bims-plasge 2019-10-13 papers

Issue of 2019–10–13
two papers selected by
Vera S. Bogdanova, ИЦиГ СО РАН

Plants (Basel). 2019 Oct 08. pii: E398. [Epub ahead of print]8(10):

Segregation Distortion Observed in the Progeny of Crosses Between Oryza sativa and O. meridionalis Caused by Abortion During Seed Development.

Daiki Toyomoto, Masato Uemura, Satoru Taura, Tadashi Sato, Robert Henry, Ryuji Ishikawa, Katsuyuki Ichitani.

Wild rice relatives having the same AA genome as domesticated rice (Oryza sativa) comprise the primary gene pool for rice genetic improvement. Among them, O. meridionalis and O. rufipogon are found in the northern part of Australia. Three Australian wild rice strains, Jpn1 (O. rufipogon), Jpn2, and W1297 (O. meridionalis), and one cultivated rice cultivar Taichung 65 (T65) were used in this study. A recurrent backcrossing strategy was adopted to produce chromosomal segment substitution lines (CSSLs) carrying chromosomal segments from wild relatives and used for trait evaluation and genetic analysis. The segregation of the DNA marker RM136 locus on chromosome 6 was found to be highly distorted, and a recessive lethal gene causing abortion at the seed developmental stage was shown to be located between two DNA markers, KGC6_10.09 and KGC6_22.19 on chromosome 6 of W1297. We name this gene as SEED DEVELOPMENT 1 (gene symbol: SDV1). O. sativa is thought to share the functional dominant allele Sdv1-s (s for sativa), and O. meridionalis is thought to share the recessive abortive allele sdv1-m (m for meridionalis). Though carrying the sdv1-m allele, the O. meridionalis accessions can self-fertilize and bear seeds. We speculate that the SDV1 gene may have been duplicated before the divergence between O. meridionalis and the other AA genome Oryza species, and that O. meridionalis has lost the function of the SDV1 gene and has kept the function of another putative gene named SDV2.

Keywords: O. meridionalis; O. sativa; abortion; gene duplication; reproductive barrier; segregation distortion; wild rice

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/plants8100398

Plant Cell. 2019 Oct 11. pii: tpc.00290.2018. [Epub ahead of print]

ORANGE Represses Chloroplast Biogenesis in Etiolated Arabidopsis Cotyledons via Interaction with TCP14.

Tianhu Sun, Fei Zhou, Xing-Qi Huang, Wei-Cai Chen, Meng-Juan Kong, Chang-Fang Zhou, Zhong Zhuang, Li Li, Shan Lu.

The conversion of etioplasts into chloroplasts in germinating cotyledons is a crucial transition for higher plants, enabling photoautotrophic growth upon illumination. Tight coordination of chlorophyll biosynthesis and photosynthetic complex assembly is critical for this process. ORANGE (OR), a DnaJ-like zinc finger domain-containing protein, was reported to trigger the biogenesis of carotenoid-accumulating plastids by promoting carotenoid biosynthesis and sequestration. Both nuclear and plastidic localizations of OR have been observed. Here, we show that Arabidopsis thaliana OR (At-OR) physically interacts with the transcription factor TCP14 in the nucleus and represses its transactivation activity. Through this interaction, the nucleus-localized OR negatively regulates expression of EARLY LIGHT-INDUCIBLE PROTEINS (ELIPs), reduces chlorophyll biosynthesis and delays development of thylakoid membranes in the plastids of germinating cotyledons. Nuclear abundance of OR decreased upon illumination. Together with an accumulation of TCP14 in the nucleus, this derepresses chloroplast biogenesis during de-etiolation. TCP14 is epistatic to OR and expression of ELIPs is directly regulated by the binding of TCP14 to Up1 elements in the ELIP promoter regions. Our results demonstrate that the interaction between OR and TCP14 in the nucleus leads to repression of chloroplast biogenesis in etiolated seedlings and provide new insights into the regulation of early chloroplast development.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00290