biostudies-literatureE ZNational Key R&D Program of ChinaNational Natural Science Foundation of ChinaNatural Science Foundation of Jiangsu ProvincePriority Academic Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions2495-2510https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC5920288biostudies-literatureUnknown69(10)Nuclear factor Y (NF-Y) is a heterotrimeric transcription factor that consists of three subunits, NF-YA, NF-YB, and NF-YC. Gene functions of NF-Ys during endosperm development are not well understood. In this study, we identified eight rice NF-Y-encoding genes, namely OsNF-YA8, OsNF-YB1,9, and OsNF-YC8,9,10,11,12, that are predominantly expressed in the endosperm. Interestingly, the close homologs of these OsNF-Ys are present only in monocot species and are also preferentially expressed in the endosperm, suggesting that they have roles in the regulation of endosperm development. A systemic analysis of interactions between rice endosperm-preferential NF-Ys in yeast revealed that OsNF-YBs and OsNF-YCs could interact with each other. We also found that the endosperm-preferential OsNF-YBs and Journal of experimental botanyA group of nuclear factor Y transcription factors are sub-functionalized during endosperm development in monocots.PMC592028831701392BK201504462016YFD010090231571623Niu BLiu ZSharma SLi TZhang HWei XChen CE ZDeng HWang LfalseA group of nuclear factor Y transcription factors are sub-functionalized during endosperm development in monocots.Nuclear factor Y (NF-Y) is a heterotrimeric transcription factor that consists of three subunits, NF-YA, NF-YB, and NF-YC. Gene functions of NF-Ys during endosperm development are not well understood. In this study, we identified eight rice NF-Y-encoding genes, namely OsNF-YA8, OsNF-YB1,9, and OsNF-YC8,9,10,11,12, that are predominantly expressed in the endosperm. Interestingly, the close homologs of these OsNF-Ys are present only in monocot species and are also preferentially expressed in the endosperm, suggesting that they have roles in the regulation of endosperm development. A systemic analysis of interactions between rice endosperm-preferential NF-Ys in yeast revealed that OsNF-YBs and OsNF-YCs could interact with each other. We also found that the endosperm-preferential OsNF-YBs and 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z2018 Apr2026-04-30T00:38:50.019Z2019-03-26T23:43:24ZS-EPMC59202882951425910.1093/jxb/ery087