The application discloses application of an OsCATA
gene in controlling rice heading stage and belongs to the technical field of
genetic engineering. The application finds for the first time that the OsCATA
gene (cDNA sequence as shown in SEQ ID NO:1) derived from rice Nipponbare is involved in the regulation of the rice heading stage, and knocking out the
gene can significantly
delay the heading of rice under short-day and long-day conditions; under long-day, the OsCATA gene regulates the heading stage in a manner dependent on OsELF3-1, down-regulates Ghd7 to inhibit the expression of Ehd1, Hd3a and RFT1, and finally delays the heading. The application also provides a knocking-out vector and method of the OsCATA gene and obtained
mutant plants, the oscata single
mutant delays the heading by 12.4 days under the long-day in Hangzhou and by 7.2 days under the short-day in Hainan, and the oself3-1 oscata
double mutant has a more significant
delay effect. The application provides a new gene target for the regulation of the rice heading stage, perfects the photoperiodic flowering regulation network of rice, and the provided method and
mutant can be used for the directional breeding of new rice varieties suitable for different photoperiod regions, and has important breeding application value.