Researchers identify key gene for perennial growth in wild rice

Chinese Academy of Sciences Headquarters

LinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

In a study published in Science, the research groups led by HAN Bin and WANG Jiawei from the Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences (CEMPS) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have cloned Endless Branches and Tillers 1 (EBT1), a key gene that determines whether wild rice grows as a perennial, and revealed that changes in the expression pattern of this gene underlie the transition of rice from perennial to annual during domestication.

The researchers first conducted a systematic phenotypic survey of 446 wild rice accessions. They found that unlike annual cultivated rice, some wild rice plants did not senesce and die after seed maturation; instead, new branches continuously emerged from axillary buds at the nodes. These branches elongated and spread outward. They later produced roots and developed into new plants once they contacted the soil, forming a weedy growth pattern.

This phenotype was found to result from a reversal of developmental programming after flowering—plants return from reproductive growth to vegetative growth, a phenomenon known as "floral reversion." Through this mechanism, the plants acquire a perennial lifestyle with clonal propagation.

To identify the genetic basis of this perennial trait, the researchers crossed the perennial Dongxiang wild rice (Oryza rufipogon) accession W1943 with the annual indica cultivar Guangluai 4 (GLA4) and developed chromosome segment substitution lines for forward genetic analysis. Using fine map-based cloning, they eventually identified the responsible gene, which they named EBT1. The locus consists of two tandemly arranged microRNA genes, MIR156B and MIR156C.

It has been well established that miR156 functions as a developmental "age switch" in plants, regulating the progression of plant development. According to the classical model, miR156 is highly expressed during the juvenile stage and gradually declines as plants age, promoting the transition from vegetative to reproductive growth.

Surprisingly, the researchers discovered that although MIR156B/C in wild rice followed a similar developmental expression pattern, they were reactivated in axillary buds of tiller nodes after flowering. This resetting of expression enabled axillary buds to undergo developmental reversion, regain vegetative growth capacity, and continuously produce new tillers, generating a clonal growth pattern. This unique expression pattern was revealed to be closely associated with the epigenetic state of the EBT1 locus in wild rice.

The comparison of wild and cultivated rice through population genomic analyses showed that the genomic region harboring EBT1 experienced artificial selection during rice domestication. This finding suggested that while selecting for higher yield and more compact plant architecture, early farmers might have inadvertently eliminated the perennial trait present in wild rice.

Moreover, the researchers combined EBT1 with two identified rice prostrate growth genes, PROG1 and TIG1, and generated wild-rice-like plants that reproduced the weedy growth pattern of wild rice. These plants exhibited strong clonal propagation ability and could survive for at least two years under field conditions in Hainan Province, China.

This study offers novel insights into the evolutionary transition of plant life-history strategies, and provides important genetic resources and theoretical foundations for the development of perennial rice varieties and the improvement of ratoon rice breeding, in which a second crop can be produced from the same plant after the first crop is harvested.

---

Journal

Science

DOI

10.1126/science.adv2188 

Article Title

Resetting of a tandem microRNA156 enables vegetative perennial growth in rice

 

Korea University College of Medicine Myokine Research Center signs MOU with MFC for joint development of therapeutics for spaceflight-induced muscle loss

Expanding next-generation therapeutics for muscle diseases based on successful technology transfer

Korea University College of Medicine

Facebook

XLinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

 

image: 

Left. Professor Hyeon Soo Kim, Department of Anatomy, Korea University College of Medicine / Right Sung-Kwan Hwang, CEO of MFC

view more 

Credit: KU Medicine

The Center for Myokine Convergence Research at Korea University College of Medicine (Director: Professor Hyeon Soo Kim, Department of Anatomy, Korea University College of Medicine) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with MFC to jointly develop therapeutics for muscle loss in astronauts.

 

This agreement represents a follow-up collaboration based on the 2022 contract between the two institutions for “technical cooperation in rare and intractable muscle atrophy diseases and technology transfer for sarcopenia therapeutics.” Building on accumulated research and development data, the two organizations plan to expand their research scope into the space environment and accelerate the development of next-generation therapeutics for muscle disorders.

 

Under this agreement, both parties will collaborate in the following areas: the research and development of therapeutics for astronaut-associated sarcopenia; the development of treatments for a broad range of muscle disorders, including rare conditions such as sarcopenia, cachexia, and Duchenne muscular dystrophy; and joint efforts in pharmaceutical research, development, and commercialization.

 

Professor Hyeon Soo Kim, Director of the Myokine Research Center stated, “Through our strategic collaboration with MFC, we look forward to advancing the development of therapeutics to preserve muscle health in astronauts—an essential requirement for long-duration deep space missions, including exploration of Mars. By leveraging our integrated, clinically translatable myokine research platform, we are committed to delivering innovative therapeutic solutions for patients affected by sarcopenia and a wide range of muscle disorders.”

 

Sung-Kwan Hwang, CEO of MFC, commented, “This research collaboration represents a significant step forward in the development of next-generation therapeutics for the rapidly evolving space era. We believe this partnership will serve as a key catalyst in reinforcing our mid- to long-term growth drivers and further strengthening our research and development capabilities.”

 

Meanwhile, the Center for Myokine Convergence Research at Korea University College of Medicine, established in October 2023, is leading integrated research on myokines—novel hormone-like signaling molecules secreted by skeletal muscle. The center is committed to developing clinically translatable regulatory technologies targeting not only muscle disorders but also cancer, aging, and neurodegenerative diseases.

 

Newly documented trophic relationship confirmed through video evidence of Adélie penguins

Research Organization of Information and Systems

Facebook

XLinkedIWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

 

video: 

 Pteropods encountered and consumed by Adélie penguins, recorded with animal-borne video loggers

view more 

Credit: NIPR

There are many poorly understood links in the food web, often referred to as trophic relationships. Out in East Antarctica, a previously unconfirmed link between sea snails and Adélie penguins might reveal more than meets the eye for the Southern Ocean ecosystem.

 

When the option is to adapt or starve, animals are no stranger to getting scrappy in the face of climate change. Researchers conducted fieldwork in East Antarctica and revealed an underdocumented link in the food web of the Southern Ocean: Adélie penguins and their shelled pteropod consumption. Shelled pteropods, specifically Thecosomata, a suborder of free-swimming sea snails. The study aimed  to better understand Adélie penguin foraging behavior and, in doing so, provided the first clear video evidence of Adélie penguins actively feeding upon shelled pteropods during their foraging sessions was acquired.

Researchers published their results in Marine Biology on March 16, 2026

The suborder Thecosomata are key components of the Southern Ocean’s food chain, providing an abundant source of food for consumers in the environment. Theocosmata are also vulnerable to ocean acidification, a consequence of large-scale fossil fuel usage. Very little direct evidence of higher predators preying on Thecosomata is available, however necessity can often lead to unconventional behaviors. 

Researchers found eight chick-rearing Adélie penguins, four female and four male. The penguins were equipped with time-delay, saltwater-activated cameras featuring a maximum of 12 hours of recorded video capacity along with a GPS sensor recording data every 10 seconds.

Over 86 hours of video footage were manually analyzed after the penguins’ dive. Of the eight birds, seven of them were confirmed via video to consume the shelled pteropods, mostly Clio pyramidata and Limacina rangii, from what can be identified. For two of these individuals, over 60% of the prey consumed were shelled pteropods.

Reasons for this rate of consumption could range from preference, the energetic condition of the individual or prey availability. It was found that when dense areas of shelled pteropods were encountered, the penguins opportunistically consumed more, possibly due to availability but the influence of experience is not to be unconsidered.

However, this data does not suggest the Adélie penguins primarily choose shelled pteropods. In fact, most of their diet on the observed foraging dive consisted of krill as the dominant food type, followed by pteropods, then the rest filled in with other oceanic prey items suitable for a penguin. Krill and fish are the most energetically “profitable” for the penguins, though the rate of pteropod consumption can suggest a possible emerging food source.

“Our findings reveal that pteropods can serve as an opportunistic yet substantial prey for Adélie penguins, highlighting an overlooked but potentially significant trophic pathway,” said Hina T. Watanabe, corresponding author and researcher of the study.

Some limits do apply to this study, though they do not underscore the importance of this discovery. Limitations include only studying a single colony for a single season and being limited to just the first half of the video evidence for the foraging trips, as foraging trips can be up to 34 hours long.

“Our next step is to examine whether this trophic link is persistent across years and colonies, or only occurs under specific conditions,” said Watanabe.

Capturing video evidence of Adélie penguins actively consuming shelled pteropods highlights an underrepresented link in trophic relationships. While this direct observation answers some questions, researchers are more interested in what the larger scope of this relationship can mean for the Southern Ocean food web and the changes that might occur under climate-driven pressures.

Hina T. Watanabe and Akinori Takahashi of the National Institute of Polar Research with Hina T. Watanabe, Akiko Kato, Léo Marcouillier, Frédéric Angelier and Yan Ropert-Coudert of the Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé at La Rochelle Université with Léo Marcouillier and Thierry Raclot of the Université de Strasbourg, and Akinori Takahashi of the Polar Science Program at the Graduate Institute for Advanced Studies contributed to this research.

The WWF-UK, the National Institute of Polar Research,  JSPS KAKENHI and the Institut Polaire Francaise Paul-Emile-Victor made this research possible.

*** 

About National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR)

The NIPR engages in comprehensive research via observation stations in Arctic and Antarctica. As a member of the Research Organization of Information and Systems (ROIS), the NIPR provides researchers throughout Japan with infrastructure support for Arctic and Antarctic observations, plans and implements Japan's Antarctic observation projects, and conducts Arctic researches of various scientific fields such as the atmosphere, ice sheets, the ecosystem, the upper atmosphere, the aurora and the Earth's magnetic field. In addition to the research projects, the NIPR also organizes the Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition and manages samples and data obtained during such expeditions and projects. As a core institution in researches of the polar regions, the NIPR also offers graduate students with a global perspective on originality through its doctoral program. For more information about the NIPR, please visit: https://www.nipr.ac.jp/english/ 

About the Research Organization of Information and Systems (ROIS)

The Research Organization of Information and Systems (ROIS)is a parent organization of four national institutes (National Institute of Polar Research, National Institute of Informatics, the Institute of Statistical Mathematics and National Institute of Genetics) and the Joint Support-Center for Data Science Research. It is ROIS's mission to promote integrated, cutting-edge research that goes beyond the barriers of these institutions, in addition to facilitating their research activities, as members of inter-university research institutes.

---

Journal

Marine Biology

DOI

10.1007/s00227-026-04827-4 

 

Unexpected predator: Jellyfish shown to hunt polychaete worms

University of Southern Denmark

Facebook

XLinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

 

image: 

The researchers found one and sometimes two polychaete inside a jellyfish. This aurelia aurita jellyfish has two worms in its gut. Photo: Hannah Yeo/SDU.

view more 

Credit: Hannah Yeo/SDU

Most polychaete species spend their lives in burrows in the seabed. However, adult individuals of two species, Alitta succinea and Platynereis dumerilii, leave their burrows to spawn during warm summer nights around full moon.

The worms swarm with thousands of individuals swimming simultaneously in the open water. During this journey their bodies rupture while releasing eggs and sperm before they die. They are a luxury diet for many carnivores and are snapped up by trout and other predatory fish. And now University of Southern Denmark (SDU) biologists have shown that certain jellyfish also capture and eat the swarming polychaetes.

“Although jellyfish are known to be omnivorous and generally consume whatever they encounter, it is the first time, this behaviour is documented,” says one of the researchers behind the discovery, biologist and postdoc Hannah Yeo from SDU’s Marine Biology Research Centre in Kerteminde, Denmark.

The team behind the discovery also includes biologists Laura Ferreira (SDU and University of Copenhagen), Erik Kristensen (SDU), Anders Garm (UCPH) and Jamileh Javidpour (SDU). Their findings have been published in the scientific journal Hydrobiologia.

Over the course of a year, the researchers recorded 56 cases where a jellyfish contained  at least one polychaetes in their gut. The worms were found in two jellyfish species: the common moon jelly Aurelia aurita and the invasive comb jelly Mnemiopsis leidyi. The most common polychaete species recorded was Platynereis dumerilii.

All observations were made in Kerteminde Fjord and the nearby Kertinge Nor in Denmark. Among the 166 collected Aurelia aurita, 45 individuals contained at least one polychaete. Among the 71 Mnemiopsis leidyi, three contained at least one Polychaete.

Digested in a few hours

The actual number is likely higher, the researchers say.

“It takes only a couple of hours for the jellyfish to digest these worms, so there were probably more cases than the ones we observed,” says co-author, Professor Erik Kristensen from Department of Biology, University of Southern Denmark.

To confirm that the worms served as actual nutrition – and weren’t ingested by accident – the researchers performed isotope analyses on the jellyfish tissue. These showed that nutrients from the worms were absorbed by the jellyfish rather than simply passing through.

In the bigger picture, polychaetes are probably not a major food source for jellyfish, but they do represent a concentrated seasonal burst of energy in summer that may help jellyfish thrive.

For the invasive Mnemiopsis leidyi, this is more concerning, the researchers note – precisely because its invasive nature makes any newly documented feeding behaviour a potential ecological concern.

“We suspect that Mnemiopsis consumed more worms than we could detect. They also hunt at night, which is exactly when the worms swarm. By the time we sampled them in daylight, the worms would have been fully digested and impossible for us to see,” says co-author Jamileh Javidpour, associate professor at Department of Biology, SDU, “Mnemiopsis are invasive and unwanted in Danish waters because they can outcompete native species. They are highly opportunistic feeders, and this appears to be yet another food source they are able to exploit.”

The discovery not only sheds new light on jellyfish feeding behaviour but also reveals a previously overlooked exchange of energy between the seafloor and the water column. Typically, this flow is seen as one‑way: organic material sinks down to bottom‑dwelling animals – such as dead polychaetes after spawning.

“But here we see energy moving upward instead: bottom‑dwelling animals rising into the water column and being hunted there. While several predator species are known to exploit these spawning events, it has not been documented before in jellyfish or Mnemiopsis. This means gelatinous zooplankton are tapping into a benthic energy source that has been largely overlooked”, said Jamileh Javidpour, concluding:

“We need to consider this upward transfer when modelling the resilience of coastal ecosystems. Even sporadic access to benthic resources may influence how both native and invasive gelatinous species compete and persist.”

---

Journal

Hydrobiologia

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

Polychaete capture by native jellyfish and invasive ctenophore reveals a novel benthic–pelagic trophic link

This species of polychaete, Alitta succinea, was one of two species found in the gut of jellyfish. Photo: Erik Kristensen/SDU.

Credit

Erik Kristensen/SDU

 

A bacterium from bumblebees can produce vitamin B2 in soya drinks

Researchers at DTU have developed a new method that can reduce the time needed to find new bacteria for fermentation. They have now identified a bacterium that can be used both for acidification and to increase the vitamin B2 content of soya drinks.

Technical University of Denmark

Facebook

WeChat
WhatsAppEmail

 

image: 

Each tiny droplet (the round grey circles) contains a single bacterial cell, which grows and develops its own distinctive appearance over time (the small dots inside the droplets). By forming thousands of these microscopic droplets, researchers can cultivate and study many microorganisms in parallel at the single-cell level, revealing hidden microbial diversity and helping to discover rare bacterial strains. Photo: Hang Xiao

view more 

Credit: Photo: Hang Xiao

A new method developed by researchers at the DTU National Food Institute can speed up the process of identifying bacteria that can be used both for fermentation and to increase the vitamin B2 content in soya drinks. In the study, the microbiome (the complete bacterial community) from bumblebees was examined and tested in microscopic droplets for its ability to produce vitamin B2.

“Our research shows that it is possible to screen entire microbial communities directly and rapidly, and that promising bacteria can be identified from environmental samples without prior isolation and analysis of individual bacteria. This can make the development of new starter cultures faster and more targeted,” says Associate Professor Claus Heiner Bang-Berthelsen from the DTU National Food Institute.

The research has been published in the scientific journal LWT – Food Science and Technology.

Researchers have discovered promising bacteria in bumblebees

The study addresses a problem common to many plant-based dairy alternatives: they contain fewer vitamins and minerals than cow’s milk. One of the nutrients typically lacking is vitamin B2 (riboflavin).

The researchers therefore set out to quickly identify bacteria that could both thrive in soya drinks and produce vitamin B2 themselves during fermentation. They used bacteria from bumblebee guts as a starting point for screening potential vitamin B2-producing strains.

“Bumblebees live close to plants, and their guts contain many microorganisms that are already adapted to plant-based environments. That is why it was interesting for us to test whether we could find bacteria in bumblebees capable of producing vitamin B2 in soya drinks,” says Postdoc Hang Xiao from the DTU National Food Institute.

Tested the bacteria in microscopic droplets

In the study, the researchers applied an existing technology known as ‘droplet screening’ in a new way.

“Unlike conventional agar plate-based methods for microbial cultivation and screening, we encapsulated the bee gut bacteria in microscopic droplets so that each droplet contained only one bacterium and acted as an enclosed culture chamber. In this way, the individual bacterium could be analyzed at ultra-high speed by using our microfluidics screening platform, enabling us to screen millions of bacterial cells within just a few hours,” says Hang Xiao.

Ordinary soya drinks are often cloudy and full of particles, which can interfere with measurements. To make droplet screening compatible with soy-based drinks, the researchers developed a highly transparent soy medium.

“By making the soya liquid transparent, we were able to both screen the bacteria in an environment resembling their future application and, at the same time, obtain more stable droplets and more precise measurements,” says Claus Heiner Bang-Berthelsen.

The bacteria were first exposed to roseoflavin, a substance structurally like riboflavin that can promote the growth of the bacteria best suited to producing vitamin B2. The researchers then selected the droplets that glowed the brightest, as high fluorescence indicates high vitamin B2 production.

“This droplet-based microbial screening approach saved months of work and significantly reduced the resource use compared with conventional screening methods,” says Claus Heiner Bang-Berthelsen.

A particular Lactococcus lactis strain stood out

Among the bacteria identified, one lactic acid bacterium proved particularly interesting. When the researchers tested the bacterium in real plant-based products, it proved especially effective in soya drinks:

“The results suggest that the bacterium works not only under laboratory conditions, but also in actual foods containing a significant amount of protein,” says Hang Xiao.

It turned out that the bacterium continued to produce vitamin B2 in soya drinks even at high levels of added (fortified) vitamin B2, demonstrating robust and stable production.

The bacterium was also found to be capable of utilizing many different types of sugar. This makes it an interesting candidate for use as a starter culture in plant-based fermentation processes, as it is not restricted to a single, very narrow substrate.

It generally performed less well in rice and oat drinks, as well as in some almond drinks, which the researchers attribute to their low protein content. Their interpretation is that the bacterium requires a certain level of fermentable protein to grow well and produce vitamin B2 effectively.

“The exciting thing about the method is that it can not only identify vitamin B2-producing bacteria in soya drinks. It can also be adapted to identify other interesting substances, provided they can be detected using fluorescence. However, the method only works if the medium is transparent and has a low fluorescence background,” says Hang Xiao.

Facts

• New method for identifying bacteria capable of producing vitamin B2 in plant-based products
• The bacteria were sourced from the guts of wild bumblebees
• The researchers screened them in microscopic droplets, one cell at a time
• A special transparent soy medium made the screening possible
• The most promising bacterium was Lactococcus lactis NFICC2835
• The bacterium produces up to 1.23 mg/L riboflavin in soy drinks
• The results were best in soy-based plant drinks
• The results were obtained using the MALDI-TOF Biotyper, which is part of the FOODHAY research infrastructure at the DTU National Food Institute.

Read more

The scientific article 'Droplet microfluidics-based isolation, adaptation, and screening of riboflavin-producing lactic acid bacteria for fermenting plant-based dairy alternatives' has been published in the scientific journal LWT – Food Science and Technology.

The research was supported by, among others, Novonesis and the Innomission research project REPLANTED. Additional support was provided by DTU and FoodHay 

---

Journal

LWT

DOI

10.1016/j.lwt.2026.119036 

Article Title

Droplet microfluidics-based isolation, adaptation, and screening of riboflavin-producing lactic acid bacteria for fermenting plant-based dairy alternatives

COI Statement

Claus Heiner Bang-Berthelsen (CHBB), Miguel Tovar (MT), Anders Peter Wätjen (APW) Egon Bech Hansen (EBH), Guillermo Eduardo Sedó Molina (GESM) and Hang Xiao (HX) have no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the writing or reviewing of the manuscript or influence on data or interpretation of the results obtained in this study. Miguel Tovar (MT) is currently an employee of Chr. Hansen.