Characterization of a null allelic mutant of the rice NAL1 gene reveals its role in regulating cell division.

Leaf morphology is closely associated with cell division. In rice, mutations in Narrow leaf 1 (NAL1) show narrow leaf phenotypes. Previous studies have shown that NAL1 plays a role in regulating vein patterning and increasing grain yield in indica cultivars, but its role in leaf growth and development remains unknown. In this report, we characterized two allelic mutants of NARROW LEAF1 (NAL1), nal1-2 and nal1-3, both of which showed a 50% reduction in leaf width and length, as well as a dwarf culm. Longitudinal and transverse histological analyses of leaves and internodes revealed that cell division was suppressed in the anticlinal orientation but enhanced in the periclinal orientation in the mutants, while cell size remained unaltered. In addition to defects in cell proliferation, the mutants showed abnormal midrib in leaves. Map-based cloning revealed that nal1-2 is a null allelic mutant of NAL1 since both the whole promoter and a 404-bp fragment in the first exon of NAL1 were deleted, and that a 6-bp fragment was deleted in the mutant nal1-3. We demonstrated that NAL1 functions in the regulation of cell division as early as during leaf primordia initiation. The altered transcript level of G1- and S-phase-specific genes suggested that NAL1 affects cell cycle regulation. Heterogeneous expression of NAL1 in fission yeast (Schizosaccharomyces pombe) further supported that NAL1 affects cell division. These results suggest that NAL1 controls leaf width and plant height through its effects on cell division.

Cloning of TPS gene from eelgrass species Zostera marina and its functional identification by genetic transformation in rice.

The full-length cDNA sequence (2613 bp) of the trehalose-6-phosphate synthase (TPS) gene of eelgrass Zostera marina (ZmTPS) was identified and cloned. Z. marina is a kind of seed-plant growing in sea water during its whole life history. The open reading frame (ORF) region of ZmTPS gene encodes a protein of 870 amino acid residues and a stop codon. The corresponding genomic DNA sequence is 3770 bp in length, which contains 3 exons and 2 introns. The ZmTPS gene was transformed into rice variety ZH11 via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation method. After antibiotic screening, molecular characterization, salt-tolerance and trehalose content determinations, two transgenic lines resistant to 150 mM NaCL solutions were screened. Our study results indicated that the ZmTPS gene was integrated into the genomic DNA of the two transgenic rice lines and could be expressed well. Moreover, the detection of the transformed ZmTPS gene in the progenies of the two transgenic lines was performed from T1 to T4 generations; and results suggested that the transformed ZmTPS gene can be transmitted from parent to the progeny in transgenic rice.

A missense mutation in the transmembrane domain of CESA9 affects cell wall biosynthesis and plant growth in rice.

Rice is a model organism in poaceae plants to study cell wall biosynthesis. In this study, a mutant S1-60 isolated from an EMS mutagenized japonica cultivar Nipponbare, is characterized by brittle culms that can be easily broken by bending. The reduction in mechanical strength was due to defect in thickening of the sclerenchyma cell wall. The amount of cellulose in S1-60 culms was reduced to 44.7% of that of wild-type plants. Besides, the mutant also exhibited pleiotropic phenotypes, such as dwarfism and partial sterility. Genetic analysis and map-based cloning showed that all the phenotype of S1-60 mutant was caused by a recessive point mutation in the OsCESA9 gene, which encodes the cellulose synthase A subunit 9. This yet uncharacterized missense mutation changed the highly conserved G905 to D at the beginning of the fifth transmembrane domain. The OsCESA9 gene is predominantly expressed in the culms of mature stage plants, consistent with the brittle phenotype in the culm. These results indicate that OsCESA9 plays an important role in cell wall biosynthesis and plant growth.

Cloning and comparative studies of seaweed trehalose-6-phosphate synthase genes.

The full-length cDNA sequence (3219 base pairs) of the trehalose-6-phosphate synthase gene of Porphyra yezoensis (PyTPS) was isolated by RACE-PCR and deposited in GenBank (NCBI) with the accession number AY729671. PyTPS encodes a protein of 908 amino acids before a stop codon, and has a calculated molecular mass of 101,591 Daltons. The PyTPS protein consists of a TPS domain in the N-terminus and a putative TPP domain at the C-terminus. Homology alignment for PyTPS and the TPS proteins from bacteria, yeast and higher plants indicated that the most closely related sequences to PyTPS were those from higher plants (OsTPS and AtTPS5), whereas the most distant sequence to PyTPS was from bacteria (EcOtsAB). Based on the identified sequence of the PyTPS gene, PCR primers were designed and used to amplify the TPS genes from nine other seaweed species. Sequences of the nine obtained TPS genes were deposited in GenBank (NCBI). All 10 TPS genes encoded peptides of 908 amino acids and the sequences were highly conserved both in nucleotide composition (>94%) and in amino acid composition (>96%). Unlike the TPS genes from some other plants, there was no intron in any of the 10 isolated seaweed TPS genes.

[Fertility alteration of male sterile rice line annong S-1 and the expression of fertility related aprt gene].

The thermo-sensitive point and the thermo-sensitive stage for fertility alteration in the thermo-sensitive genic male sterile (TGMS) line Annong S-1 were studied. In nature environment and green house,the leaf, root and young panicle were treated by low and high temperature respectively. In total, 8 treatments were carried out. Results indicated that during the thermo-sensitive stage of fertility alteration, in high temperature environmental conditions, the low temperature treatment in the root did not significantly induce Annong S-1 to be fertile, while the low temperature treatment in young panicle obviously induced Annong S-1 to be fertile. Therefore, the thermo-sensitive point of Annong S-1 is the young panicle. The stage of fertility alteration was also investigated. Results indicated that alteration occurred in the phase from the formation of pollen mother cell to the tetrad of miosis. aprt gene is related the male sterility. The expression of aprt gene in root,young panicle and leaf were investigated by RT-PCR respectively. In young panicle, the expression of aprt gene was greatly down regulated by high temperature, while in root and leaf the expressions have no great changes. These data show that the young panicle is sensitive to temperature change. The result also supported that the young panicle is the thermo-sensitive point of Annong S-1 in the fertility alteration. These conclusions can be used to direct in hybrid rice seed production.