(Yicai Global) Oct. 31 -- Chinese scientists found that naturally occurring gene mutations that affect the frizzy panicle (FZP) of rice can increase grain yield by more than 15 percent and prolong the panicle branching period.

The academic periodical Nature Plants published the research of a group led by Professor Xing Yongzhong of Huazhong Agricultural University College of Life Science and Technology online today.

The rice development gene FZP prevents the formation of axillary buds and meristematic tissue and it is closely related to rice yield, said Xing.

After testing more than 500 varieties, Prof. Xing's team found only a handful of kinds of rice in India, Bangladesh and other southeast Asian countries that had such a mutation. As the mutation occurs in nature, breeders can use molecular marker-assisted breeding to make this allele improve high-yield varieties in China, Xing said.