Comments on: Growing bigger rice grains

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 06:35:13 +0000

Thanks Pam. It was the first I’d heard of FNPs too. Not as easy to pronounce as snip, but a worthwhile addition to the canon of abbreviations.

By: Pam Ronald

Pam Ronald — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 16:40:26 +0000

Thanks for the excellent article. This is the first I have heard of the term “FNP”. It is a perfect description for these important nucleotide.

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 06:25:04 +0000

Thanks Karl; “genetic homophobia” is going to do wonders for our googlejuice.

By: Inoculated Mind

Inoculated Mind — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 16:52:07 +0000

Homologs – duh. Must’ve been genetic homophobia.

By: Evil Fruit Lord

Evil Fruit Lord — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 06:57:40 +0000

Very interesting! Not entirely relevant, perhaps, but I thought I’d point out that in the case of the gene Hd1, a critical part of both photoperiod response and of my doctoral work, the Kasalath allele is largely non-functional and riddled with mutations, while the Nipponbare allele seems fully functional.

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 06:34:08 +0000

It is really interesting. The actual loss of function seems to permit the growth of more cells in the glume, and that then seems to send more stuff to the grain. I’m sure that, given the general similarities among cereal grains — homologs, not analogs — the search is already on for similar genes in the others.

By: Inoculated Mind

Inoculated Mind — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 05:57:45 +0000

Muy muy fantastico.

I wonder, if the loss of function of this gene could be enhanced by some other change? A family of genes, regulatory pathway, could give insight into larger rice yields? Ooh, analogs in other species… we wonders…