Genome-Wide Association Study for Milled Grain Appearance Traits Using Multi-Parent Advanced Generation Intercross Population in Rice

The identification of loci and markers associated with milled grain appearance traits is essential for breeding high-yielding and good-quality rice variety.To detect stable loci for these characteristics,grain length(GL),grain width(GW),grain length/width(GLW),chalkiness degree(CD),chalky-grain rate(CR)and translucency degree(TD)of 378 rice lines were evaluated in three seasons.These lines were derived from a multi-parent advanced generation intercross(MAGIC)population.

Progress on Molecular Mechanism of Aluminum Resistance in Rice

Aluminum(Al)toxicity in acid soils is a significant limitation to crop production worldwide,as 13%of the world's rice is produced in acid soil with high Al content.Rice is likely the most Al-resistant cereal and also the cereal,where Al resistance is the most genetically complex with external detoxification and internal tolerance.Many Al-resistance genes in rice have been cloned,including Al resistance transcription factor 1(ART1)and other transcription factors,organic acid transporter genes,and metal ion transporter gene.This review summarized the recent characterized genes affecting Al tolerance in rice and the interrelationships between Al and other plant nutrients.

Rice Heavy Metal P-type ATPase OsHMA6 Is Likely a Copper Efflux Protein

P1B-type heavy metal ATPases(HMAs)are transmembrane metal-transporting proteins that play a key role in metal homeostasis.We here reported the characterization of rice OsHMA6,a member of the P1B-type ATPase family.Phylogenetic tree analysis showed that OsHMA6 belonged to the Cu/Ag subgroup of the HMA family and had a close evolutionary relationship with OsHMA9.Amino acid sequence alignment showed 82.78%consistency between OsHMA6 and OsHMA9.OsHMA6 expressed in all organs at different growth stages,including spikelet,and abundant in leaf blades,however,OsHMA9 most strongly expressed in roots,but very low in spikelet.Excessive Cu^2+can up-regulate the expression of OsHMA6 and OsHMA9 in rice seedlings.The heterologous expression in yeast showed that OsHMA6 can significantly rescue the growth of yeast strain CM52 when supplied with 3 or 6 mmol/L Cu^2+.Compared with the empty vector pYES2,the Cu concentration in OsHMA6-pYES2 decreased by 23.4%and 30.3%under 3 or 6 mmol/L Cu2+,respectively.Subcellular localization revealed that OsHMA6 was located in the plasma membrane.These results suggested that OsHMA6,similar to OsHMA9,is likely a copper efflux protein located in the plasma membrane.

Identification of Potential Zinc Deficiency Responsive Genes and Regulatory Pathways in Rice by Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis

Zinc(Zn)malnutrition is a major public health issue.Genetic biofortification of Zn in rice grain can alleviate global Zn malnutrition.Therefore,elucidating the genetic mechanisms regulating Zn deprivation response in rice is essential to identify elite genes useful for breeding high grain Zn rice varieties.Here,a meta-analysis of previous RNA-Seq studies involving Zn deficient conditions was conducted using the weighted gene co-expression network analysis(WGCNA)and other in silico prediction tools to identify modules(denoting cluster of genes with related expression pattern)of co-expressed genes,modular genes which are conserved differentially expressed genes(DEGs)across independent RNA-Seq studies,and the molecular pathways of the conserved modular DEGs.WGCNA identified 16 modules of co-expressed genes.Twenty-eight and five modular DEGs were conserved in leaf and crown,and root tissues across two independent RNA-Seq studies.Functional enrichment analysis showed that 24 of the 28 conserved modular DEGs from leaf and crown tissues significantly up-regulated 2 Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG)pathways and 15 Gene Ontology(GO)terms,including the substrate-specific transmembrane transporter and the small molecule metabolic process.Further,the well-studied transcription factors(OsWOX11 and OsbHLH120),protein kinase(OsCDPK20 and OsMPK17),and miRNAs(OSA-MIR397A and OSA-MIR397B)were predicted to target some of the identified conserved modular DEGs.Out of the 24 conserved and up-regulated modular DEGs,19 were yet to be experimentally validated as Zn deficiency responsive genes.Findings from this study provide a comprehensive insight on the molecular mechanisms of Zn deficiency response and may facilitate gene and pathway prioritization for improving Zn use efficiency and Zn biofortification in rice.

Identification of QTLs for Cadmium Tolerance During Seedling Stage and Validation of qCDSL1 in Rice

Cadmium(Cd)is a non-essential toxic metal that is harmful to plants.To investigate the genetic mechanism of Cd tolerance in rice,quantitative trait loci(QTLs)associated with Cd tolerance at the seedling stage were analyzed using a recombinant inbred line(RIL)population derived from a cross between PA64s and 93-11.A total of 36 QTLs associated with shoot length,root length,shoot dry weight,root dry weight and total dry weight were detected in Hangzhou and Lingshui of China.Among them,15 QTLs were identified under the control condition and 15 QTLs were identified under the Cd stress condition,and 6 QTLs for Cd tolerant coefficient were detected on chromosomes 1,3,7 and 9.The qCDSL1.1 and qCDSL1.2 were identified in Hangzhou and Lingshui,respectively,and had overlapping intervals on chromosome 1.To further confirm the effects of qCDSL1.1 and qCDSL1.2,we developed a chromosome segment substitution line(CSSL),CSSLqCDSL1,in 93-11 background harboring qCDSL1.1/qCDSL1.2 from PA64s.Compared to 93-11,CSSLqCDSL1 had increased shoot length under the Cd stress condition.These results pave the way for further isolation of those genes controlling Cd tolerance in rice and marker-assistant selection of rice elite varieties with Cd tolerance.