Effects of DEP1 on grain yield and grain quality in the background of two japonica rice (Oryza sativa) cultivars

Plant architecture is an accessible approach to achieving high-yield potential. The DENSE AND ERECT PANICLE 1 (DEP1) gene regulating panicle morphology, grain number per panicle, and nitrogen uptake and metabolism has been widely used for the breeding of high-yield rice in northern Chinese japonica varieties. However, there has been no consensus on the genetic effects of dep1 on grain yield and quality under different genetic backgrounds and growing environments. In the present study, we developed two sets of near-isogenic lines (NILs) of DEP1 (AKI-dep1, AKI-DEP1, LG5-dep1 and LG5-DEP1), each carrying the DEP1 region from either 'Liaogeng5' (LG5) or 'Akitakomachi' (AKI) in the AKI and LG5 backgrounds. Our results demonstrated that AKI-dep1/LG5-dep1 exhibited erect panicle and enhanced grain number per panicle, thereby consequently increasing grain yield, whereas they possessed inferior grain appearance compared with AKI-DEP1/LG5-DEP1 in the same background. However, the effects of dep1 on grain processing quality and eating and cooking quality varied with the background. These results provide useful information for high-yield erect panicle rice breeding by marker-assisted selection.