Grain appearance, one of the key determinants of rice quality, reflects the ability to attract consumers, and is characterized by four major properties: grain shape, chalkiness, transparency, and color. Mining of valuable genes, genetic mechanisms, and breeding cultivars with improved grain appearance are essential research areas in rice biology. However, grain appearance is a complex and comprehensive trait, making it challenging to understand the molecular details, and therefore, achieve precise improvement. This review highlights the current findings of grain appearance control, including a detailed description of the key genes involved in the formation of grain appearance, and the major environmental factors affecting chalkiness. We also discuss the integration of current knowledge on valuable genes to enable accurate breeding strategies for generation of rice grains with superior appearance quality.

谷物外观是大米品质的关键决定因素之一，反映了吸引消费者的能力，并具有四大特性：粒形、垩白、透明度和颜色。挖掘有价值的基因、遗传机制和培育具有改良籽粒外观的品种是水稻生物学的重要研究领域。然而，谷物外观是一个复杂而综合的性状，因此难以理解分子细节，因此难以实现精确改进。这篇综述重点介绍了谷物外观控制的最新发现，包括对参与谷物外观形成的关键基因的详细描述，以及影响白垩的主要环境因素。