A research team at the Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences has
cloned a core gene, CHPO, at locus qCR2 that links post-freeze tiller regrowth
with efficient nitrogen uptake in rice. Using recombinant inbred lines from
japonica KY131 and indica ZF802, the team treated regrowth after freezing as a
novel metric of frost-recovery and identified CHPO as a regulatory switch that
triggers tiller re-growth and enhanced nitrogen absorption after cold damage.
The finding provides a molecular module and breeding strategy to develop
cold-tolerant, yield-stable, nitrogen-efficient rice varieties. Results were
published in Nature on June 17.
