AUTHOR=Matsubara Kazuki , Hori Kiyosumi , Ogiso-Tanaka Eri , Yano Masahiro 

TITLE=Cloning of quantitative trait genes from rice reveals conservation and divergence of photoperiod flowering pathways in Arabidopsis and rice

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=5

YEAR=2014

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2014.00193

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2014.00193

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>Flowering time in rice (<italic>Oryza sativa</italic> L.) is determined primarily by daylength (photoperiod), and natural variation in flowering time is due to quantitative trait loci involved in photoperiodic flowering. To date, genetic analysis of natural variants in rice flowering time has resulted in the positional cloning of at least 12 quantitative trait genes (QTGs), including our recently cloned QTGs, <italic>Hd17</italic>, and <italic>Hd16</italic>. The QTGs have been assigned to specific photoperiodic flowering pathways. Among them, 9 have homologs in the <italic>Arabidopsis</italic> genome, whereas it was evident that there are differences in the pathways between rice and <italic>Arabidopsis</italic>, such that the rice <italic>Ghd7</italic>–<italic>Ehd1</italic>–<italic>Hd3a</italic>/<italic>RFT1</italic> pathway modulated by <italic>Hd16</italic> is not present in <italic>Arabidopsis</italic>. In this review, we describe QTGs underlying natural variation in rice flowering time. Additionally, we discuss the implications of the variation in adaptive divergence and its importance in rice breeding.</p>