Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41954325›Full record

ArticlePlant biotechnology journal2026

Rice EMF3 Alleles Adjust Flower Opening Time to Enhance the Seed Setting Rate Under High Temperature Stress.

Takuma Ishizaki, Yoichi Hashida, Hideyuki Hirabayashi, Kazuhiro Sasaki, Hiroki Tokunaga, Eliza Vie M Simon-Ada, Masataka Wakayama, Toshiyuki Takai, Hiroki Saito, Atsushi J Nagano and 9 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Plant biotechnology journal, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Achieving High-Density and Stress-Resilient Maize Breeding Via Germplasm Innovation.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

19 authors.

Takuma IshizakiTropical Agriculture Research Front, Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS), Ishigaki, Japan.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7230-3332
Yoichi HashidaFaculty of Agriculture, Takasaki University of Health and Welfare, Takasaki, Japan.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6129-2308
Hideyuki HirabayashiInstitute of Crop Science, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO), Tsukuba, Japan.
Kazuhiro SasakiBiological Resources and Post-Harvest Division, Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS), Tsukuba, Japan.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7354-2167
Hiroki TokunagaTropical Agriculture Research Front, Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS), Ishigaki, Japan.
Eliza Vie M Simon-AdaPlant Breeding, Genetics, and Biotechnology Division, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Metro Manila, Philippines.
Masataka WakayamaInstitute for Advanced Biosciences, Keio University, Tsuruoka, Japan.
Toshiyuki TakaiPlant Breeding, Genetics, and Biotechnology Division, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Metro Manila, Philippines.
Hiroki SaitoTropical Agriculture Research Front, Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS), Ishigaki, Japan.
Atsushi J NaganoInstitute for Advanced Biosciences, Keio University, Tsuruoka, Japan.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7891-5049
Hitoshi SakakibaraGraduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan.
Mikiko KojimaRIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, Tsurumi, Japan.
Yumiko TakebayashiRIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, Tsurumi, Japan.
Sung-Ryul KimRice Breeding Innovations Department, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Metro Manila, Philippines.
Ryo MatsushimaInstitute of Plant Science and Resources, Okayama University, Kurashiki, Japan.
Michael J ThomsonPlant Breeding, Genetics, and Biotechnology Division, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Metro Manila, Philippines.
Kazuhiko SugimotoInstitute of Crop Science, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO), Tsukuba, Japan.
Ken-Ichiro HibaraGraduate School of Agricultural Regional Vitalization, Kibi International University, Minamiawaji, Japan.
Tsutomu IshimaruBiological Resources and Post-Harvest Division, Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS), Tsukuba, Japan.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8688-5804

Funding

Japan Society for the Promotion of Science JP15K18625Japan Society for the Promotion of Science JP18H02191JST-Mirai Program JPMJMI12212MOFA and MAFF, Japan-Climate Change Adaptation for Rainfed Lowland Area (CCARA)
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

To safeguard global food security against rapid population growth and a warming world, the effective genetic improvement of cereals is imperative. Flower opening time (FOT) critically affects the seed setting rate. In this study, we identified a gene, EARLY-MORNING FLOWERING 3 (EMF3), in which single-nucleotide substitutions strongly modulate FOT in rice in a semi-dominant manner, resulting in wide variation in FOT from earlier to later FOT than the wild-type. EMF3 knock-out mutants showed significantly reduced FOT synchrony and disrupted anther dehiscence, leading to fertilisation failure. EMF3 encodes a plasma membrane-localised polypeptide of 723 amino acids with an armadillo repeat fold and four transmembrane segments. Furthermore, EMF3 is specifically expressed in the anthers starting from nighttime on the day of flowering, with substantial impacts on the transcriptomes of both anther and lodicule, which suggested an exclusive role of EMF3 in flowering events. Modifying EMF3 alleles of O. sativa enabled the adjustment of FOT among Oryza species and subspecies, potentially facilitating cross-fertilisation by overcoming one of the major challenges of inter-specific hybridisation to exploit heterosis. Introducing the EMF3 alleles with the earlier FOT into popular rice cultivars resulted in flowering at an earlier time of day when the temperature was cooler, efficiently increasing seed setting rate under heat stress. This discovery unveils the novel mechanism of anther control of flower opening time through the EMF3 gene, while also enabling the use of EMF3 alleles in breeding strategies for efficient fertilisation for increasing hybrid rice seed production and mitigating future heat-stress damage at flowering.

Indexed as

FlowersOryzaPlant ProteinsSeedsAllelesGene Expression Regulation, PlantHot TemperaturePlant ProteinsEARLY‐MORNING FLOWERING 3flower opening timeheat stressriceseed setting rate

Identifiers

PMID41954325
PMCPMC13387886

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.