据共同社报道，日本名古屋大学生物机能开发利用研究中心教授芦苅基行等23日在美国科学杂志《Nature Genetics》网络版上发表题为“OsSPL14 promotes panicle branching and higher grain productivity in rice”的论文宣布，已找到能使大米产量大幅增加的水稻基因。

芦苅教授指出，通常产量要提高数个百分点已属不易，但是在试验中却增加了四成左右。他表示：“希望同时进行病害虫对策等研究，在约5年后能把新品种无偿发给农户，为避免粮食危机发挥作用。”据介绍，在同属水稻科的谷类中，该发现还同样适用于染色体组构造与水稻相似的玉米和麦子。

研究小组将日本国内普遍使用的“日本晴”和大米高产品种“ST-12”进行杂交，得到约4000株水稻。通过调查染色体排列，发现12根染色体中，第8染色体上有增加抽穗数量的遗传基因。

“日本晴”品种每株平均产米量为2200粒，植入该遗传基因后的“日本晴”的抽穗数量增加，产量达到约3100粒。

论文摘要：

Identification of alleles that improve crop production and lead to higher-yielding varieties are needed for food security. Here we show that the quantitative trait locus WFP (WEALTHY FARMER'S PANICLE) encodes OsSPL14 (SQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN-LIKE 14, also known as IPA1). Higher expression of OsSPL14 in the reproductive stage promotes panicle branching and higher grain yield in rice. OsSPL14 controls shoot branching in the vegetative stage and is affected by microRNA excision. We also demonstrate the feasibility of using the OsSLP14WFP allele to increase rice crop yield. Introduction of the high-yielding OsSPL14WFP allele into the standard rice variety Nipponbare resulted in increased rice production.