The OsSPL16-GW7 regulatory module determines grain shape and simultaneously improves rice yield and grain quality

The deployment of heterosis in the form of hybrid rice varieties has boosted grain yield, but grain quality improvement still remains a challenge. Here we show that a quantitative trait locus for rice grain quality, qGW7, reflects allelic variation of GW7, a gene encoding a TONNEAU1-recruiting motif protein with similarity to C-terminal motifs of the human centrosomal protein CAP350. Upregulation of GW7 expression was correlated with the production of more slender grains, as a result of increased cell division in the longitudinal direction and decreased cell division in the transverse direction. OsSPL16 (GW8), an SBP-domain transcription factor that regulates grain width, bound directly to the GW7 promoter and repressed its expression. The presence of a semidominant GW7TFA allele from tropical japonica rice was associated with higher grain quality without the yield penalty imposed by the Basmati gw8 allele. Manipulation of the OsSPL16-GW7 module thus represents a new strategy to simultaneously improve rice yield and grain quality.