Vertical farming offers significant potential to tackle global challenges like urbanization, food security, and climate change. However, its widespread adoption is hindered by high costs, substantial energy demands, and thus low production efficiency. The limited range of economically viable crops further compounds these challenges. Beyond advancing infrastructure, rapidly developing crop cultivars tailored for vertical farming (VF) are essential to enhancing production efficiency. The gibberellin biosynthesis genes GA20-oxidase fueled the Green Revolution in cereals, while the anti-florigen genes SELF-PRUNING (SP) and SELF-PRUNING 5G (SP5G) revolutionized tomato production. Here, we engineer tomato germplasm optimized for VF by leveraging genome editing to integrate Green Revolution gene homologs and anti-florigen genes. Knocking out the tomato SlGA20ox1 gene, but not SlGA20ox2, results in a promising VF-suitable plant architecture featuring short stems and a compact canopy. When cultivated in a commercial vertical farm with multi-layered, LED-equipped automated hydroponic growth systems, slga20ox1 mutants saved space occupation by 75%, achieving a 38%–69% fruit yield increase with higher planting density, less space occupation, and lower lighting power consumption. Stacking SlGA20ox1 with SP and SP5G genes created a more compact plant architecture with accelerated flowering and synchronized fruit ripening. In commercial vertical farms, the sp sp5g slga20ox1 triple mutant reduced space occupation by 85%, shortened the harvest cycle by 16% and increased effective yield by 180%, significantly enhancing production efficiency. Our study demonstrates the potential of integrating agriculture practice-validated genes to rapidly develop tomato cultivars tailored for VF, providing a proof-of-concept for leveraging genome editing to boost production efficiency in VF.

Grain size is an important agronomic trait that largely determines grain yield in rice (Oryza sativa L.). The genes encoding the Growth Regulating Factors (GRFs) and G-proteins are major regulators for grain length regulation, but how these pathways are coordinated in plants remains elusive. Here, we described OsPLATZ1 as a transcriptional activator, a member of the Plant AT-rich sequence- and Zinc-binding family proteins in rice that positively regulates grain length. OsPLATZ1 interacted with multiple GRFs, and the OsPLATZ1-OsGRF4 complex bound to regulatory regions in the promoter of the G-protein gene DENSE AND ERECT PANICLE1 (DEP1) to enhance its expression, thereby regulating grain length. We used gene editing to modify the OsPLATZ1 promoter regulatory region and obtained mutant lines with downregulated or upregulated OsPLATZ1 expression depending on the type of editing event. One of these mutant lines had changes in multiple agronomic traits and improved grain yield and grain appearance quality. Our findings reveal a new regulatory module in which OsPLATZ1 connects the GRFs and G-protein signaling pathways to regulate grain length and suggest that finely modulating OsPLATZ1 activity might be a promising molecular breeding approach.

Grain size is a key determinant of 1,000-grain weight, one of three factors determining grain yield. However, the complete regulatory network controlling grain size has not been fully clarified. Here, we identified a rice mutant, named small and round grain (srg) that exhibits semi-dwarf stature and small grain size. Cytological analysis showed that cell length and number of spikelet epidermal cells of the srg mutant are reduced, indicating that SRG controls grain size by promoting cell elongation and increasing cell number. SRG encodes a kinesin belonging to the kinesin-1 subfamily and is extensively expressed in different plant tissues with relatively high expression in young panicles. SRG protein is mainly located in the nucleus and cell membrane. Expression of the SRG gene was induced by brassinolide through the brassinosteroid (BR) responsive factor OsWRKY53 and SRG protein was phosphorylated by BR-activated kinase OsBSK3 to prevent its degradation. In addition, microtubule (MT) morphology was abnormal and disordered in the srg and cr-1 mutants. These findings suggest that BR likely stabilizes orderly assembly and arrangement of MTs by stabilizing SRG proteins, thus promoting grain size. SRG overexpression lines produced more tillers and significantly larger and heavier grains to increase 1,000-grain weight, suggesting that SRG has potential to increase grain yield. Our study indicated that SRG is a new BR responsive factor and BR might regulate grain size by influencing the expression of SRG.

Rice grain number is a crucial agronomic trait impacting yield. In this study, we characterized a quantitative trait locus (QTL), GRAIN NUMBER 1.1 (GN1.1), which encodes a Flowering Locus T-like1 (FT-L1) protein and acts as a negative regulator of grain number in rice. The elite allele GN1.1^B, derived from the Oryza indica variety, BF3-104, exhibits a 14.6% increase in grain yield compared with the O. japonica variety, Nipponbare, based on plot yield tests. We demonstrated that GN1.1 interacted with and enhanced the stability of ADP-ribosylation factor (Arf)-GTPase-activating protein (Gap), OsZAC. Loss of function of OsZAC results in increased grain number. Based on our data, we propose that GN1.1^B facilitates the elevation of auxin content in young rice panicles by affecting polar auxin transport (PAT) through interaction with OsZAC. Our study unveils the pivotal role of the GN1.1 locus in rice panicle development and presents a novel, promising allele for enhancing rice grain yield through genetic improvement.

IDEAL PLANT ARCHITECTURE1 (IPA1) is a pivotal gene controlling plant architecture and grain yield. However, little is known about the effects of Triticum aestivum SQUAMOSA PROMOTER‐ BINDING‐LIKE 14 (TaSPL14), an IPA1 ortholog in wheat, on balancing yield traits and its regulatory mechanism in wheat (T. aestivum L.). Here, we determined that the T. aestivum GRAIN WIDTH2 (TaGW2)‐TaSPL14 module influences the balance between tiller number and grain weight in wheat. Overexpression of TaSPL14 resulted in a reduced tiller number and increased grain weight, whereas its knockout had the opposite effect, indicating that TaSPL14 negatively regulates tillering while positively regulating grain weight. We further identified TaGW2 as a novel interacting protein of TaSPL14 and confirmed its ability to mediate the ubiquitination and degradation of TaSPL14. Based on our genetic evidence, TaGW2 acts as a positive regulator of tiller number, in addition to its known role as a negative regulator of grain weight, which is opposite to TaSPL14. Moreover, combinations of TaSPL14‐7A and TaGW2‐6A haplotypes exhibit significantly additive effects on tiller number and grain weight in wheat breeding. Our findings provide insight into how the TaGW2‐TaSPL14 module regulates the trade‐off between tiller number and grain weight and its potential application in improving wheat yield.