Chinese scientists have discovered "multiple genes" that make crops heat-resistant and high-yielding

As the global climate continues to warm, the risk of crop failure increases. How to make crops resistant to heat, disease and high yield? Scientists have been "helpless" for years.

Recently, He Zuhua Research Group of Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Academy of Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, discovered a powerful "pleiotropic gene"-ER gene, which can not only make crops resistant to high temperature, disease resistance and high yield, but also improve the water use efficiency of crops and promote crop growth and development.

This research achievement provides an important technical means for efficient breeding of crops and garden plants. The paper has been published online in the top international journal Nature Biotechnology.

Previous studies believe that it is a basically impossible task to make crops have "multiple effects" at the same time: crops with special effects such as high temperature resistance, disease and insect resistance are either "poorly developed" plants are not full, or "slow development" high yield is difficult to guarantee.

In this regard, after more than ten years of continuous research, He Zuhua team found that the ER gene in the plant "Arabidopsis thaliana" has a strong specific function, it seems to coat a layer of sunscreen, disease resistance protective film to plant cells, so that the cell membrane is more complete, not easy to rupture, plant development is more healthy and full.

Therefore, He Zuhua team found that ER series genes exist not only in Arabidopsis thaliana, but also in rice, tomato, corn and other crops.

"We have planted rice with higher ER gene activity in Changsha, Wuhan, Shanghai and other places. The results showed that when ordinary rice had died under high temperature, rice carrying a more active ER gene could still obtain a seed setting rate of more than 40%." He Zuhua said. In addition, ER genes can increase water use efficiency of plants by 50%.

The research team believes that the ER gene is a gene locus with biological significance. It is certain that ER gene will have wide application potential in the breeding of high temperature resistance and disease resistance in monocotyledon food crops including rice and dicotyledon cash crops including tomato in the future.

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