Maize(Zea mays L.)is a monoecious grass species with separate male and female inflorescences which form the tassel and ear,respectively.The mature ear inflorescences usually bear hundreds of grains,so they directly in...Maize(Zea mays L.)is a monoecious grass species with separate male and female inflorescences which form the tassel and ear,respectively.The mature ear inflorescences usually bear hundreds of grains,so they directly influence maize grain production and yield.Here,we isolated a recessive maize mutant,tasselseed2016(ts2016),which exhibits pleiotropic inflorescence defects and reduced grain yield.These defects include the loss of determinacy and identity in meristems and floral organs,as well as a lack of the lower floret abortion in maize ear,and a smaller grain size.Using map-based cloning and allelic testing,we identified and confirmed the microRNA gene MIR172e as the target gene controlling these related traits.Furthermore,our evidence uncovered a new potential miR172e/ETHYLENE RESPONSIVE ELEMENT BINDING197(EREB197)regulatory module which controls lower floret abortion in maize ear.Transcriptome analysis revealed that the mutation of MIR172e represses multiple biological processes,particularly the flower development and hormone-related pathways in maize ear.We also found that a mutation in the DNA sequence of MIR172e affects RNA transcription,resulting in elongation blockage at the mutant site.Our results reveal the function and molecular mechanism of MIR172e in maize inflorescences and grain yield,and this study deepens our knowledge of maize inflorescence development.展开更多
Plants mount induced resistance and adult-plant resistance against different pathogens throughout the whole growth period.Rice production faces threats from multiple major diseases,including rice blast,sheath blight,a...Plants mount induced resistance and adult-plant resistance against different pathogens throughout the whole growth period.Rice production faces threats from multiple major diseases,including rice blast,sheath blight,and bacterial leaf blight.Here,we report that the miR172a–SNB–MYB30 module regulates both induced and adult-plant resistance to these three major diseases via lignification in rice.Mechanistically,pathogen infections induce the expression of miR172a,which downregulates the transcription factor SNB to release its suppression of MYB30,leading to an increase in lignin biosynthesis and disease resistance throughout the whole growth period.Moreover,expression levels of miR172a and MYB30 gradually increase and are consistently correlated with lignin contents and disease resistance during rice development,reaching a peak at full maturity,whereas SNB RNA levels are negatively correlated with lignin contents and disease resistance,indicating the involvement of the miR172a–SNB–MYB30 module in adult-plant resistance.The functional domain of SNB protein and its binding sites in the MYB30 promoter are highly conserved among more than 4000 rice accessions,while abnormal expression of miR172a,SNB,or MYB30 compromises yield traits,suggesting artificial selection of the miR172a–SNB–MYB30 module during rice domestication.Taken together,these results reveal a novel role for a conserved miRNA-regulated module that contributes significantly to induced and adult-plant resistance against multiple pathogens by increasing lignin accumulation,deepening our understanding of broad-spectrum resistance and adult-plant resistance.展开更多
INOSITOL-REQUIRING ENZYME 1(IRE1)is conserved in plants and mammals to regulate stress responses.Here,we found that TaIRE1 is involved in the unconventional splicing of cell membrane-localized TabZIP60 messenger RNA(m...INOSITOL-REQUIRING ENZYME 1(IRE1)is conserved in plants and mammals to regulate stress responses.Here,we found that TaIRE1 is involved in the unconventional splicing of cell membrane-localized TabZIP60 messenger RNA(mRNA),which results in a nucleus resident protein form(TabZIP60s),and enhanced heat stress tolerance.Transcriptome analysis together with binding element prediction revealed 121 high-confidence targets of TabZIP60s responsive to heat stress in wheat(Triticum aestivum),including heat shock protein genes.Interestingly,we found that an asparagine to glutamic acid substitution,located next to DNA-binding domain of TabZIP60s,results in reduced binding affinity and transcriptional activity to downstream targets,and this heat stress tolerance inferior allele was positively selected during modern wheat breeding programs in China,possibly due to their negative effects on yield potential.Finally,we showed that TaIRE1 is also responsible for the mis-cleavage of miR172 precursors,and consequently contribute to heat stress tolerance.To the best of our knowledge,this represents the first report showing that,like in mammals,IRE1 also regulates miRNA cleavage in response to heat stress in plants.Together,this coordinate control of two signaling pathways provides new insights into heat stress tolerance regulation in wheat.展开更多
Soybean(Glycine max)provides vegetable oils and proteins for human consumption.Its production depends on seeds and other productionrelated agronomic traits.How the seed traits are regulated in soybean remains largely ...Soybean(Glycine max)provides vegetable oils and proteins for human consumption.Its production depends on seeds and other productionrelated agronomic traits.How the seed traits are regulated in soybean remains largely unclear.In this study,we identified a miR172a-ERF416/413module for the regulation of seed traits.The miR172a can cleave the targets ERF416 and ERF413 to affect the downstream gene expression for the reduction of soybean seed size and weight.Both the MIR172a-overexpressing transgenic soybean plants and the erf416/413mutants produced smaller seeds than the control.Consistently,the ERF416-overexpressing transgenic soybean plants generated larger seeds.ERF416 and ERF413 were directly targeted to the promoter of Gm KIX8-1 and Gm SWEET10a to regulate their gene expression for seed size/weight control.Interestingly,the erf416/413mutants showed higher seed yield per plant and higher total seed fatty acid(FA)content,whereas the MIR172a-transgenic soybean had lower total seed FA content compared with the control cultivar,suggesting that mi R172a and ERF416/413 may function in FA accumulation through different pathways.Haplotypes of the ERF416 promoter region were further analyzed and Hap1 was correlated with higher gene expression and higher seed weight,while Hap3 was correlated with higher total seed lipid content.Our study revealed a new module for seed trait control.Manipulation of such alleles should facilitate breeding for high-oil and high-yield soybean cultivars.展开更多
基金supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Henan Province,China(232300421260)the Tackling Key Problems in Science and Technology of Henan Province,China(222102110465,to LZ and 232102111097,to YS)the Open Project Program(SKL-KF202214)。
文摘Maize(Zea mays L.)is a monoecious grass species with separate male and female inflorescences which form the tassel and ear,respectively.The mature ear inflorescences usually bear hundreds of grains,so they directly influence maize grain production and yield.Here,we isolated a recessive maize mutant,tasselseed2016(ts2016),which exhibits pleiotropic inflorescence defects and reduced grain yield.These defects include the loss of determinacy and identity in meristems and floral organs,as well as a lack of the lower floret abortion in maize ear,and a smaller grain size.Using map-based cloning and allelic testing,we identified and confirmed the microRNA gene MIR172e as the target gene controlling these related traits.Furthermore,our evidence uncovered a new potential miR172e/ETHYLENE RESPONSIVE ELEMENT BINDING197(EREB197)regulatory module which controls lower floret abortion in maize ear.Transcriptome analysis revealed that the mutation of MIR172e represses multiple biological processes,particularly the flower development and hormone-related pathways in maize ear.We also found that a mutation in the DNA sequence of MIR172e affects RNA transcription,resulting in elongation blockage at the mutant site.Our results reveal the function and molecular mechanism of MIR172e in maize inflorescences and grain yield,and this study deepens our knowledge of maize inflorescence development.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(nos.32121003,32401845,32372553,and 32172417)the Natural Science Foundation of Sichuan Province(2022JDTD0023 and 2022NSFSC0174)the Open Research Fund of State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Exploration and Utilization in Southwest China(SKLZD202202,SKL-ZY202202,SKL-ZY202205,and SKL-ZY202209).
文摘Plants mount induced resistance and adult-plant resistance against different pathogens throughout the whole growth period.Rice production faces threats from multiple major diseases,including rice blast,sheath blight,and bacterial leaf blight.Here,we report that the miR172a–SNB–MYB30 module regulates both induced and adult-plant resistance to these three major diseases via lignification in rice.Mechanistically,pathogen infections induce the expression of miR172a,which downregulates the transcription factor SNB to release its suppression of MYB30,leading to an increase in lignin biosynthesis and disease resistance throughout the whole growth period.Moreover,expression levels of miR172a and MYB30 gradually increase and are consistently correlated with lignin contents and disease resistance during rice development,reaching a peak at full maturity,whereas SNB RNA levels are negatively correlated with lignin contents and disease resistance,indicating the involvement of the miR172a–SNB–MYB30 module in adult-plant resistance.The functional domain of SNB protein and its binding sites in the MYB30 promoter are highly conserved among more than 4000 rice accessions,while abnormal expression of miR172a,SNB,or MYB30 compromises yield traits,suggesting artificial selection of the miR172a–SNB–MYB30 module during rice domestication.Taken together,these results reveal a novel role for a conserved miRNA-regulated module that contributes significantly to induced and adult-plant resistance against multiple pathogens by increasing lignin accumulation,deepening our understanding of broad-spectrum resistance and adult-plant resistance.
基金supported by the National Natural Science of China(U22A20471)Sci-Tech Special Project of Inner Mongolia(NMKJXM202201).
文摘INOSITOL-REQUIRING ENZYME 1(IRE1)is conserved in plants and mammals to regulate stress responses.Here,we found that TaIRE1 is involved in the unconventional splicing of cell membrane-localized TabZIP60 messenger RNA(mRNA),which results in a nucleus resident protein form(TabZIP60s),and enhanced heat stress tolerance.Transcriptome analysis together with binding element prediction revealed 121 high-confidence targets of TabZIP60s responsive to heat stress in wheat(Triticum aestivum),including heat shock protein genes.Interestingly,we found that an asparagine to glutamic acid substitution,located next to DNA-binding domain of TabZIP60s,results in reduced binding affinity and transcriptional activity to downstream targets,and this heat stress tolerance inferior allele was positively selected during modern wheat breeding programs in China,possibly due to their negative effects on yield potential.Finally,we showed that TaIRE1 is also responsible for the mis-cleavage of miR172 precursors,and consequently contribute to heat stress tolerance.To the best of our knowledge,this represents the first report showing that,like in mammals,IRE1 also regulates miRNA cleavage in response to heat stress in plants.Together,this coordinate control of two signaling pathways provides new insights into heat stress tolerance regulation in wheat.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(32090062,32090063,32171930)the National Key R&D Program(2021YFF1000104,2023YFD1200602)the Biological Breeding-National Science and Technology Major Project(2024ZD04078)。
文摘Soybean(Glycine max)provides vegetable oils and proteins for human consumption.Its production depends on seeds and other productionrelated agronomic traits.How the seed traits are regulated in soybean remains largely unclear.In this study,we identified a miR172a-ERF416/413module for the regulation of seed traits.The miR172a can cleave the targets ERF416 and ERF413 to affect the downstream gene expression for the reduction of soybean seed size and weight.Both the MIR172a-overexpressing transgenic soybean plants and the erf416/413mutants produced smaller seeds than the control.Consistently,the ERF416-overexpressing transgenic soybean plants generated larger seeds.ERF416 and ERF413 were directly targeted to the promoter of Gm KIX8-1 and Gm SWEET10a to regulate their gene expression for seed size/weight control.Interestingly,the erf416/413mutants showed higher seed yield per plant and higher total seed fatty acid(FA)content,whereas the MIR172a-transgenic soybean had lower total seed FA content compared with the control cultivar,suggesting that mi R172a and ERF416/413 may function in FA accumulation through different pathways.Haplotypes of the ERF416 promoter region were further analyzed and Hap1 was correlated with higher gene expression and higher seed weight,while Hap3 was correlated with higher total seed lipid content.Our study revealed a new module for seed trait control.Manipulation of such alleles should facilitate breeding for high-oil and high-yield soybean cultivars.
