Zhiyong Li, Guan Li, Zhichao Liu, Zhen Cheng, Yibo Wu, Xixi Liu, Xinyong Liu, Xin Ai, Wanning Liu, Guanghao Li, Longxue Chang, Man Yin, Yichen Cheng, Yu Cheng, Yifeng Wang, Xiaohong Tong, Jie Huang, Guoming Zhang, Yuxuan Hou, Jiezheng Ying, Jian Zhang
Reconciling the trade-off between short growth duration and high grain yield is essential for enhancing annual rice yields. We found that qTGW1a, encoding a flowering locus T-like protein, controls heading and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) underpinning grain weight and yield in rice. TGW1a interacts with and stabilizes Ghd7 and Hd1 to boost NUE and grain yield. Natural variations in the promoter enable the ancestral allele TGW1aJZ to maintain an intermediate level of TGW1a transcription. By decoupling its linkage to the weak grain number regulator Gn1aJZ, TGW1aJZ conferred 3.67 to 8.67 days shorter growth duration and 4.22 to 11.00% higher grain yield in five modern cultivars and derived F1 hybrids. This research uncovers a locus for breeding rice varieties featuring shorter growth durations and higher yields.