*3.2. Vector Construction and Rice Transformation*

To generate the *35S::OsbHLH079*, and *35S::RNAi-OsbHLH079* transgenic rice plants, the full-length cDNA of *OsbHLH079*, and the partial cDNA fragment of *OsbHLH079* were amplified from the first-strand cDNA obtained from leaves of WT by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using gene-specific primers (Table S1), and subcloned into pCR8/GW/TOPO (Invitrogen, USA). After confirming the sequences, the full-length cDNA of *OsbHLH079*, and the partial cDNA fragment of *OsbHLH079* were transferred into the pMDC32 Gateway binary vector [87], and the pANDA vector [88], respectively, by LR reaction using Gateway LR Clonase II Enzyme Mix (Invitrogen, USA). The resulting constructs, *35S::OsbHLH079*, and *35S::RNAi-OsbHLH079*, were transformed into *Agrobacterium tumefaciens* strain LBA4404, and then introduced into calli generated from mature embryos of WT through *Agrobacterium*-mediated transformation, respectively [89].
