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

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.