水稻是主要的粮食作物，关乎国计民生。水稻的产量由产量要素性状、根系发育、抗病性等共同决定，稻米重金属含量关乎食品安全，雄性不育的利用是杂交稻培育的基础，光周期敏感雄性不育水稻开启了两系杂交稻新时代。申请人和合作团队长期从事稻穗发育、根系发育、光敏雄性不育、抗病、重金属元素调控等重要性状的遗传与分子机理研究，在近年的研究中发现水稻的非编码RNA基因参与了这些性状的调控。非编码RNA多样的生成和作用机制已成为近年来的研究热点，但非编码RNA对水稻重要农艺性状的调控还有待研究。本项目拟在我们前期研究的基础上，进一步研究lncRNA、siRNA、phasiRNA、miRNA等非编码RNA调控稻穗发育、根系发育、光敏不育、抗病性和稻米镉含量等重要农艺性状的作用机制，为水稻的遗传改良提供新的理论依据和育种材料。

Rice is a major crop for staple food and has strategic impact on food security. Rice yield is determined by some important agricultural traits including -yield traits, root development and disease resistance. Rice heavy metal content is a major concern in food security. Application of male sterility forms the foundation for hybrid rice production. Photoperiod sensitive male sterile rice made possible the two-line hybrid rice system and opened the new era of hybrid rice. We and collaborators have long time experience in basic research on the genetic and molecular basis underlying rice panicle and root development, photoperiod sensitive male sterility, disease resistance and heavy metal content regulation. Our recent studies have discovered some noncoding RNA genes participating in the regulation of these traits. Noncoding RNAs are generated and function through diverse mechanisms, which are research hotspots in recent years. However, the roles of noncoding RNAs in regulating important agricultural traits in rice remain largely unknown. Based on our previous studies, this project aims to further investigate the roles and mechanisms by which noncoding RNA genes, such as long noncoding RNA (lncRNA), small interfering RNA (siRNA), phased siRNA (phasiRNA) and microRNA (miRNA), regulate important agricultural traits of rice, including panicle and root development, photoperiod male sterility, disease resistance and grain Cadmium content. The results obtained from this project will provide new theoretic foundation and new genetic materials for rice improvement.