株型是与作物产量直接相关的农艺性状，调控株型性状的关键基因的克隆及其机理的阐释为作物遗传改良提供了基础。通过分子设计培育具有理想株型的作物新品种是突破目前水稻产量瓶颈的主要方向。分蘖数和株高是影响水稻株型两个主要因子，理想的水稻株型既要求株高适中，又要有适宜的分蘖数。水稻株高与分蘖存在一定负相关性，植物激素参与了水稻株高与分蘖，但目前对于株高和分蘖数之间协同调控的分子机制仍不清楚。本项目拟通过寻找调控水稻株高和分蘖数之间的关键节点，深入研究植物激素在水稻株高和分蘖协同调控中的作用，阐明水稻株高和分蘖协同调控的分子机制，解析水稻株高和分蘖协同调控遗传网络。通过水稻株高和分蘖协同调控遗传网络的解析为作物的生物量和收获指数的优化，进行作物株型定向设计，提升作物的产量和经济价值提供理论基础和技术支撑。

Plant architecture is one of most important yield-related agronomic traits of crops. Cloning and characterization of key regulators of plant architecture provide a molecular and genetic basis for crop improvement. Breeding new crop varieties with ideal plant type by molecularly designed breeding strategy is considered to be a major direction to breakthrough bottlenecks of rice production. Tiller number and plant height are main factors that affect rice plant architecture. The rice varieties with ideal plant architecture should have moderate plant height and appropriate number of tillers. The phenomena of negative correlation between plant height and tiller number have been observed. Plant hormones have been suggested to play critical roles in regulating plant height and tillering. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the relationship between plant height and number of tillers is very limited. This project aims at finding key target genes in the regulation of plant height and tiller number, understanding the roles of plant hormones in the coordination of rice plant height and tiller number, and dissecting the genetic networks underlying the regulation of plant height and tiller number. This project will enable us to design plant types with optimized biomass and harvest index, which will facilitate to breed new elite varieties of rice.