SAUR基因通过促进丝伸长来增强玉米抗旱能力
SAUR基因通过促进丝伸长来增强玉米抗旱能力
作者： 小柯机器人 发布时间：2026/5/21 15:59:32
本期文章：《自然》：Online/在线发表
中国农业大学秦峰课题组的一项最新研究揭示了SAUR基因通过促进丝伸长来增强玉米抗旱能力。这一成果发表在2026年5月20日出版的国际学术期刊《自然》上。
在此，该团队克隆了一个数量性状，抗旱性9 (qDR9)，该性状缩短了干旱增加的ASI，提高了干旱条件下的产量稳定性。qDR9的诱导基因编码一种小生长素上行RNA （SAUR）蛋白（ZmSAUR72），该蛋白在玉米丝中高表达，但在干旱条件下下调。ZmSAUR72抑制质膜定位蛋白磷酸酶，从而提高H + -ATP酶活性，促进蚕丝生长。有利的ZmSAUR72等位基因（在启动子中缺少转座子样插入）驱动更高的表达，在干旱条件下缩短ASI，稳定产量，并且在正常条件下不会造成产量损失。他们的发现为干旱条件下的玉米ASI提供了新的见解，并为在缺水条件下培育产量稳定性更高的玉米品种提供了强有力的候选基因。
据悉，干旱对世界粮食安全构成重大威胁。玉米（Zea mays）是一种主要的粮食和饲料作物，在开花期间特别容易受到干旱的影响。作为一种单雌花植物，干旱导致玉米雌雄花序的不同步成熟，导致花粉脱落（开花）和丝（柱头和花柱拉长）暴露（出丝）之间的间隔增加。这种干旱诱导的开花-吐丝间隔（ASI）从根本上破坏了玉米产量的稳定性，但ASI的遗传控制在很大程度上仍然未知。
附：英文原文
Title: A SAUR gene enhances maize drought resilience by promoting silk elongation
Author: Zhu, Chaohui, Yang, Zhirui, Yang, Shiping, Zhou, Xueyan, Liu, Boxin, Tian, Tian, Zhao, Bochen, Xie, Yingying, Liu, Yujun, Cheng, Jinkui, Tang, Huaijun, Zhang, Yanjun, Xie, Xiaoqing, Zhang, Lei, Liu, Cheng, Wang, Xingrong, Liu, Shengxue, Qin, Feng
Issue&Volume: 2026-05-20
Abstract: Drought poses a substantial threat to world food security1,2. Maize (Zea mays) is a major crop for food and forage, and is particularly susceptible to drought during flowering3,4. As a monoecious plant species, drought induces asynchronous maturation of male and female inflorescences in maize plants, leading to an increased interval between pollen shedding (anthesis) and silk (elongated stigma and style) exposure (silking)5,6. This drought-induced anthesis–silking interval (ASI) fundamentally undermines maize yield stability, but the genetic control of the ASI remains largely unknown. Here we report cloning of a quantitative trait locus, Drought Resistance 9 (qDR9), that shortens the drought-increased ASI and enhances the yield stability under drought conditions. The causal gene underlying qDR9 encodes a Small Auxin Up RNA (SAUR) protein (ZmSAUR72) that is highly expressed in maize silks but downregulated under drought. ZmSAUR72 inhibits a plasma membrane-localized protein phosphatase, thereby increasing H+-ATPase activity and promoting silk growth. The favourable ZmSAUR72 allele—which lacks a transposon-like insertion in its promoter—drives higher expression, shortens ASI under drought, stabilizes yield and imposes no yield penalty under normal conditions. Thus, our findings offer new insights into maize ASI under drought and provide strong candidate genes to breed maize cultivars with enhanced yield stability under water-deficit conditions.
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-026-10566-9
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10566-9