Rice OsIAA6 interacts with OsARF1 and regulates leaf inclination

Leaf inclination,a component of crop architecture,influences photosynthetic efficiency and planting density.Various factors,particularly the phytohormones auxin and brassinosteroids(BRs),function in regulating lamina joint bending,and understanding of the genetic control of leaf inclination will help to elucidate the relevant regulatory network.Screening a rice T-DNA insertion population revealed a mutant that was insensitive to auxin and displayed an enlarged leaf angle due to increased cell length on the adaxial side of the lamina joint.Genetic analysis revealed that the increased leaf inclination was caused by T-DNA insertion in the promoter region of OsIAA6,resulting in elevated OsIAA6 expression.Further study showed that OsIAA6 interacts with OsARF1 to suppress auxin signaling and regulates leaf inclination.OsIAA6 mediates the BR effects on lamina joint development,and OsBZR1,the key transcription factor in BR signaling,binds directly to the promoter of OsIAA6 to stimulate its transcription.These results indicate the roles of the OsIAA6-OsARF1 module in regulating rice leaf inclination and suggest the synergistic effects of the phytohormones auxin and BR.

DNA methylation modification in heterosis initiation through analyzing rice hybrid contemporary seeds

Heterosis is an important biological phenomenon and widely applied in agriculture.Although many studies have been performed by using vegetative organs of F_(1) hybrid plants,how heterosis (or hybrid vigor) is initiated and formed,particularly the underlying molecular mechanism,remain elusive.Hybrid contemporary seeds of rice indica varieties 9311 and PA64 were innovatively used and analysis of DNA methylome of embryo and endosperm at early developing stages revealed the globally decreased DNA methylation.Genes,especially those relate to hormones function and transcriptional regulation present non-additive methylation.Previously identified heterosis-related superior genes are non-additively methylated in early developing hybrid contemporary seeds,suggesting that key genes/loci responsible for heterosis are epigenetically modified even in early developing hybrid seeds and hypomethylation of hybrid seeds after cross-pollination finally result in the long-term transcriptional change of F_(1) hybrid vegetative tissues after germination,demonstrating that altered DNA methylation in hybrid seeds is essential for initiation regulation and maintenance of heterosis exhibiting in F_(1) hybrid plants.Notably,a large number of genes show non-additive methylation in the endosperm of reciprocal hybrids,suggesting that endosperm might also contribute to heterosis.