Project description:Premature senescence greatly affects the yield production and the grain quality in plants, although the molecular mechanisms are largely unknown. Here, we identified a novel rice premature senescence leaf 85 (psl85) mutant from ethyl methane sulfonate (EMS) mutagenesis of cultivar Zhongjian100 (the wild-type, WT). The psl85 mutant presented a distinct dwarfism and premature senescence leaf phenotype, starting from the seedling stage to the mature stage, with decreasing level of chlorophyll and degradation of chloroplast, declined photosynthetic capacity, increased content of malonaldehyde (MDA), upregulated expression of senescence-associated genes, and disrupted reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging system. Moreover, endogenous abscisic acid (ABA) level was significantly increased in psl85 at the late aging phase, and the detached leaves of psl85 showed more rapid chlorophyll deterioration than that of WT under ABA treatment, indicating that PSL85 was involved in ABA-induced leaf senescence. Genetic analysis revealed that the premature senescence leaf phenotype was controlled by a single recessive nuclear gene which was finally mapped in a 47 kb region on the short arm of chromosome 7, covering eight candidate open reading frames (ORFs). No similar genes controlling a premature senescence leaf phenotype have been identified in the region, and cloning and functional analysis of the gene is currently underway.
Project description:Stigma exsertion rate (SER) is a crucial trait that influences the seed production of hybrid rice by determining the outcrossing ability of male sterile lines (MSLs). However, the molecular genetic mechanisms underlying SER are still poorly understood. In this study, we identified 14 quantitative trait loci (QTLs) using a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population derived from B805D-MR-16-8-3 (B805D) and Hua6S. Two major QTLs, qSE1 and qSE9, were validated for their effects in the residual heterozygous line (RHL) background. The RHL carrying homozygous qSE1 region from Hua6S increased dual stigma exsertion rate (DSE) by 14.67% and 15.04%, and increased total stigma exsertion rate (TSE) by 11.73% and 13.04%, in F10 and F11 progeny, respectively. Conversely, the RHL carrying homozygous qSE9 region from B805D showed a substantial increase of 22.72% and 14.45% in single stigma exsertion rate (SSE), an increase of 13.46% and 8.30% in TSE, and an increase in percentage of spikelets with exserted stigma (PSE) by 24.82% and 15.57%, respectively, in F10 and F11 progeny. Furthermore, examination of floral organ traits revealed that both the Hua6S allele of qSE1 and the B805D allele of qSE9 increased pistil size to improve SER, but they had contrasting effects on spikelet shape. Subsequently, qSE1 and qSE9 were fine-mapped to intervals of 246.5 kb and 341.4 kb, respectively. A combination of sequencing, expression and haplotype analysis revealed that a single nucleotide variation (T to C) in the 5'UTR region of LOC_Os01g72020 (OsBOP1) was likely to be the functional variation for qSE1. Collectively, our work has laid a foundation for cloning the genes responsible for SER, and demonstrated that the Hua6S allele of qSE1 and the B805D allele of qSE9 can effectively increase SER, which could make important contributions to the genetic improvement of MSLs aimed at improving hybrid seed production.
Project description:Leaf senescence is a complex biological process and defense responses play vital role for rice development, their molecular mechanisms, however, remain elusive in rice. We herein reported a rice mutant spotted leaf 32 (spl32) derived from a rice cultivar 9311 by radiation. The spl32 plants displayed early leaf senescence, identified by disintegration of chloroplasts as cellular evidence, dramatically decreased contents of chlorophyll, up-regulation of superoxide dismutase enzyme activity and malondialdehyde, as physiological characteristic, and both up-regulation of senescence-induced STAY GREEN gene and senescence-associated transcription factors, and down-regulation of photosynthesis-associated genes, as molecular indicators. Positional cloning revealed that SPL32 encodes a ferredoxin-dependent glutamate synthase (Fd-GOGAT). Compared to wild type, enzyme activity of GOGAT was significantly decreased, and free amino acid contents, particularly for glutamate and glutamine, were altered in spl32 leaves. Moreover, the mutant was subjected to uncontrolled oxidative stress due to over-produced reactive oxygen species and damaged scavenging pathways, in accordance with decreased photorespiration rate. Besides, the mutant showed higher resistance to Xanthomonas oryzae pv. Oryzae than its wild type, coupled with up-regulation of four pathogenesis-related marker genes. Taken together, our results highlight Fd-GOGAT is associated with the regulation of leaf senescence and defense responses in rice.
Project description:Advances in genome sequencing technologies have enabled researchers and breeders to rapidly associate phenotypic variation to genome sequence differences. We recently took advantage of next-generation sequencing technology to develop MutMap, a method that allows rapid identification of causal nucleotide changes of rice mutants by whole genome resequencing of pooled DNA of mutant F2 progeny derived from crosses made between candidate mutants and the parental line. Here we describe MutMap+, a versatile extension of MutMap, that identifies causal mutations by comparing SNP frequencies of bulked DNA of mutant and wild-type progeny of M3 generation derived from selfing of an M2 heterozygous individual. Notably, MutMap+ does not necessitate artificial crossing between mutants and the wild-type parental line. This method is therefore suitable for identifying mutations that cause early development lethality, sterility, or generally hamper crossing. Furthermore, MutMap+ is potentially useful for gene isolation in crops that are recalcitrant to artificial crosses.
Project description:It has long been established that premature leaf senescence negatively impacts the yield stability of rice, but the underlying molecular mechanism driving this relationship remains largely unknown. Here, we identified a dominant premature leaf senescence mutant, prematurely senile 1 (ps1-D). PS1 encodes a plant-specific NAC (no apical meristem, Arabidopsis ATAF1/2, and cup-shaped cotyledon2) transcriptional activator, Oryza sativa NAC-like, activated by apetala3/pistillata (OsNAP). Overexpression of OsNAP significantly promoted senescence, whereas knockdown of OsNAP produced a marked delay of senescence, confirming the role of this gene in the development of rice senescence. OsNAP expression was tightly linked with the onset of leaf senescence in an age-dependent manner. Similarly, ChIP-PCR and yeast one-hybrid assays demonstrated that OsNAP positively regulates leaf senescence by directly targeting genes related to chlorophyll degradation and nutrient transport and other genes associated with senescence, suggesting that OsNAP is an ideal marker of senescence onset in rice. Further analysis determined that OsNAP is induced specifically by abscisic acid (ABA), whereas its expression is repressed in both aba1 and aba2, two ABA biosynthetic mutants. Moreover, ABA content is reduced significantly in ps1-D mutants, indicating a feedback repression of OsNAP on ABA biosynthesis. Our data suggest that OsNAP serves as an important link between ABA and leaf senescence. Additionally, reduced OsNAP expression leads to delayed leaf senescence and an extended grain-filling period, resulting in a 6.3% and 10.3% increase in the grain yield of two independent representative RNAi lines, respectively. Thus, fine-tuning OsNAP expression should be a useful strategy for improving rice yield in the future.
Project description:BackgroundPlant height is an important plant characteristic closely related to yield performance of many crops. Reasonable reduction of plant height of crops is beneficial for improving yield and enhancing lodging resistance.ResultsIn the present study, we described the Brassica napus dwarf mutant bnd2 that was isolated using ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) mutagenesis. Compared to wild type (WT), bnd2 exhibited reduced height and shorter hypocotyl and petiole leaves. By crossing the bnd2 mutant with the WT strain, we found that the ratio of the mutant to the WT in the F2 population was close to 1:3, indicating that bnd2 is a recessive mutation of a single locus. Following bulked segregant analysis (BSA) by resequencing, BND2 was found to be located in the 13.77-18.08 Mb interval of chromosome A08, with a length of 4.31 Mb. After fine mapping with single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and insertion/deletion (InDel) markers, the gene was narrowed to a 140-Kb interval ranging from 15.62 Mb to 15.76 Mb. According to reference genome annotation, there were 27 genes in the interval, of which BnaA08g20960D had an SNP type variation in the intron between the mutant and its parent, which may be the candidate gene corresponding to BND2. The hybrid line derived from a cross between the mutant bnd2 and the commercial cultivar L329 had similar plant height but higher grain yield compared to the commercial cultivar, suggesting that the allele bnd2 is beneficial for hybrid breeding of lodging resistant and high yield rapeseed.ConclusionIn this study, we identified a novel dwarf mutant of rapeseed with a new locus, which may be useful for functional analyses of genetic mechanisms of plant architecture and grain yield in rapeseed.
Project description:In cereal crops, the grain number per panicle and the grain yield are greatly affected by the number of florets in a spikelet. In wild-type rice, a spikelet only produces one fertile floret and beneath the floret are a pair of sterile lemmas and a pair of rudimentary glumes. This study characterized a rice spikelet mutant nonstop glumes 2 (nsg2). In the nsg2 mutant, both the sterile lemmas and rudimentary glumes were elongated, and part of sterile lemma looked like a lemma in appearance, shape and size. Detailed histological analysis and qPCR analysis revealed that the sterile lemmas in the nsg2 mutant had homeotically transformed into lemma-like organs. This phenotype indicates that NSG2 is involved in the regulation of spikelet development and supports the long-held view that sterile lemmas were derived from the lemmas of the two lateral florets. This implies that the rice spikelet has the potential to be restored to the "three florets spikelet", which may have existed in its ancestors. Genetic analysis reveals that the nsg2 trait is controlled by a single recessive gene. The NSG2 gene was finally mapped between markers R-20 and R-39 on chromosome 7 with a physical region of 180 kb. The two MYB family factors LOC_Os07g44030 and LOC_Os07g44090 might be involved in the development of the spikelet and floral organ, and they were considered as candidate genes of NSG2. These results provide a foundation for map-based cloning and function analysis of NSG2, as well as evidence to support "three-florets spikelet" breeding in rice.
Project description:Leaf thickness is an important trait in rice (Oryza sativa L.). It affects both photosynthesis and sink-resource efficiency. However, compared to leaf length and length width, reports seldom focused on leaf thickness due to the complicated measurement and minor difference. To identify the quantitative trait loci (QTL) and explore the genetic mechanism regulating the natural variation of leaf thickness, we crossed a high leaf thickness variety Aixiuzhan (AXZ) to a thin leaf thickness variety Yangdao No.6 (YD 6) and evaluated 585 F2 individuals. We further use bulked sergeant analysis with whole-genome resequencing (BSA-seq) to identify five genomic regions, including chromosomes 1, 6, 9, 10, and 12. These regions represented significant allele frequency differentiation between thick and thin leaf thickness among the mixed pool offspring. Moreover, we conducted a linkage mapping using 276 individuals derived from the F2 population. We fine-mapped and confirmed that chromosome 9 contributed the primary explanation of phenotypic variance. We fine-mapped the candidate regions and confirmed that the chromosome 9 region contributed to flag leaf thickness in rice. We observed the virtual cellular slices and found that the bundle sheath cells in YD 6 flag leaf veins are fewer than AXZ. We analyzed the potential regions on chromosome 9 and narrowed the QTL candidate intervals in the 928-kb region. Candidate genes of this major QTL were listed as potentially controlled leaf thickness. These results provide promising evidence that cloning leaf thickness is associated with yield production in rice.Supplementary informationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11032-022-01275-y.
Project description:Abstract Elite upland rice cultivars have the advantages of less water requirement along with high yield but are usually susceptible to various diseases. Rice blast caused by Magnaporthe oryzae is the most devastating disease in rice. Identification of new sources of resistance and the introgression of major resistance genes into elite cultivars are required for sustainable rice production. In this study, an upland rice genotype UR0803 was considered an emerging source of blast resistance. An F2 mapping population was developed from a cross between UR0803 and a local susceptible cultivar Lijiang Xintuan Heigu. The individuals from the F2 population were evaluated for leaf blast resistance in three trials 7 days after inoculation. Bulked segregant analysis (BSA) by high-throughput sequencing and SNP-index algorithm was performed to map the candidate region related to disease resistance trait. A major quantitative trait locus (QTL) for leaf blast resistance was identified on chromosome 11 in an interval of 1.61-Mb genomic region. The candidate region was further shortened to a 108.9-kb genomic region by genotyping the 955 individuals with 14 SNP markers. Transcriptome analysis was further performed between the resistant and susceptible parents, yielding a total of 5044 differentially expressed genes (DEGs). There were four DEGs in the candidate QTL region, of which, two (Os11g0700900 and Os11g0704000) were upregulated and the remaining (Os11g0702400 and Os11g0703600) were downregulated in the susceptible parent after inoculation. These novel candidate genes were functionally annotated to catalytic response against disease stimulus in cellular membranes. The results were further validated by a quantitative real-time PCR analysis. The fine-mapping of a novel QTL for blast resistance by integrative BSA mapping and transcriptome sequencing enhanced the genetic understanding of the mechanism of blast resistance in upland rice. The most suitable genotypes with resistance alleles would be useful genetic resources in rice blast resistance breeding. Rice blast caused by Magnaporthe oryzaeis the most devastating disease in rice. Identification of new sources of resistance and the introgression of major resistance genes into elite cultivars are required for sustainable rice production. Taking advantage of an upland rice genotype ‘UR0803’ that exhibits blast resistance, we detected a novel major QTL and four candidate genes for blast resistance in rice by combining genetic mapping and gene expression approaches. Several hybrids highly resistant to blast disease were generated in this study and would be useful genetic resources in rice blast resistance breeding.
Project description:Chloroplast plays an important role in the plant life cycle. However, the details of its development remain elusive in rice. In this study, we report the fine-mapping of a novel rice gene wpb1 (white panicle branch 1), which affects chloroplast biogenesis, from a tropical japonica variety that results in an albino panicle branches at and after the heading stage. The wpb1 variety was crossed with Nipponbare to generate the F2 and BC1F2 populations. Green and white panicle branch phenotypes with a 3:1 segregation ratio was observed in the F2 population. Bulked segregant analysis (BSA) based on whole genome resequencing was conducted to determine the wpb1 locus. A candidate interval spanning from 11.35 to 23.79M (physical position) on chromosome 1 was identified. The results of BSA analysis were verified by a 40K rice SNP-array using the BC1F2 population. A large-scale F2 population was used to pinpoint wpb1, and the locus was further narrowed down to a 95-kb interval. Furthermore, our results showed that the expression levels of the majority of the genes involved in Chl biosynthesis, photosynthesis and chloroplast development were remarkably affected in wpb1 variety and in F2 plants with a white panicle branch phenotype. In line with the results mentioned above, anatomical structural examination and chlorophyll (Chl) content measurement suggested that wpb1 might play an important role in the regulation of chloroplast development. Further cloning and functional characterization of the wpb1 gene will shed light on the molecular mechanism underlying chloroplast development in rice.