Improving spikelet production efficiency crucial for unleashing yield potential in rice
KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.
image:
Fig. 1. Correlation of spikelet production efficiency (SPE) with grain yield, harvest index, post-anthesis leaf photosynthetic rate, shoot dry matter accumulation, and NSC remobilization rate in rice.
view moreCredit: Zhang W Y et al.
Rice grain yield hinges on four components: panicle number, spikelets per panicle, filled-grain rate, and grain weight. Among these, spikelets per panicle offers the greatest untapped potential. However, simply increasing spikelet number requires a proportional increase in vegetative biomass, which limits yield gains. A more efficient route, therefore, is to produce more spikelets per unit of biomass–a concept the researchers term spikelet production efficiency (SPE).
“SPE is defined as the number of differentiated spikelets per panicle divided by the dry weight of vegetative organs (culm, leaves, and sheaths) per shoot at the spikelet differentiation stage,” explains Prof. Jianchang Yang, corresponding author of a new study in the field. “It measures how efficiently a rice plant converts vegetative growth into reproductive sink capacity.”
SPE provides a physiological criterion to evaluate how efficiently a rice plant converts vegetative biomass into reproductive sink capacity. “Our analyses show that SPE is linearly and positively correlated with grain yield and harvest index, with correlation coefficients even higher than those for vegetative organ dry weight alone,” adds Yang.
By comparing multiple rice varieties grown under high-yielding populations, the team found that higher SPE varieties produced more spikelets per panicle and achieved greater grain yield and harvest index. “Higher SPE did not reduce filled-grain rate or 1,000-grain weight,” says Dr. Weiyang Zhang, first author and co‑corresponding author of the study. “Moreover, it was associated with improved post-anthesis leaf photosynthesis, shoot dry matter accumulation, and non-structural carbohydrate (NSC) remobilization from stems.”
These findings suggest that a larger sink capacity actively “pulls” photoassimilates from source organs, enhancing the rice plant’s overall carbon economy.
“Improving SPE could serve as a new key criterion for breeding super-high-yield rice varieties and developing cultivation strategies,” adds Zhang. “We are now investigating the genetic and molecular mechanisms underlying SPE to provide novel insights for rice improvement.”
The team published their findings in the Journal of Integrative Agriculture.
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Contact Authors:
Weiyang Zhang, E-mail: wyz@yzu.edu.cn;
Jianchang Yang, E-mail: jcyang@yzu.edu.cn
The publisher KeAi was established by Elsevier and China Science Publishing & Media Ltd to unfold quality research globally. In 2013, our focus shifted to open access publishing. We now proudly publish more than 200 world-class, open access, English language journals, spanning all scientific disciplines. Many of these are titles we publish in partnership with prestigious societies and academic institutions, such as the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC).
Journal
Journal of Integrative Agriculture
Method of Research
Experimental study
Subject of Research
Not applicable
Article Title
Improving spikelet production efficiency is crucial for further unleashing yield potential in rice
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