NAL1 allele from a rice landrace greatly increases yield in modern indica cultivars

Significance This work reports discovery of a unique gene important for rice agriculture. A significant yield enhancement in rice modern cultivar was achieved by identification of a gene,SPIKELET NUMBER (SPIKE ) in Indonesian rice landrace. TheSPIKE increased grain yield of anindica cultivar IR64, which is widely grown in the tropics, over four seasons at the field level and improved plant architecture without changing grain quality or growth period, which are important for regional adaptability. These results indicate finding ofSPIKE will be extremely valuable for contributing to increase grain production ofindica rice cultivars.