth duration and 4.22 to 11.00% higher grain yield in five modern cultivars and derived F 1 hybrids. This research uncovers a locus for breeding rice varieties featuring shorter growth durations and higher yields.
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Li et al. (2026) studied this question.
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