Cloning of wheat keto-acyl thiolase 2B reveals a role of jasmonic acid in grain weight determination

Grain weight (GW) is one of the component traits of wheat yield. Existing reports have shown that multiple phytohormones are involved in the regulation of GW in different crops. However, the potential role of jasmonic acid (JA) remains unclear. Here, we report that triticale grain weight 1 (tgw1) mutant, with marked reductions in both GW and JA content, is caused by a premature stop mutation in keto-acyl thiolase 2B (KAT-2B) involved in β-oxidation during JA synthesis. KAT-2B overexpression increases GW in wild type and boosts yield. Additionally, KAT-2B compliments the grain defect in tgw1 and rescues the lethal phenotype of the Arabidopsis kat2 mutant in a sucrose-free medium. Despite the suppression of JA synthesis in tgw1 mutant, ABA synthesis is upregulated, which is accompanied by enhanced expression of SAG3 and reduction of chlorophyll content in leaves. Together, these results demonstrate a role of the JA synthetic gene KAT-2B in controlling GW and its potential application value for wheat improvement.